Emperors Kitchen

Emperors Kitchen is over in Mehrauli, right near the Qutab area at 1501 1. The name sounds a lot more grand than the place actually is. It's really just a kitchen where we make food for the neighborhood. We have a couple of gas burners and a big sink that clogs up if we aren't careful. Mehrauli is an old part of the city, so the buildings are a bit temperamental. Sometimes the water pressure is low or the electricity cuts out for an hour. We just deal with it. We don't have a fancy menu with photos. It’s just a list of what we can make that day. The delivery bikes are parked outside on the dusty road. We spend a lot of time packing boxes and making sure the lids are on tight. The heat in the kitchen is pretty intense during the summer months. We drink a lot of water and try to keep moving. The walls have a few cracks here and there, but the roof doesn't leak, so we're happy. We see a lot of tourists walking towards the monument, but our main customers are the people who live in the nearby flats. They just want a hot meal without any fuss. We give them what they need and they go on their way. It’s a practical business for us.