Am I Really Still In India?

Arriving into New Delhi, I was expecting the worst. Articles and fellow travelers portray Delhi as a congested, crowded, dishonest tout-filled city choked in a smog of pollution. However, the Delhi I find is modern, clean, and bustling - an ancient capital city on the brink of an urban revival.

As the host of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in October, New Delhi, is in a frenzy of infrastructure improvements. Many of the British era colonial buildings around Connaught Place are getting refurbished with a new coat of paint. I have not seen this many people sweeping the streets anywhere else in India, and shockingly, there are trash cans located conveniently all over the city! For the first time in weeks, while riding in an auto rickshaw around the city, I don't have to hold my breath. Thanks to a program to convert all auto rickshaws to run on compressed natural gas instead of diesel, the pollution associated with the Delhi of the last decade has largely disappeared!

The area around Old Delhi is still plagued with congestion around its narrow streets. But the many bazaars in that area surpasses all other bazaars and markets I have seen anywhere else in India, both in size and scale of their offerings. From spice markets to cotton alley, jewelery to stationery, the entire district is a kaleidescope of wares from all over India, crammed into narrow alleys reminiscent of Varanasi.

The Metro system in Delhi is by far the city's crown jewel. Superbly clean, modern and efficient, it could easily hold its ground against the some of the world's best like London's Tube and Singapore's MRT, making New York's subway look terribly third world! Not to mention, it is possibly also one of the cheapest metro rides in the world, and the automated machines wouldn't charge you more, just because you are a foreigner!

Walking along the Rajpath, with the President's residence on one end, and the India Gate on the other, one could easily mistake it for the Washington DC mall. With impeccably manicured gardens, wide boulevards, reflecting pools, and huge colonial government building, this is the capital that the British rulers of India's tumultuous past built.

Just like the rest of the city, the people of New Delhi is a clash of extremes. Coolies in Old Delhi carrying huge loads of commodities on their heads, while bankers in suits and ties are trading futures along Parliament Street. While the young and the hip are sipping coffee at countless coffee shops, and dancing the night away at clubs more befitting of Las Vegas, their parents are sipping chai and chatting with friends on the sidewalk.

New Delhi is a melting pot of everything uniquely Indian. Old and new; colonial and contemporary; punctuated with peaceful gardens and rowdy bazaars. You can find 30 Rupee thalis, and 30 Dollar entrées within blocks of each other. Like many places all over India, New Delhi is ready to be reborn. A rebirth that will make it one of the great modern cities of the world!

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City of Gold

Imagine a land where all men are equal, regardless of race, religion, nationality or social status, the buildings are made of gold and marble, and anyone can stay and eat for free when you are there. Now add in a dose of typical Indian idiosyncrasies like pushing and shoving, massive crowds, and where foreigners are treated like celebrities, and you have pictured the Golden Temple in the city of Amritsar.

The Golden Temple is revered by turbaned Sikhs as Sikhism's holiest shrine. Set in the middle of a large pool, the copper and gold clad gurdwara glistens in the evening sun. Around the pool is a marble walkway intricately framed by a columned veranda and inlaid with a mosaic of patterns. Walking around the marble walkway, the friendly Sikhs will constantly come up to you initiating conversation.
“What is your name?”
“Where are you from?”
“Snap?” (The universal request to take a picture of or with you)
After about the 20th “snap” request, I am beginning to feel like the subject of an episode of TMZ.

However, to truly experience the Sikh hospitality and the all-inclusive nature of the Sikh religion, one has to stay in the free pilgrim dormitory and eat at the free kitchen when you are at the Golden Temple (donations welcome and recommended). All pilgrims are housed in large complexes adjacent to the temple. The dormitory is basic, but clean and comfortable. There is a separate section reserved for foreigners with about 30 beds available. Standing guard outside the “foreigner's dorm” is a ferocious yellow turbaned guard welding a spear! At night, when all of the beds have been filled, blankets are laid out in the central courtyard, and all over the temple complex, allowing every Indian pilgrim a place to rest for the night.

The massive dining hall with hundreds of volunteers cooking, cleaning and serving pilgrims can only be described as organized chaos! Feeding an estimated 40,000 pilgrims each day, it runs continuously from about 4am in the morning till well past midnight. The dining hall has two levels, each about the size of ten volleyball courts. As you enter the dining complex, you are handed a molded metal tray, a water bowl and a spoon. Following the surging crowds, you are then pushed towards a set of doors. As soon as the doors are thrown open, there is a stampede to get in! Pushing and shoving, a thousand pilgrims rush through several small doorways and run to claim a spot on floor mats laid out along the length of the hall. Within minutes, the entire hall is filled, and an army of servers come along scooping heaps of dal, curries and handing out chapatis to the hungry diners. You may eat as much as you want, and seconds are readily available, but in less than 10 minutes, guards come around urging diners to finish up and leave towards the far end of the hall. In an act of supreme efficiency, an automated floor cleaner appears and wipes the floor clean, sucking up any spilled curries, chapatis, or the stray slow-eater before the next surge of hungry diners may be accommodated.

The Sikh philosophy of equality, voluntarism and charity is truly remarkable. Everything at the Golden Temple from the dormitories to the kitchen operate through volunteers and donations. Even a Maharajah once sat and ate with the commoners in the community kitchen when he visited the golden temple. If this model can be replicated to soup kitchens and shelters around the world, hunger and homelessness may become a thing of the past.

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Showers of Blessing

The following story is really too funny not to share! At this point, I am not really sure if I have the best of luck, or possibly the worst! But one thing for sure, the many Gods in India are having a great time playing tricks on me!

Leaving Rishikesh, I was on my way to see the famed Sikh Golden Temple, and the journey would involve taking a local bus back to Haridwar and then catching a 10 hour train ride to Amritsar. Having cleansed my soul by bathing in the Ganges just days before, and having gotten two Ayurvedic massages in as many days, I was basking in both spiritual and physical bliss.

As I was walking out of the Bandari Swiss Cottage, down the hill to catch an auto rickshaw to the bus station, I suddenly felt a rush of warm liquid hitting my head. It flowed down the side of my face, soaking my t-shirt and began trickling off my arm. I jump to the side and look up, curious to see where it was coming from. Staring back at me, are two bright pink cheeks. There, sitting high on a branch, a monkey had just pissed on me!

With my friend Bron in stitches, I shrug and wipe what I could off my face. “Just another day in India!”, I say. It would be 14 more hours before I could wash it off.

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The Big Dip – Kumbh Mela, Haridwar 2010

Approximately every three years or so, when the planets are aligned in a specific way, the Kumbh Mela festival is celebrated, and Hindu devotees from all over India make a pilgrimage to one of four holy sites to bathe in the Ganga (Ganges) river. The sites are determined by how the planets are aligned, and this year, the location is at Haridwar, and the festival is celebrated from Jan 14 to Apr 28, with eleven specific dates chosen as the holiest and most fruitful days to bathe in the river.

The origin the Kumbh dates back to a time when a fierce and bitter battle between the Devtas (Gods) and Asuras (Demons) churned the primordial seas and a Kalasha (pot containing the nectar of immortality) was recovered. To prevent the Asuras from claiming the Kalasha, the Devtas hid this pot in twelve locations. Four of these locations are believed to be on earth, namely - Haridwar, Prayag, Ujjain and Nasik, while the rest are thought to be in heaven. During the struggle over the Kalasha, it is believed that some drops of nectar fell onto these four earthly locations, who each plays host to the Kumbh festival approximately once every twelve years.

So when in Rome...or should I say Haridwar, I worked up the courage (with a lot of encouragement from my friend Bron) to do what the locals do, and bathe in the river. Hindus believe that bathing in the Holy Ganga during the Kumbh cleanses the bather of all sin and evils, and grants them salvation. Figuring that I could probably use some good Karma and a break from my recent spate of bug-in-my-food episodes, I strip down to my underwear, and wade into the Ganga, drawing looks of amusement from a rowdy group of Indian guys who seem more interested in taking pictures with me, than of their own chance at attaining salvation.

Located in the Himalayan foothills, the waters of the Ganga at Haridwar is a lot cleaner, and refreshingly cool, in contrast to the suffocating humidity in the air. It is estimated that over 10 million devotees will bathe in the Ganga at Haridwar over the course of the festival.

Being that this was one of the eleven holiest days to bathe in the river (March 24), the banks were filled with the religious making their dip. At around 4pm, a special ceremony involving Nada Sadhus (Holy men, regarded as saints by Hindus who leave their families and abandon everything – including clothes - to devote their lives to God) was performed. Their Guru, dressed in nothing but a bright silver chastity belt made offerings of fruit, flowers and milk to the Mother Ganga. Stark naked, with long dreadlocks and covered in gray ash, the Sadhus wait patiently on the waters edge, observing the ceremony. All of a sudden, with a bang of drums and the clash of cymbals, all the Sadhus jump into the river together, frantically splashing around, kicking off their ceremonial afternoon bath to cheers from the crowd and a rain of marigold confetti.

After the bathing, the festivities continues as the crowd surges toward the main street. Lead by a troop of traditional Indian drummers, the naked Sadhus entertain the crowd in a parade down the main thoroughfare. To the beat of drums and loud music blaring from loud speakers fixed atop a car, they prance around, doing handstands and cartwheels, and mock displays of sword fights. The crowd is enjoying it, chanting, clapping, and dancing on the streets.

Moving through the sea of people, I am unusually calm. I am being pushed on all sides, but I just move with the flow, smiling, laughing and cheering with the crowd. Maybe I am getting used to the craziness that come with all Indian cities; maybe the refreshing dip in the Ganga lifted my mood; or maybe there is some truth to the powers of the Ganga after all – I feel lighter, happier, as if all the anger and impatience in me has been washed away.

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“Yes, We are less dirty...”

As a backpacker in India, I can't help but feel that I am constantly dirty! From riding in dirty buses and trains, to cities and towns clogged in a haze of pollution, I no longer cringe when I step on cow poop, and I am re-wearing my clothes more times before laundering them. So it seems almost ironic that a restaurant should have a sign proclaiming “Yes, We are less dirty...”!

Snaking through narrow alleyways teeming with shops near the Dasaswamedh Ghat in Varanasi, I was with a group of Israeli and Polish travelers I met earlier in the day at the Guest House we were staying at. It was late, and we decided to have dinner at the Apsara Restaurant, after our initial recommended restaurant (a German Bakery directly across the alley) was fully seated, and the wait for a table was going to be longer than any of us could bear.

When the first entrée was brought out – a pasta in a white sauce, there, laying on its back, with its legs spread out in full glory was a dead bug! From my angle at the end of the table, it looked like a giant fly. Others claim was more likely a cockroach or a beetle. Since I seem to have a thing going with food and bugs lately, I made sure to dig through my pasta when it arrived looking for any “additional ingredients”. While I found none, the thick tomato sauce with mushrooms and cheese over macaroni can be apt at concealing any critters involved. And those crunchy bits I taste in my pasta? I force myself to think of it perhaps as bits of nuts, or fresh celery...pushing any thoughts of crushing exoskeletons as a case of an overactive imagination and silly paranoia.

I am happy to report that as far as I am aware, none of us got sick eating at Apsara Restaurant. Our minds must have been clouded by our growling stomachs when we somehow interpreted the sign “Yes, We are less dirty...” to mean: “Hey, they are less dirty than the other restaurants around here, or possibly less dirty than before...which is a good thing!” The second indication that something was amiss was the fact that the entire restaurant was completely empty, even though it is listed in the Lonely Planet Guidebook, when all other restaurants in the vicinity were full of diners. The main dining area looked well kept and there was nothing to indicate that this restaurant was any less hygienic than others in the area. However, the food was only average, and after an experience like this, I would not recommend Apsara to other travelers. After all, they are less dirty, but then again, thats all relative!

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Trains, Buses and Cockroaches

"You want to go to Delhi today?" The man behind the desk asks. Wide-eyed with a look of disbelief, while sneaking a glance at the clock on the wall. Yes, it is 12:15pm and the train is scheduled to depart at 4:30pm - but isn't a travel agent's job to book last minute train tickets for fickle minded backpackers? After punching into an old computer for a few minutes, I am told, with a slight head-bob that "everything is wait-listed", and that my options are to get on the wait-list, or go to the train station and see if they have any tickets in the “Tourist Quota” still available.

I decide to try for the tourist quota, and hop into an auto rickshaw towards the train station. Unlike many of the larger train stations, the ticket office in the Jaisalmer station does not operate a special line for tourists. So I join the regular line, almost thirty people deep and pressed up against the person in front of me! (In India, the norm is to stand in line pressed right up against the person in front. It is an accepted fact that if you leave even one molecule of air between you and the person in front, someone will notice it and cut in front of you!) Its been forty-five minutes, and the line has barely moved. I am antsy from having my personal space violated, so I call it quits, and head back into town on another auto rickshaw, hoping that I will get lucky with the wait-list. It is now just past 2:00pm!

Back at the travel agency, I am stuck behind a couple that is taking forever to book their train tickets. I wait twenty minutes more before leaving again, this time to an internet cafe, convinced that I can put myself on the wait-list via the web a lot quicker this way. At this point, I'm not sure if its Murphy's Law, or perhaps just bad Karma (after all this is India), but sitting at an internet cafe (it is just after 2:30pm), I discover that you can't book a ticket online when it is less than two hours to departure! So back to the travel agency I go. Between more weird stares and glances at the clock, I finally get a wait-listed non air-conditioned sleeper ticket to Delhi, with instructions to come back in about an hour to check if I have a confirmed berth or not.

Exactly one hour later, I'm back at the travel agency for the forth time this afternoon to check on the status of my ticket. Yup, it has got to be bad Karma! The train is completely full. No seat! Weighing my options, I am determined to leave Jaisalmer today no matter what. I have come this far, and I won't give up! In the end I book a ticket on a non air-conditioned sleeper bus to Jaipur (located between Jaisalmer and Delhi) departing at 5:30pm that afternoon.

Inter-city buses in India, especially private buses can be a hit or miss. Some, like the first bus ride I took provided luxurious full sleeper beds (bunk bed style accommodation with pillows and blankets) in air conditioned comfort. The bus ride from Jaisalmer to Jaipur however, left little to be desired. This particular bus had a seat/sleeper hybrid configuration, with sleeper beds located above a standard row of seats. While I did book myself into a sleeper “cabin” for the 16 hour ride, this bus however, did not have air-conditioning, and the “bed” was absolutely filthy! The area where the head would go was a greasy mess, caked with soot and dust coming in from the open windows, turning the deep red fabric completely black! The privacy curtain on the aisle side had patches of some kind of sticky goo on it (which I refuse to even speculate on what it could be!). To make matters worse, the first few hours of the trip involved driving through the desert in the late afternoon sun. The super heated air blasting in from the open windows provided no reprieve. I lie in my “sleeper bed” drenched in sweat, on my face, a black paste is starting to form, a paste made of sweat, soot, dust and diesel exhaust fumes.

This experience however, was nowhere close to some of the bus-rides-from-hell stories told to me by other travelers. Stories of buses infested with bed bugs, or perverted bus employees jumping into sleeper cabins with solo female travelers. On another overnight bus ride that I took, all the foreign travelers were made to debunk from our sleeper cabins in the middle of the night (even though we paid for it), and forced into seats, so that up to seven local Indians could be packed into a double sleeper cabin made for two.

After a series of uncomfortable bus and train rides over the last two weeks, riding in the air-conditioned comfort of a 3-tier sleeper cabin on a train from Agra to Varanasi was a welcome change. Sleeping, in cool, clean, comfort, I was spoiled by the attentive service which included clean sheets, a blanket and even a pillow. In the morning, vendors came around selling breakfast, and I immediately bought a serving set of vegetable cutlets, an omelet and slices of bread, all the while dreaming of a wonderful breakfast in bed! Little did I expect that as soon as I tear open the little foil packets of food, little cockroaches about ¾ of an inch long would appear all around me! Like vultures to a corpse, they seem to appear out of nowhere, crawling out from the air-conditioning vents and the cracks between the bed and the wall, these little pests swarmed all over my pillow, my blanket and the cabin molding above my head, drawn to the smell of fresh food on my lap!!! In a wave of panic, I am frantically swatting and flicking any cockroach in sight away from me, but I am losing the battle. There are just too many of them. I take two more bites of my food, and lose my appetite. Tossing the remainder of my food away, I clear my sleeping area of every last crumb I can find. With the smell of food gone, the cockroaches disappear as quickly as they had appeared. Sinking back into the shadows, off to find another scent trail, to torment another unsuspecting traveler.

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Taj Mahal

Seeing the Taj Mahal for the first time in person is an experience like no other. The absolute beauty and symmetry of this mausoleum, gleaming in the early morning sunshine simply takes your breath away. Set amid an early morning haze, I caught a rare sight as the morning rays danced between the minarets, slowly rising from the east, and casting shadows and bursts of orange light onto the river beyond.

To avoid the crowds and to see the Taj Mahal at first light, I woke up at 5:30am and was in line at the ticket booth by 6:00am. When the gates finally opened at 6:30am, I was one of the first hundred or so to be let in. And what a sight it was! Since words can do its beauty no justice, I will keep it short, and leave you with some of my favorite pictures taken at the Taj Mahal.

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Into the Desert...on Camel's Back

Riding on a camel through the desert has always been on my "to do" list. Well, sort of. I mean, how cool is it to ride on the great beasts of the arid land? Traveling by camel always conjures up images of wild adventures: of merchants carrying the finest silk, tea, and spices from Asia, through the starry Arabian nights, on the silk route to the West; or the biblical scene of the three wise men bringing their gifts to the new born King. But none of these images in my mind could ever have prepared me for how much my butt would hurt after just 15 minutes on the camel!

Traveling by camel is decidedly NOT the most comfortable way to cross a desert! First, camels are slow. While they can run and trot for short periods of time, they generally walk at a pace akin to a human’s stroll, and every step seems to send a jolt up your tailbone (and other male anatomy parts) into your spine! Now don’t even ask me what happens when they trot!!! Second, whenever you need to get on or off a camel, you have to make them sit down on their knees. And anytime this happens, you feel like you’re about to be thrown face-first into the sand. You have to lean back, and the lean forward, as the front legs buckle and the camel rests on its front knees first before sitting down on its hind legs. So…is this how it feels like to ride on a mechanical bull in a bar? And third, camels, unlike horses, are not very responsive to their rider’s commands. They tend to just do what they please. Camel’s mind: “Mmmm, that thorny bush over there looks delicious! I’m going over there to have a taste!” And no amount of tugging at the reigns will make it change its course.

But aside from a bruised butt and hopefully non-permanent minor damage to my other parts, the two day one night Camel Safari trip was a blast! Together with five other travelers Bron and I met along the way, we spent the mornings and late afternoons trekking across sand dunes and past remote villages on our camels. The peacefulness of the desert contrasted sharply with the rest of India. Broken only by the rhythmic thuds as camel footpads hit the soft sands, and the occasional camel grunts. The hottest part of the day was spent under the shade of a tree: napping, chatting and eating a wonderful lunch prepared by our guide.

  

In the evening, we arrived at a pristine sand dune, which would be our camp for the night. The soft desert sand was like fresh powder on a ski slope! The day was capped off as the sun made its exit, giving us one last fiery burst of orange glow as it slowly descended over the barren horizon.

Later that night, by a campfire, we had the most delicious meal cooked by Mr. Desert himself! Amid laughter and awe, he told us of his humble beginnings as a truck driver, to four-time Mr. Desert winner. Then as if turned onby a flick of a switch, the heavens lit up with a million stars. Truly spectacular!

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Mr. Desert!

Walk into Sahara Travels right outside the fort gates in Jaisalmer, India, and you would be greeted by a huge poster for Jaisalmer Cigarettes. In the poster, a man stands gazing off into the distance, with a full beard, an up-curled mustache, a colorful turban and a pair of piercing hazel-blue eyes.

We had come to Sahara Travels because the "bible" of budget travel, Lonely Planet, had recommended them to be one of the best Camel Safari outfitters in Jaisalmer. "Hello!" A voice booms from the left. In the corner a man is pulling himself off a day bed. He had been watching an old television set tucked in a corner. Slowly walking towards a desk under the cigarette poster, he tells us to sit, smiling and casually waving towards two mismatching chairs. There, in front of us was a man...a full beard, an up-curled mustache, a pair of piercing hazel-blue eyes.
"Wait a minute, is that you in the poster?"
"Yes, that is me." reaching out to shake our hands, "I'm Mr. Desert. What can I do for you?"

Mr. Desert; Bollywood star; model; face of Coke in India; and local celebrity. The story of Mr. Desert goes back to 1988, when the city of Jaisalmer held its first ever Mr. Desert competition (sort of a beauty pageant for men) as part of the Desert Festival. A young truck driver took part that year, and won! After winning the "Mr. Desert" title for the second time in 1989, he decided to leave his truck driving days and join the growing tourism industry in Jaisalmer by opening Sahara Travels, specializing in camel safari tours that were popular with western tourists. Everyday, the now two-time Mr. Desert winner would put on a clean shirt, and sit in his new office by the fort gates waiting for tourists to arrive. And everyday, he would go home empty handed. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and still no tourists came. He was just about to call it quits when a free lance photographer discovered the face he was looking for in Mr. Desert, for a cigarette ad campaign. Signing his first modeling contract allowed Mr. Desert to keep Sahara Travels in business for another six months.

Then one day, a pair of backpackers walked into his office, looking to go on a camel safari. An excited Mr. Desert provided the best service he could give, personally taking them out on the safari, and even cooking dinner for them in the desert sands under a starlit night. The next week, a few more backpackers came, having met the original two backpackers, and hearing of the wonderful time they had with Mr. Desert. And slowly, through word-of-mouth recommendations, the fortunes of Sahara Travels began to change. In 1997, Lonely Planet included Sahara Travels into their recommended list of camel safari outfitters, and the rest is history.

As for Mr. Desert, he won the "Mr. Desert" competition again in 1990 and 1991, after which he was granted the lifetime title of "Mr. Desert Emeritus". He had a cameo appearance in a Bollywood movie, appeared in four television commercials for Coke-Cola and print ads for various brands. To this day, he still cooks dinner for everyone that goes on a camel safari with Sahara Travels, and sits with them by the campfire sharing his story.

Why pick Sahara Travels:
1. Great food - especially the dinner cooked by Mr. Desert himself!
2. You sleep on real beds (about 1 feet off the ground), not blankets on the sand like other outfitters. (You'll be glad for these when the giant black beetles come out of the sand after dusk)
3. Friendly, attentive service with no sales pressure at all. (Can't say the same for many hotels and shops in Jaisalmer!)
4. You get to have dinner and drinks with a Bollywood star (sort of) and hear his story. (Trust me, his original version is so much better!)

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Sand Castles in the Desert

The city of Jaisalmer in western Rajasthan, India is sometimes called the golden city, for its magnificent fort and surrounding city carved and built out of sandstone with some of the most exquisite and intricate carvings in all of India. From a distance, the fort, perched high on a hill resembles a sandcastle, rising out of the golden desert sands.

Unlike other forts found throughout India, this one in Jaisalmer is a living, breathing medieval city, where descendents of the original settlers who came when the city was founded by Prince Jaisal in 1156 still live and work in their ancestral homes. Perched roughly at the center of the silk route, Jaisalmer flourished as a major hub for the trade route between India and the West.

While the city today seems to be overrun with tourists and the resulting touts for everything from guesthouses to shops, it is still easy to wander through the narrow alleys and find hidden treasures of intricately carved buildings, magnificent vistas, and serene Jain temples. Jaisalmer is also the starting point for camel treks through the Thar Desert. My advice would be to avoid the touts as much as possible, and find lodging in the center of town outside the fort (tourists are advised not to stay inside the fort as tourism is putting a huge strain on its infrastructure, causing many parts to collapse). In general, room prices decrease as you move further away from the fort gates. You can easily find rooms for about Rs. 150 in the Gandhi Chowk area (about 10 min walk from the fort gates) or upwards of Rs. 300 closer to the gates. For camel safaris, I highly recommend Sahara Tours with the one and only "Mr. Desert" (review for this tour will be posted soon).

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Recipes - Meenu's Banana Curry

Servings: 4
Recipe courtesy of Meenakshi (Meenu) Jain - Udaipur, India

Ingredients:
2 tbsp Peanut oil
1/2 tsp Whole Cumin Seeds
1/2 tsp Whole Mustard Seeds
4 Ripe Bananas
1/4 Cup Plain Unsweetened Yoghurt
1/5 Cup Water
Curry Spices:
     1 tbsp Ground Coriander Seeds
     3/4 tbsp Chilli Powder
     3/4 tbsp Salt (to taste)
     1/2 tbsp Turmeric
     1/4 tbsp Garam Masala (Ingredients provided below)
Dried Mint (Optional)
Shaved Coconut (Optional)

Preparation:
Heat 2 tbsp peant oil in a saute pan. Add Cumin Seeds and Mustard Seeds and fry for 30s until fragrant. Cut banana into bite size pieces and add to pan. Toss in oil for 30s. Add yoghurt to the pan. Mix curry spices with water and add to pan. Stir to ensure that all the banana is coated in the curry. Simmer on low heat until gravy thickens (about 2 mins). Garnish with dried mint and shaved coconut. Serve.

To adjust spicyness of this dish, adjust quantity of chilli powder and garang masala accordingly.

Garam Masala:
50g Dry Gound Ginger
25g Ground Black Cardamon
10g Finely Ground Black Pepper
10g Ground Cloves
10g Ground Cinnamon

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Recipes - Indian Chai Tea

Servings: 1 cup
Recipe courtesy of Meenakshi (Meenu) Jain - Udaipur, India

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Fresh Milk
1/2 tsp Indian Black Tea Leaves (or 1 teabag)
2 pinch Tea Masala (Ingredients provided below)
1 to 2 tsp Sugar (to taste)

Preparation:
In a pot, bring water and milk to a boil. Add tea leaves and 2 pinches of tea masala. Continue boiling on low heat for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add sugar to taste. Serve hot.

Tea Masala:
50g Dry Gound Ginger
25g Ground Green Cardamon
10g Finely Ground Black Pepper
10g Ground Cloves
10g Ground Cinnamon

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Learning to Cook with Iron Chef Meenu – Udaipur, India

The food in India has been nothing short of amazing so far, and so when the chef at a little family run restaurant in Udaipur City told me that she offered Indian cooking classes in her little home kitchen, I immediately jumped at the opportunity.
 

Meenakshi Jain (Meenu) grew up in Udaipur City all of her life. Like many Indians, she married at a young age and now lives with her two children, a son aged 6 and a daughter aged 4, in her parent’s home. To make ends meet, her husband works in another town, and they only get to see each other once every two weeks or so. For the last 15 years, Meenu has been working and cooking at her parent’s restaurant. But recently, with the help of a friend, she purchased a property just down the street from her parent’s home and plans to open her own restaurant there in a few months.
 

As a practicing Jain, Meenu is very conscious of the foods that she eats. Not only is she a strict vegetarian, she buys all of her spices whole - washing, drying and grinding them down by hand, so that she is sure of their quality. Even the yoghurt used in her cooking is home-made.
 

The full 4-hour long course (which I took) covers all of the topics listed below. She also offers a 2-hour short course.
1.    Indian spice basics
2.    Indian chai tea
3.    Chutney
4.    Pakhora
5.    Curry basics (wet and dry masala)
6.    Breads (Chapati, Prata, Puri, Naan, Samosa, Kachoori and Gathiya)
7.    Rice (Pollav, Biriyani and Fried Rice)
 

By the end of the course, you would have learned all of the basic techniques of Indian cooking that can be adapted for any vegetable or meat dish. Meenu’s perfect English and her clear and concise step by step instruction will make even the most cooking challenged student feel at home in her kitchen. The best part about taking the course has got to be the fact that you get to eat and stuff your face throughout the entire session.
 

Now, with all these recipes in hand, I can’t wait to try my hand at some authentic Indian cooking when I get home. Over the next few days, I will post several recipes from the class, including the famous Indian Chai Tea, and a very delicious savory Banana Curry (one of Meenu’s own creations!!!).

Meenu’s Authentic Home Style Indian Cooking Classes:
Currently, Meenu is offering these classes at her parent’s restaurant “Queen Café” in Udaipur. In a few months, she will open her own restaurant “Meenu’s” at 9 Bharampole Marg, Outside Chand Poe, Near Jada Genesh Gi, Udaipur India. 
 

4-hour Long Course – Rs. 1500 (US$30)
2-hour Short Course – Rs. 900 (US$18)

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