Electrifying India, Delhi edition: Power, plates and pulse

Delhi is a magnificent, disjointed trilogy: the ancient soul of Shahjahanabad, the clinical, imperial architecture of the British Raj, and the multicultural energy of the modern metropolis.Delhi has many stories, and some of its best are told through food. We took the VinFast VF 7 across the capital, from chaat to Tibetan flavours.New Delhi,Oct 5, 2026 16:12 ISTTo understand Delhi, you must first accept that it is not a singular city, but a geographic palimpsest where successive empires have simply written over their predecessors. Navigating this structural identity crisis requires two things: a vehicle with an exceptionally compliant suspension, and a passenger seat occupied by someone who views history entirely through the medium of flavours. Enter Anubhav Sapra. He runs Delhi Food Walks, which means he is essentially a walking encyclopedia of calories, capable of tracing the socio-political migration of the subcontinent via the thickness of a chickpea gravy. Delhi’s identity demands a supple suspension and a food historian like Anubhav Sapra, who reads the city through its flavours. We began our culinary exploration in Old Delhi—Shahjahanabad—a glorious, claustrophobic labyrinth designed long before anyone conceptualized the turning circle of a modern automobile. Here, the streets are less “roads” and more fluid human rivers. In a conventional vehicle, this would be an absolute nightmare of engine heat, vibrating clutches, and pedestrian guilt. But we were in the VinFast VF 7. Because it is completely silent and produces zero localized emissions, it acted like a rolling sensory vacuum. You glide through the chaos, observing the grit and the architectural madness of the Mughal era from a cabin that feels entirely detached from the auditory assault outside. Our first tactical stop was Vaishnav Chat Bhandar. Now, chaat in Delhi is not merely food; it is a rapid-fire chemical reaction of sweet, sour, crisp, and spice designed to test the limits of human sensory processing. The pani-puri here is a masterclass in structural integrity, a crisp sphere holding back a tidal wave of spiced water, followed closely by a dahi bhalla that balances the sharp bite of ginger with remarkably smooth yogurt. For those of you not in the know, this place is not just the best chaat shop in Delhi but it also has the Delhi Chief Minister’s stamp of approval. There is no better way to chart these shifting historical tectonic plates than by utilizing the absolute silence of an EV. From the dense Mughal core, we accelerated into the colonial geometry of Connaught Place. The transition is jarring. You leave behind the organic, chaotic lanes of the 17th century and find yourself in a rigid, whitewashed concentric circle of British planning. It is vast, majestic, and entirely artificial. To survive the afternoon heat, Anubhav directed the VinFast toward Brijwasi Sweets. This establishment operates on a level of dairy-based fanaticism that I deeply respect. Their rasgulla, gulab jamun, and rasmalai are crafted using pure cow’s milk transported by road every single morning from the holy pastures of Mathura and Vrindavan. To beat Delhi’s heat, Anubhav took us to Brijwasi Sweets, known for milk-based rasgulla, gulab jamun and rasmalai. The result is a texture so fundamentally light and pure it makes mass-produced confectionery look like industrial sludge. Finally, to see how modern Delhi has evolved into a cosmopolitan sponge, we pushed north to Majnu ka Tilla. This is a compact, vibrant enclave that serves as a living monument to the Tibetan and Bhutanese diaspora. In the narrow alleys, the heavy aromas of North Indian ghee instantly give way to the sharp, comforting notes of steaming broth and fermented cheese. Here, we sampled a brilliant Tibetan-Bhutanese fusion—plates of delicate, hand-folded Laphing served alongside a fiery, cheese-laden pizza topped with Bhutanese ema datshi. It is a flavor profile that shouldn’t work in the heart of Delhi, yet it does, perfectly mirroring how the city expands by absorbing entirely newcultures. In Majnu ka Tila, we sampled Tibetan-Bhutanese fusion: delicate Laphing paired with fiery, cheese-laden pizza topped with Bhutanese ema datshi. What this journey proves is that Delhi is a magnificent, disjointed trilogy. You have the ancient, dense soul of Shahjahanabad, the clinical, imperial architecture of the British Raj, and the sprawling, multicultural energy of the modern metropolis. And there is no better way to chart these shifting historical tectonic plates than by utilizing the absolute silence of an EV to navigate the spaces between the stalls. We used food to tell the story of a city, and the city, it turns out, is delicious. Subscribe to Auto Today Magazine - Ends