Bloggers' ConClay at Club Mahindra Kanatal

The view from our room in Club Mahindra - Kanatal

Many of you might have spotted my tweets on #ConClay and #kanatal last month, and I was asked by quite a few as to what that was about. Here's the story-

Early in October, when Club Mahindra approached me if I would like to be a part of the Bloggers' 'Unconference' at Kanatal, I had two simultaneous reactions instantly- 

1. How wonderful!
2. Need to Google Kanatal NOW

It was supposed to be a meet-up of travel bloggers mainly. I was wondering what would be my role as a food blogger in the whole scheme of things. But then what is travel without food. Some places like Italy are utterly inseparable from their glorious cuisine and some places like Japan become a point of survival for vegetarians. Food is indeed integral to travel. 

Do read my post "Top ten reasons why I love Kanatal" on the Club Mahindra blog - Clay, among other superb travel pieces.

Day 1 

I met Lakshmiat the chaotic Bangalore airport in the wee hours of Sunday morning. We were to meet the other bloggers at Delhi airport by mid morning and board a flight to Dehradun from there.  It was a fun flight, catching up with Lakshmi, whom I knew from earlier. We had an interesting co-passenger, Chris, originally from Australia but on his way to Kabul where he was working. We met with Deepak, Manish, Nisha, the other participants & Akshat and Arun Nair from Club Mahindra.

The flight to Dehradun was much delayed but the upside was that we all got talking and observing random interesting people (and their tattoos) at the airport, like this holy man with ruby studded gold wedges. What better way to get to know each other!

Well heeled, literally!

It was my first trip to the North of India, beyond Delhi and I was much excited thinking about what lay in store. After a short flight from Delhi to Dehradun, we had a 80 km drive to Kanatal via winding mountainous roads fabulously maintained by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

Pretty Garhwali women

We stopped midway to sip some strong sweet ginger tea at a little tea shop overlooking a beautiful valley and two beautiful Garhwali women knitting woollens for the oncoming winter.

We reached the resort at Kanatal around 4.30 pm, having travelled 2000 km in exactly 12 hours from my home in Bangalore that morning and it felt like a whole new universe. I could sense that the skies were preparing for a spectacular sunset, which I later realised is a common occurrence in this part of the world.

Sigh-worthy Sunsets

At the resort, we met Mariellen, a travel blogger from Canada, totally in love with India, dividing her time between Toronto and Delhi, she had taken the road from Rishikesh to Kanatal and reached the resort well ahead of us.

We briefly checked into our cozy rooms that gave the feel of being in a log cabin in the hills, each one with a glorious view of the Garhwali mountains. Our agenda to visit the Surkunda Devi temple that evening was thwarted because of our late arrival into the resort and the fact that there was a 1.5 km climb to and from the temple in the darkness. 

The manager at the resort showed us around the beautiful property, including the spa. The hydrotherapy session was specially tempting but the spa was closed for the day. After refuelling on the delicious dinner spread that included a mixed-pulses dal called Dal Kabili, we decided to exercise our vocal cords at the Karaoke session. I realised while I may be a decent singer, I was quite hopeless in following the karaoke lyrics. Eating together and singing together is a great way of getting closer to people you have just met and we felt like a close knit group ready for the Conclay presentations which were to begin the following morning.

Day 2

I love to start my Monday mornings with a good cardio workout and this cold Kanatal morning was trying hard to keep me under the thick quilt in the comfortable bed. Nevertheless, I stuck to my resolve and got the staff to open the gym room early for me. This was the best view I have ever seen from a gym, which had glass walls all around to allow us to feast our eyes on the magnificence of the mountains while on the treadmill.

Even at breakfast time, I made sure I didn’t let go of the mountains. I took the sunny spot overlooking the tall deodars that covered the mountain ranges. The rest of the day was dedicated to the presentations by each of us participants. 

Do read Mariellen Ward's write up summarising the essence of each of our talks on her blog 

Day 3

The presentations done, our final day in Kanatal was all about sightseeing and some touristy fun. After yet another delicious breakfast, we headed out to Tehri Dam, which is the highest earth and rockfill dam in the Asian region. It is an architectural marvel and one couldn't help but gape in awe at its beauty from the point where we stopped to take many a shot.

Tehri Dam

That afternoon, post lunch, I was introduced to Chef Gurbir who is responsible for setting up many of the Club Mahindra resort kitchens, staff and menus. We chatted about local Garhwali cuisine and he even taught me to make a local specialty called Aloo ki Techwani, made using fresh mountain potatoes. The making of this dish should be out soon and I'll be happy to share it with you. 

Chef Gurbir teaching me a Garhwali specialty dish

Later, our gang left for Dhanaulti, as the eco park was listed as a tourist spot. Sadly, apart from the towering Deodars, there was nothing much of note here. We quickly made tracks to Mussoorie. After 2 days of utter peace and quiet at Kanatal, the hustle bustle of Mussoorie was quite welcome. Just as soon as we got out at the car park, the chilly breeze made me buy a monkey-cap for myself, at a bargain price of a 100 bucks :)

At the Mussoorie Sweet shop - Fresh Gulab Jamoon - SLURP

The mall road was dotted with shops selling woolens, trinkets, little eateries, sweetmeat shops and a country liquor shop. 

The Espresso Counter at Chick Chocolate, Mussoorie

We rounded up our Mussoorie trip in a quirky cafe called Chick Chocolate, which is known for their coffee, hot chocolate, handmade chocolates and potato wedges, among other things. 

Day 4

After drinking in the last beautiful sunrise of the mountains, we had to pack up and leave early morning, to get the flight out from Dehradun airport to Delhi and there onwards to our respective cities.

In all, it was a beautiful time spent in pristine surroundings, enjoying the warm hospitality of Club Mahindra, the company of some of the most wonderful people. 

L-R: Manish Kumar, Akshat Kant, Deepak Amembal, Nandita Iyer, Mariellen Ward, Nisha Jha, Arun Nair, Lakshmi Sharath

A brief introduction to all the participants:

Deepak Amembal has been blogging since 2007, and you can visit his blog about the magic of travel in India at Magic Travels.

Lakshmi Sharath quit her corporate job in the media to travel around the world and to write stories. Her travel blog of an Indian Backpacker  on the web since 2005, covers her journeys around India, and the world. 

Manish Kumar is one of the earliest Hindi bloggers. He describes himself as a technocrat by profession and travel and music enthusiast by heart, has been blogging since 2006. His Hindi travel blog is called Musafir Hoon Yaaron.

Mariellen Ward is author of Breathedreamgo, the India-inspired, meaningful adventure travel blog. She came to India for 6 months in 2005 for the first time, and since then she's been back here many times. 

Nisha Jha has been blogging since 2009. Her blog Le Monde - A Poetic Travail, is about sweet & sour memories of journeys around the globe. She is one of the few Indian women who travels solo around the world. 

Arun Nair joined our group as the social media representative of Club Mahindra. His blog Indianeye.org is on social media, digital and travel (occasionally). He has been writing since 2007 and he is considered an authority in the digital, social media domain.

Bloggers' ConClay at Club Mahindra Kanatal

Posted by admin

The view from our room in Club Mahindra - Kanatal

Many of you might have spotted my tweets on #ConClay and #kanatal last month, and I was asked by quite a few as to what that was about. Here's the story-

Early in October, when Club Mahindra approached me if I would like to be a part of the Bloggers' 'Unconference' at Kanatal, I had two simultaneous reactions instantly- 

1. How wonderful!
2. Need to Google Kanatal NOW

It was supposed to be a meet-up of travel bloggers mainly. I was wondering what would be my role as a food blogger in the whole scheme of things. But then what is travel without food. Some places like Italy are utterly inseparable from their glorious cuisine and some places like Japan become a point of survival for vegetarians. Food is indeed integral to travel. 

Do read my post "Top ten reasons why I love Kanatal" on the Club Mahindra blog - Clay, among other superb travel pieces.

Day 1 

I met Lakshmiat the chaotic Bangalore airport in the wee hours of Sunday morning. We were to meet the other bloggers at Delhi airport by mid morning and board a flight to Dehradun from there.  It was a fun flight, catching up with Lakshmi, whom I knew from earlier. We had an interesting co-passenger, Chris, originally from Australia but on his way to Kabul where he was working. We met with Deepak, Manish, Nisha, the other participants & Akshat and Arun Nair from Club Mahindra.

The flight to Dehradun was much delayed but the upside was that we all got talking and observing random interesting people (and their tattoos) at the airport, like this holy man with ruby studded gold wedges. What better way to get to know each other!

Well heeled, literally!

It was my first trip to the North of India, beyond Delhi and I was much excited thinking about what lay in store. After a short flight from Delhi to Dehradun, we had a 80 km drive to Kanatal via winding mountainous roads fabulously maintained by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

Pretty Garhwali women

We stopped midway to sip some strong sweet ginger tea at a little tea shop overlooking a beautiful valley and two beautiful Garhwali women knitting woollens for the oncoming winter.

We reached the resort at Kanatal around 4.30 pm, having travelled 2000 km in exactly 12 hours from my home in Bangalore that morning and it felt like a whole new universe. I could sense that the skies were preparing for a spectacular sunset, which I later realised is a common occurrence in this part of the world.

Sigh-worthy Sunsets

At the resort, we met Mariellen, a travel blogger from Canada, totally in love with India, dividing her time between Toronto and Delhi, she had taken the road from Rishikesh to Kanatal and reached the resort well ahead of us.

We briefly checked into our cozy rooms that gave the feel of being in a log cabin in the hills, each one with a glorious view of the Garhwali mountains. Our agenda to visit the Surkunda Devi temple that evening was thwarted because of our late arrival into the resort and the fact that there was a 1.5 km climb to and from the temple in the darkness. 

The manager at the resort showed us around the beautiful property, including the spa. The hydrotherapy session was specially tempting but the spa was closed for the day. After refuelling on the delicious dinner spread that included a mixed-pulses dal called Dal Kabili, we decided to exercise our vocal cords at the Karaoke session. I realised while I may be a decent singer, I was quite hopeless in following the karaoke lyrics. Eating together and singing together is a great way of getting closer to people you have just met and we felt like a close knit group ready for the Conclay presentations which were to begin the following morning.

Day 2

I love to start my Monday mornings with a good cardio workout and this cold Kanatal morning was trying hard to keep me under the thick quilt in the comfortable bed. Nevertheless, I stuck to my resolve and got the staff to open the gym room early for me. This was the best view I have ever seen from a gym, which had glass walls all around to allow us to feast our eyes on the magnificence of the mountains while on the treadmill.

Even at breakfast time, I made sure I didn’t let go of the mountains. I took the sunny spot overlooking the tall deodars that covered the mountain ranges. The rest of the day was dedicated to the presentations by each of us participants. 

Do read Mariellen Ward's write up summarising the essence of each of our talks on her blog 

Day 3

The presentations done, our final day in Kanatal was all about sightseeing and some touristy fun. After yet another delicious breakfast, we headed out to Tehri Dam, which is the highest earth and rockfill dam in the Asian region. It is an architectural marvel and one couldn't help but gape in awe at its beauty from the point where we stopped to take many a shot.

Tehri Dam

That afternoon, post lunch, I was introduced to Chef Gurbir who is responsible for setting up many of the Club Mahindra resort kitchens, staff and menus. We chatted about local Garhwali cuisine and he even taught me to make a local specialty called Aloo ki Techwani, made using fresh mountain potatoes. The making of this dish should be out soon and I'll be happy to share it with you. 

Chef Gurbir teaching me a Garhwali specialty dish

Later, our gang left for Dhanaulti, as the eco park was listed as a tourist spot. Sadly, apart from the towering Deodars, there was nothing much of note here. We quickly made tracks to Mussoorie. After 2 days of utter peace and quiet at Kanatal, the hustle bustle of Mussoorie was quite welcome. Just as soon as we got out at the car park, the chilly breeze made me buy a monkey-cap for myself, at a bargain price of a 100 bucks :)

At the Mussoorie Sweet shop - Fresh Gulab Jamoon - SLURP

The mall road was dotted with shops selling woolens, trinkets, little eateries, sweetmeat shops and a country liquor shop. 

The Espresso Counter at Chick Chocolate, Mussoorie

We rounded up our Mussoorie trip in a quirky cafe called Chick Chocolate, which is known for their coffee, hot chocolate, handmade chocolates and potato wedges, among other things. 

Day 4

After drinking in the last beautiful sunrise of the mountains, we had to pack up and leave early morning, to get the flight out from Dehradun airport to Delhi and there onwards to our respective cities.

In all, it was a beautiful time spent in pristine surroundings, enjoying the warm hospitality of Club Mahindra, the company of some of the most wonderful people. 

L-R: Manish Kumar, Akshat Kant, Deepak Amembal, Nandita Iyer, Mariellen Ward, Nisha Jha, Arun Nair, Lakshmi Sharath

A brief introduction to all the participants:

Deepak Amembal has been blogging since 2007, and you can visit his blog about the magic of travel in India at Magic Travels.

Lakshmi Sharath quit her corporate job in the media to travel around the world and to write stories. Her travel blog of an Indian Backpacker  on the web since 2005, covers her journeys around India, and the world. 

Manish Kumar is one of the earliest Hindi bloggers. He describes himself as a technocrat by profession and travel and music enthusiast by heart, has been blogging since 2006. His Hindi travel blog is called Musafir Hoon Yaaron.

Mariellen Ward is author of Breathedreamgo, the India-inspired, meaningful adventure travel blog. She came to India for 6 months in 2005 for the first time, and since then she's been back here many times. 

Nisha Jha has been blogging since 2009. Her blog Le Monde - A Poetic Travail, is about sweet & sour memories of journeys around the globe. She is one of the few Indian women who travels solo around the world. 

Arun Nair joined our group as the social media representative of Club Mahindra. His blog Indianeye.org is on social media, digital and travel (occasionally). He has been writing since 2007 and he is considered an authority in the digital, social media domain.

KL trip pictures and JFI event reminder

We are back from our trip to Kualalumpur. It was my first time in Malaysia and I was impressed by the way the entire country is so geared up for tourism. It is no surprise that we find tourists from almost every place in the world, in the landmark Petronas Towers. The Tourism Malaysia festival being on currently, almost everything is on SALE, and the amount of 'mall-walking' we did could easily make up for one week of abstainance from the gym!

I would highly recommend The hop-on hop-off bus tour, the KL Bird Park, the Orchid Garden, and ofcourse you cannot go to KL and not get onto the Skybridge of the Petronas. We also managed a day trip to Genting and another to Cameron Highlands, which is another must visit for its scenic charm and beauty. The Aquaria is sure to be a hit with kids. Though Petaling Street (China Town) and Central Market were high on our agenda, the rains spoilt our plans. The Bintang Walk, Sungei Wang Plaza, Lot 10 and KLCC Suria Mall will satisfy the highest degree of shopoholics. Here are some of the pictures.

The pride of KL, the Petronas Twin Towers with the Skybridge, view from the KLCC park

Atop the Petronas Skybridge

At the Aquaria, KL

Over a pot of tea at the Tea Plantation at Cameron Highlands, overlooking the terraced tea gardens

A bunch of large, sweet smelling roses at the Rose Center, Cameron Highlands

Lady Shoe - One of the exotic plants at the Rose Center, Cameron Highland, Penang

A flock of noisy parrots in KL Bird park

Mangosteen, a fruit with a not-so-great appearance and a sweet, tart juicy interior, that will make you fall in love with it! Appearances are deceptive after all!

If you ever smell a durian fruit, you'll never forget it in your life! I did not dare to taste this one though...

-----------------------------------
JFI Reminder

We just got back home yesterday after being away for over 10 days. I was checking mail for keeping track of JFI - Chillies entries, from the WiFi spots in KL. Today, it was found that 9 of the entries were sitting in the spam folder.

This is a reminder for all those who are interested in participating in the Jihva for Ingredients - Chillies that entries will have to be sent in as per instructions before Midnight 2nd August Indian Standard Time ( GMT + 5:30 hours ). In case you are unable to post and send your entry by the last date, you may link up your post to the round-up, so that readers will be able to view your entry in the links.

KL trip pictures and JFI event reminder

Posted by admin

We are back from our trip to Kualalumpur. It was my first time in Malaysia and I was impressed by the way the entire country is so geared up for tourism. It is no surprise that we find tourists from almost every place in the world, in the landmark Petronas Towers. The Tourism Malaysia festival being on currently, almost everything is on SALE, and the amount of 'mall-walking' we did could easily make up for one week of abstainance from the gym!

I would highly recommend The hop-on hop-off bus tour, the KL Bird Park, the Orchid Garden, and ofcourse you cannot go to KL and not get onto the Skybridge of the Petronas. We also managed a day trip to Genting and another to Cameron Highlands, which is another must visit for its scenic charm and beauty. The Aquaria is sure to be a hit with kids. Though Petaling Street (China Town) and Central Market were high on our agenda, the rains spoilt our plans. The Bintang Walk, Sungei Wang Plaza, Lot 10 and KLCC Suria Mall will satisfy the highest degree of shopoholics. Here are some of the pictures.

The pride of KL, the Petronas Twin Towers with the Skybridge, view from the KLCC park

Atop the Petronas Skybridge

At the Aquaria, KL

Over a pot of tea at the Tea Plantation at Cameron Highlands, overlooking the terraced tea gardens

A bunch of large, sweet smelling roses at the Rose Center, Cameron Highlands

Lady Shoe - One of the exotic plants at the Rose Center, Cameron Highland, Penang

A flock of noisy parrots in KL Bird park

Mangosteen, a fruit with a not-so-great appearance and a sweet, tart juicy interior, that will make you fall in love with it! Appearances are deceptive after all!

If you ever smell a durian fruit, you'll never forget it in your life! I did not dare to taste this one though...

-----------------------------------
JFI Reminder

We just got back home yesterday after being away for over 10 days. I was checking mail for keeping track of JFI - Chillies entries, from the WiFi spots in KL. Today, it was found that 9 of the entries were sitting in the spam folder.

This is a reminder for all those who are interested in participating in the Jihva for Ingredients - Chillies that entries will have to be sent in as per instructions before Midnight 2nd August Indian Standard Time ( GMT + 5:30 hours ). In case you are unable to post and send your entry by the last date, you may link up your post to the round-up, so that readers will be able to view your entry in the links.

How to make a Mojito and New Year's Eve in Goa

Warning -
This is a weekend fun post - or rather a slight diversion from our weekday healthy and weighty matters!

Candolim beach

I'm not a sucker for cocktails. Too much sugar syrup and the weird colours are enough to put me off. But Mojito (pronounced MOHITO) is different from your regular cocktail. We were ushering in 2007 in Goa, the hip and happening Baga and Candolim beaches in North Goa. The last I'd been there was for my office picnic in the summer of 2004 which was to the Ramada resort in South Goa. We had pretty much the whole beach to our crazy bunch, the DJ playing music all night and free booze flowing. All this in an office picnic and more...I used to work one cool ad agency, before you all start imagining about where I used to work - haha!


New Year's Eve in Goa
More about our New year's Eve visit - Candolim is a beach where most of the charters from UK and Scotland land. Pretty much every local speaks English with a Brit accent - because that's the only English they hear and learn and that's what matters to their business.

View from Chiplun enroute to Goa

We drove down from Bombay to Goa. It was almost a 12 hour drive, and we reached there by nightfall on the 29th. The whole of 30th was spent lolling around on the beach chairs and the warm beach waters. The who's who were there trying to chill out and yet be seen! The time we weren't in the water, we were on the beach chairs reading a book, trying to protect ourself from the fury of the sun, while the 'solarically' deprived people were trying to expose every inch of their skin to get that fashionable tan which we Indians are inherently born with. Well, atleast I am!

( On the mention of tan - I always recollect that episode of Seinfeld where Kramer goes off to sleep in a tanning salone and comes home all browned up like a chocolate cookie! )

As much as I'd like to, I can't share with you my beach pics (except for a sneak peek) as those were the days before I had shed off my excesses!

Sky, Water and Earth

Britto's at Baga Beach, Bardez, North Goa

On the 31st afternoon, we landed at Britto's - a restaurant & bar on Baga beach. This is 'the place' everyone is Goa wants to see and be seen at. The place was throbbing with life, style, food and ofcourse mojito ! Landing up there at 2 pm for lunch wasn't a great idea after all, we were some 203 on the waiting list and people inside wanted to hang out for some more (and some more) time. So the best option was to start guzzling on the most popular drink in the house, from the bar counter at the entrance. Boy! They do know how to make their business roll.

This is a beautiful looking drink in a broad pint glass with a bunch of mint leaves stuck in and some wedges of lemon. If you just saw it, you'd think it's flavoured water - the way they serve it in US with a huge slice of lime. But one sip, and you'll realise that it's a different story altogether. If you gulp it down, you'll forget what the story was!!

I hadn't heard of Mojito until that day and got hooked to it instantly. The fresh flavours, the warm sea breeze, the ambience, the ubercool people - plus the drink had that kind of effect on me!

Now, whenever I recreate it at home, I just have to close my eyes and I'm in Goa on New year's Eve. If you are too far away from Goa, trying making a Mojito at home and I promise you'll feel much closer to the sea!

This week's Friday Food Video - How to make a Mojito Cocktail
If you cannot see the video below, click here to view.



More on Mojito here

Technorati tags: Goa, Mojito, Candolim, Baga beach, Britto's

How to make a Mojito and New Year's Eve in Goa

Posted by admin

Warning -
This is a weekend fun post - or rather a slight diversion from our weekday healthy and weighty matters!

Candolim beach

I'm not a sucker for cocktails. Too much sugar syrup and the weird colours are enough to put me off. But Mojito (pronounced MOHITO) is different from your regular cocktail. We were ushering in 2007 in Goa, the hip and happening Baga and Candolim beaches in North Goa. The last I'd been there was for my office picnic in the summer of 2004 which was to the Ramada resort in South Goa. We had pretty much the whole beach to our crazy bunch, the DJ playing music all night and free booze flowing. All this in an office picnic and more...I used to work one cool ad agency, before you all start imagining about where I used to work - haha!


New Year's Eve in Goa
More about our New year's Eve visit - Candolim is a beach where most of the charters from UK and Scotland land. Pretty much every local speaks English with a Brit accent - because that's the only English they hear and learn and that's what matters to their business.

View from Chiplun enroute to Goa

We drove down from Bombay to Goa. It was almost a 12 hour drive, and we reached there by nightfall on the 29th. The whole of 30th was spent lolling around on the beach chairs and the warm beach waters. The who's who were there trying to chill out and yet be seen! The time we weren't in the water, we were on the beach chairs reading a book, trying to protect ourself from the fury of the sun, while the 'solarically' deprived people were trying to expose every inch of their skin to get that fashionable tan which we Indians are inherently born with. Well, atleast I am!

( On the mention of tan - I always recollect that episode of Seinfeld where Kramer goes off to sleep in a tanning salone and comes home all browned up like a chocolate cookie! )

As much as I'd like to, I can't share with you my beach pics (except for a sneak peek) as those were the days before I had shed off my excesses!

Sky, Water and Earth

Britto's at Baga Beach, Bardez, North Goa

On the 31st afternoon, we landed at Britto's - a restaurant & bar on Baga beach. This is 'the place' everyone is Goa wants to see and be seen at. The place was throbbing with life, style, food and ofcourse mojito ! Landing up there at 2 pm for lunch wasn't a great idea after all, we were some 203 on the waiting list and people inside wanted to hang out for some more (and some more) time. So the best option was to start guzzling on the most popular drink in the house, from the bar counter at the entrance. Boy! They do know how to make their business roll.

This is a beautiful looking drink in a broad pint glass with a bunch of mint leaves stuck in and some wedges of lemon. If you just saw it, you'd think it's flavoured water - the way they serve it in US with a huge slice of lime. But one sip, and you'll realise that it's a different story altogether. If you gulp it down, you'll forget what the story was!!

I hadn't heard of Mojito until that day and got hooked to it instantly. The fresh flavours, the warm sea breeze, the ambience, the ubercool people - plus the drink had that kind of effect on me!

Now, whenever I recreate it at home, I just have to close my eyes and I'm in Goa on New year's Eve. If you are too far away from Goa, trying making a Mojito at home and I promise you'll feel much closer to the sea!

This week's Friday Food Video - How to make a Mojito Cocktail
If you cannot see the video below, click here to view.



More on Mojito here

Technorati tags: Goa, Mojito, Candolim, Baga beach, Britto's

Murud Janjira

Silence

Flight

Peace

Unusual fruits ! (Bats)

Serenity

The sound of the sea, a hammock and a book - Bliss!

Flying away...

Vaishali was bang on in guessing. It was Murud Janjira indeed. 170 Kms from Bombay, an hours drive from the more popular Alibag. In fact she was so sure that she even asked me to go visit the vegetable market there. Since we were there for only 24 hours and because the sea was so inviting, we didn't think of going anyplace else. Don't the pictures say it all?

I'm glad my readers have liked the Chettinad Recipes' resource. I shall be updating it regularly with recipes found from various sources. As and when I try out something, I shall post it here too. Stay tuned for a slightly modified Chettinad Tomato Pacchidi ( Chettinad style lentils with tomatoes) and that will be my 100th blog post !

Tags:

Murud Janjira, Maharashtra tourism, beach resort

Murud Janjira

Posted by admin

Silence

Flight

Peace

Unusual fruits ! (Bats)

Serenity

The sound of the sea, a hammock and a book - Bliss!

Flying away...

Vaishali was bang on in guessing. It was Murud Janjira indeed. 170 Kms from Bombay, an hours drive from the more popular Alibag. In fact she was so sure that she even asked me to go visit the vegetable market there. Since we were there for only 24 hours and because the sea was so inviting, we didn't think of going anyplace else. Don't the pictures say it all?

I'm glad my readers have liked the Chettinad Recipes' resource. I shall be updating it regularly with recipes found from various sources. As and when I try out something, I shall post it here too. Stay tuned for a slightly modified Chettinad Tomato Pacchidi ( Chettinad style lentils with tomatoes) and that will be my 100th blog post !

Tags:

Murud Janjira, Maharashtra tourism, beach resort

I'm off for the weekend & things you can look forward to

Am off to a beach for the weekend...Here are some pics of the place- (Courtesy: Google images). I'm sure the people from in and around Maharashtra will be able to take a guess! Wanna try?

Shall be back on Monday with some BEAUTIFUL pics of the seaside.

Meanwhile shall leave you with some recipes I've been collecting. It's a Chettinad recipe collection.

No, I'm not from Chettinad. But just one brush with that food left me longing for more. Sadly, there are no Chettinad joints in Bombay. So, the only way I can satisfy my yearning is to make it at home, with the aid of some authentic recipes from arusuvai.com. You can do that too if you could read Tamil.

I've been translating some of the vegetarian recipes and uploading on this blog- Chettinad Recipes. No frills there, just a translation of the recipe in Tamil into English. Yes ladies, I can read and write Tamil too :) Please feel free to peep in and try your own variations of those recipes. The chilli content in most of them is on the higher side, which you may need to tone down.

I tried making the Paruppu Tomato Pacchidi (a kind of tomato dal) today and the results were very good. You'll find the recipe on the other blog, but then I've a little modification, which I shall duly post.

Dinner was the Chettinad style Tur Dal with tomatoes and Dahi Bhindi from Tarla Dalal's Cooking with1 tsp oil. The bhindi turned out yummy without much of slaving. Shall post that too when I'm back.

Meanwhile, a big credit is due.

Saakshi, this one's for you!

This is to Saakshi of Healthy Home Cooking who's recipe for Bisi Bele Huli Anna was so accurate and authentic that everyone including my mom, dad and aunt were licking their fingers. I personally felt it was the best rice recipe I've ever made. All thanks to Saakshi for sharing this wonderful recipe. I had to make a few modifications like pressure cooking the rice and lentils and using lesser quantity of coriander seeds, but that was about it. Guys, if you have the remotest liking for South Indian food, this one is a must try.

I shall be posting the round up of WBB # 5 once I'm back, with the announcement of the theme and rules for WBB # 6. So, stay tuned !

Tags:

Chettinad recipes, Bisi Bele Huli Anna

I'm off for the weekend & things you can look forward to

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Am off to a beach for the weekend...Here are some pics of the place- (Courtesy: Google images). I'm sure the people from in and around Maharashtra will be able to take a guess! Wanna try?

Shall be back on Monday with some BEAUTIFUL pics of the seaside.

Meanwhile shall leave you with some recipes I've been collecting. It's a Chettinad recipe collection.

No, I'm not from Chettinad. But just one brush with that food left me longing for more. Sadly, there are no Chettinad joints in Bombay. So, the only way I can satisfy my yearning is to make it at home, with the aid of some authentic recipes from arusuvai.com. You can do that too if you could read Tamil.

I've been translating some of the vegetarian recipes and uploading on this blog- Chettinad Recipes. No frills there, just a translation of the recipe in Tamil into English. Yes ladies, I can read and write Tamil too :) Please feel free to peep in and try your own variations of those recipes. The chilli content in most of them is on the higher side, which you may need to tone down.

I tried making the Paruppu Tomato Pacchidi (a kind of tomato dal) today and the results were very good. You'll find the recipe on the other blog, but then I've a little modification, which I shall duly post.

Dinner was the Chettinad style Tur Dal with tomatoes and Dahi Bhindi from Tarla Dalal's Cooking with1 tsp oil. The bhindi turned out yummy without much of slaving. Shall post that too when I'm back.

Meanwhile, a big credit is due.

Saakshi, this one's for you!

This is to Saakshi of Healthy Home Cooking who's recipe for Bisi Bele Huli Anna was so accurate and authentic that everyone including my mom, dad and aunt were licking their fingers. I personally felt it was the best rice recipe I've ever made. All thanks to Saakshi for sharing this wonderful recipe. I had to make a few modifications like pressure cooking the rice and lentils and using lesser quantity of coriander seeds, but that was about it. Guys, if you have the remotest liking for South Indian food, this one is a must try.

I shall be posting the round up of WBB # 5 once I'm back, with the announcement of the theme and rules for WBB # 6. So, stay tuned !

Tags:

Chettinad recipes, Bisi Bele Huli Anna

Back and some good tidings!

Am back from my little vacation in Coorg and my cousin's wedding in Mysore ! Coorg was fantastic. The highlights of the visit were hobnobbing with elephants ranging from 2 years to 50 years at the Dubare Elephant Training Camp and walking around the coffee plantations. Plenty of coffee, pepper and cardamom there-enough to keep the foodie in me happy ! (Pictures below)

The wedding was superb, all of us cousins and our aunts and relatives getting together after a long time. And don't get me started on the food- I won't be able to stop. But I can't stop myself from telling you that the guests will remember the wedding feasts for a long long time.

I was welcomed back into Bombay by two very happy tidings, surprisingly BOTH from Switzerland. One, I finally received the BPW postcard from Pam of Posie's Place, a lovely card that she photographed and made herself. (Picture below)

Secondly- my Mumbai marketplace entry was declared winner for Food Destination-2 (My local green market) hosted by Makiko of Just Hungry. This is my first brush with winning a blog contest and I'm still on cloud 9.

Playing with the not-so-small baby elephant at Dubare

Extreme-Close up

Sunrays filtering down through the leaves of the Liberia Coffee tree (the only coffee plant that grows to over 10 feet)

Pam's card for me

Back and some good tidings!

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Am back from my little vacation in Coorg and my cousin's wedding in Mysore ! Coorg was fantastic. The highlights of the visit were hobnobbing with elephants ranging from 2 years to 50 years at the Dubare Elephant Training Camp and walking around the coffee plantations. Plenty of coffee, pepper and cardamom there-enough to keep the foodie in me happy ! (Pictures below)

The wedding was superb, all of us cousins and our aunts and relatives getting together after a long time. And don't get me started on the food- I won't be able to stop. But I can't stop myself from telling you that the guests will remember the wedding feasts for a long long time.

I was welcomed back into Bombay by two very happy tidings, surprisingly BOTH from Switzerland. One, I finally received the BPW postcard from Pam of Posie's Place, a lovely card that she photographed and made herself. (Picture below)

Secondly- my Mumbai marketplace entry was declared winner for Food Destination-2 (My local green market) hosted by Makiko of Just Hungry. This is my first brush with winning a blog contest and I'm still on cloud 9.

Playing with the not-so-small baby elephant at Dubare

Extreme-Close up

Sunrays filtering down through the leaves of the Liberia Coffee tree (the only coffee plant that grows to over 10 feet)

Pam's card for me

Off on a short break

Friends,
Am off to Coorg and Mysore for a week...Will be back soon with loads of pictures and inspirations...

Cya soon!

Off on a short break

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Friends,
Am off to Coorg and Mysore for a week...Will be back soon with loads of pictures and inspirations...

Cya soon!

Food Destinations # 2- Scenes from a Mumbai Marketplace

Just noticed that the theme for this month's Food destinations is 'My local greenmarket' and it would be a shame if I weren't able to share my favourite market scenes with fellow foodies. I shall be updating this post with more marketplace pics to make it more worthy for the wonderful event hosted by Maki of Just hungry.

---------------

Market: Vile Parle East Vegetable Market, Mumbai, India

Located on the station road with 70 odd stalls, vendors sell all kinds of vegetables, fruits, herbs. Only fresh produce is sold here.

Open all year round

Timing: 10 am to 10 pm

Prices of vegetables vary from day to day and a little bit of bargaining is always acceptable as well as fun.

The vendors mostly hail from Northern parts of India, they have made Mumbai their home.

Vegetables are grown in the out-skirts of the city and are brought in by trucks. There is no refrigeration and any other such modern amenities available in this marketplace.

Milder light green chillies, fresh ginger and dark green fiery chillies

Tomatoes-15 Rs/ Kg

Fruit stall-mostly tropical fruits like Bananas, Papaya, Chikoos, Pomegranates, Custard Apple and some others

Radish and green onions

Awaiting business

I had been avoiding my weekly trip to the vegetable market since a month because the rains in Bombay turn the entire market place into a slushy mess. We do have 3 supermarkets around our place, and they carry every kind of vegetable-even those that aren't considered local here, for eg. Zucchini, Celery, Peppers in all colours, red cabbage, Baby tomatoes etc. However I desist from buying the 'exotic' stuff-mainly because they are generally stale (Poor turnover?) However, herbs like basil and parsely are quite popular.

Green Markets here are in the open-mostly outside of railway stations, so that people getting off the trains can pick up the stuff they want on their way home. Or atleast, that's my guess. Most of the vegetable vendors are called 'bhaiyyas'. In local parlance, they are called 'bhaaji market'-bhaaji meaning veggies.

There are some vendors that sell just one vegetable-for eg. Tomatoes. (See tomato man above) Some that sell one type of stuff, for eg. Greens like different kinds of spinach, spring onions, coriander, dill etc, and some that sell a little of everything.

The market that I go to is considerably large, extending onto two whole streets and on both sides of each street and everyone shouting the price of his wares-especially if it is CHEAP. (at this point, I strongly regret not having taken a pic of the marketplace in my so many visits-will post one soon enough ). Vendors sit behind HUGE mounds of green peas, beans, tomatoes. Huge as in a kid could be standing inside and not seen!

A friend of mine who has once come visiting from Bangalore was quite amazed to see the variety and quantity of stuff. It was then I realised the advantage I had in being able to procure such fresh stuff plus having a variety of stuff to choose from.

Trucks bringing in sacks of vegetables from the wholesale markets obstruct the street. Then there are small boys-'mobile vendors' as I call them, selling stuff like lemons or drumsticks. Especially so when they are available cheap like 10 lemons for 5 Rupees, or 5 drumsticks for 10 Rupees and they have this nasty habit of calling every female-"Aunty" despite her age. They have another nasty habit of sticking these things under your nose and forcing you to buy their wares or they will block your way with the long drumsticks, until you push them away or buy them.

It's total chaos there. I realised on my last visit that I'd prefer this 'Bazaar' therapy anyday to a retail therapy. Probably stems from the market visits I used to make as a child holding my granny's hand. The smells, the sounds, the whole atmosphere is probably very deep rooted in anyone who grew up in India.

What I got home

Vegetables-

French Beans, Carrots, Ridge Gourd, Giant Cucumber, Radish, Tomatoes, Snake Gourd

Herbs-

Coriander, Baby Fenugreek

Fruits-

Lemons (the lemons here are much smaller and skin is thinner), Papaya, Pomegranate

Sunday lunch with ingredients fresh from the market

• Carrot-Peanut Salad
• Radish sambhar (Radish and lentils)
• Rice
• Snake Gourd Curry
  

Tags:

Mumbai market, Marketplace, Food destinations 2

Food Destinations # 2- Scenes from a Mumbai Marketplace

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Just noticed that the theme for this month's Food destinations is 'My local greenmarket' and it would be a shame if I weren't able to share my favourite market scenes with fellow foodies. I shall be updating this post with more marketplace pics to make it more worthy for the wonderful event hosted by Maki of Just hungry.

---------------

Market: Vile Parle East Vegetable Market, Mumbai, India

Located on the station road with 70 odd stalls, vendors sell all kinds of vegetables, fruits, herbs. Only fresh produce is sold here.

Open all year round

Timing: 10 am to 10 pm

Prices of vegetables vary from day to day and a little bit of bargaining is always acceptable as well as fun.

The vendors mostly hail from Northern parts of India, they have made Mumbai their home.

Vegetables are grown in the out-skirts of the city and are brought in by trucks. There is no refrigeration and any other such modern amenities available in this marketplace.

Milder light green chillies, fresh ginger and dark green fiery chillies

Tomatoes-15 Rs/ Kg

Fruit stall-mostly tropical fruits like Bananas, Papaya, Chikoos, Pomegranates, Custard Apple and some others

Radish and green onions

Awaiting business

I had been avoiding my weekly trip to the vegetable market since a month because the rains in Bombay turn the entire market place into a slushy mess. We do have 3 supermarkets around our place, and they carry every kind of vegetable-even those that aren't considered local here, for eg. Zucchini, Celery, Peppers in all colours, red cabbage, Baby tomatoes etc. However I desist from buying the 'exotic' stuff-mainly because they are generally stale (Poor turnover?) However, herbs like basil and parsely are quite popular.

Green Markets here are in the open-mostly outside of railway stations, so that people getting off the trains can pick up the stuff they want on their way home. Or atleast, that's my guess. Most of the vegetable vendors are called 'bhaiyyas'. In local parlance, they are called 'bhaaji market'-bhaaji meaning veggies.

There are some vendors that sell just one vegetable-for eg. Tomatoes. (See tomato man above) Some that sell one type of stuff, for eg. Greens like different kinds of spinach, spring onions, coriander, dill etc, and some that sell a little of everything.

The market that I go to is considerably large, extending onto two whole streets and on both sides of each street and everyone shouting the price of his wares-especially if it is CHEAP. (at this point, I strongly regret not having taken a pic of the marketplace in my so many visits-will post one soon enough ). Vendors sit behind HUGE mounds of green peas, beans, tomatoes. Huge as in a kid could be standing inside and not seen!

A friend of mine who has once come visiting from Bangalore was quite amazed to see the variety and quantity of stuff. It was then I realised the advantage I had in being able to procure such fresh stuff plus having a variety of stuff to choose from.

Trucks bringing in sacks of vegetables from the wholesale markets obstruct the street. Then there are small boys-'mobile vendors' as I call them, selling stuff like lemons or drumsticks. Especially so when they are available cheap like 10 lemons for 5 Rupees, or 5 drumsticks for 10 Rupees and they have this nasty habit of calling every female-"Aunty" despite her age. They have another nasty habit of sticking these things under your nose and forcing you to buy their wares or they will block your way with the long drumsticks, until you push them away or buy them.

It's total chaos there. I realised on my last visit that I'd prefer this 'Bazaar' therapy anyday to a retail therapy. Probably stems from the market visits I used to make as a child holding my granny's hand. The smells, the sounds, the whole atmosphere is probably very deep rooted in anyone who grew up in India.

What I got home

Vegetables-

French Beans, Carrots, Ridge Gourd, Giant Cucumber, Radish, Tomatoes, Snake Gourd

Herbs-

Coriander, Baby Fenugreek

Fruits-

Lemons (the lemons here are much smaller and skin is thinner), Papaya, Pomegranate

Sunday lunch with ingredients fresh from the market

• Carrot-Peanut Salad
• Radish sambhar (Radish and lentils)
• Rice
• Snake Gourd Curry
  

Tags:

Mumbai market, Marketplace, Food destinations 2

Pebble beach- Brighton

Sunny afternoon on the Brighton Beach


The ruins of the old pier


She sells sea shells on the sea shore

Pebble beach- Brighton

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Sunny afternoon on the Brighton Beach


The ruins of the old pier


She sells sea shells on the sea shore

Which place does this remind you of?

This is a clue to one of the places I visited last week in London ! Please, people from London, I'm sure it's only too obvious, this is open for the others... Will post more pictures from this place after a little bit of guessing is done.

Clue: It's in a university town

Which place does this remind you of?

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This is a clue to one of the places I visited last week in London ! Please, people from London, I'm sure it's only too obvious, this is open for the others... Will post more pictures from this place after a little bit of guessing is done.

Clue: It's in a university town

Summer Colors of London

Summer Colors of London

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