We are back from a nice vacation to India. It was heavily raining the first two weeks making it virtually impossible to go out. Hence we stayed inside and ate really good food prepared by my mother- in-law (amma) and sister’s –in law. Little princess got her first visit to India and she became adorable to everyone in the family and to even outsiders. My nieces wanted to carry her all the time, but as they were afraid of her slipping out of their hands, they held her tight as much as possible while carrying her. She loves them at the same time but was afraid of their friendly squeeze. This time we stayed at home most of the time in Mumbai and three days in Delhi, no Kerala trip and no movies in the theater.
My niece introduced me to lot of sas bahu (mother-in-law and daughter – in-law) serials and to Facebook, she types everything very fast, at the speed of lightening. I was also amazed to see how my mother-in- law cooks very fast. She always get a big menu list and completes everything according to everybody‘s taste and wishes. Elder sister-in-law cooks very nicely and made Aloo matter paneer and Pani Poori for us. She gave a box of Churma laddoo ( Wheat jaggery balls). Younger sister-in-law who visited Kerala for Onam bought back mold for acchappam , chakka varatti and beautiful frock for little princess. Our aunt in Kerala sent us some home grown tamarind.
Appa gave some gifts to little princess and did some special pooja for little princess in the temple. We got to stay with him only for 3 days.
My sister gave some gifts to little princess and we were able to see my only nephew for the first time. He is cute naughty little guy who is always active with something.
My little princess got dresses and other gifts from her two aunties and our friend Vineetha.
I and amma went out a lot for shopping without informing my dear husband who hates to carry anything in his luggage as well as anything to do in the crowd. We bought a manchatti (earthen pot), motor and pestle made with stone, roller for making chapathi (flat bread), and mold for making samosa, modak and a boondi laddle.
She gave us box of Rava ladoo and made puran poli (Sweetened chana dal stuffed flat bread) aloo paratha along with lot of Kerala dishes. I will try to recreate each and every dish as much as possible. She has a wonderful gravy recipe, which goes well with any vegetables and grains. She also did special poojas for little one in all the temples near the house.
This time watching TV became a difficult task, I thought I am going to watch lot of movies and serials while there. It didn’t happen. Not because I didn’t have interest, it was killed by innumerable number channels and advertisement after every 10 min lasting up to 2 – 3 minutes. I understood that I need special degree of patience to watch anything in the TV whether it is movie or even news. At the end of the day you get a hand ache from changing channels and head ache from watching all kinds of ads. Another disappointment we got was from eating out. We did eat out only a few times and we were perhaps looking for magical authentic taste about lot dishes like Kadai paneer, mutter paneer, dal makhani , pav bahji, vada pav, bhel poori and malai kofta . All we got was heavily masala ridden spicy tasteless stuff.
However the taste and flavor of dahi (Yogurt) and ice cream, fresh fruit is amazing and wonderful. Cost of living in Mumbai and Delhi is every expensive, everything from milk to fruits cost almost same as here.
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| High rise building in Indrapuram, Uttar Pradesh |
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| Adakka(Arecanut)plant in Mumbai |
While we were in Mumbai, we got to participate in two festivals, Krishna Janmashtami( festival of God Krishna’s birth) read more about here. and Vinayaka chathurthi( Birthday of lord Ganapathi) read more about from here. In Maharashtra Janmashtami celebrated as Dahi Handi. I was also able to see that for the first time.
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| Dahi Handi in our building |
In Maharashtra, Vinayaka chathurthi is celebrated with great pomp and festivities for 10 – 12 days and it is a famous regional festival there. I was happy to be part of it this time and as he is my favorite God. We were able take some pictures of idols.
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| Ganapathi at Gaurv garden |
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| Ganapathi outside blue ocean |
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| Ganapathi at Blue ocean |
One bad incident happened while coming back; a taxi driver whom we booked to the airport did not show up, he kept telling us he was just five minutes away from 9.30 to 10.30 PM when he was quite far away. I just hated the unprofessionalism of some business.
In the eleventh hour we had to search out for new taxi, luckily we got two taxis that sped through the busy Mumbai traffic on account of Ganapathi immersion, and was able to catch the flight. In hurry burry we forgot the bag containing my princess milk and diapers, however we were able adjust with a sippy cup in hand luggage, the guy at the coffee shop at the Mumbai International airport who gave milk for the baby and refused to take any money and the amazing crew of Air France flight who came up with two baby bottles and provided every assistance including warm milk.
On a earlier trip to Mahalaxmi temple and Siddhivinayak temple we had a cabbie who had a simple outlook towards life. He worked in Mumbai for 8 months at a time and then quit his job to be with family for 3 – 4 months until his savings ran out. They had a farm and lived off the land with simple needs, unlike our constant needs for latest gadgets’. With his meager saving he was also building a temple to Lord Ram, a promise to his dad. He had a B.A in Hindi but had to drive cab in Mumbai as his family in Allahabad had no money to bribe to get good jobs.
All in all a great trip.
Swathi
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This is Swathi ( Dr. Ambujom Saraswathy Ph.D) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen who loves to explore cuisines from all over the world. Whenever possible I try to to give an Indian touch to several of the world cuisine, and has weakness for freshly baked bread. All the recipes you see here are created by me and approved after taste-test by my family.
Unknown says
lovely write up!
Unknown says
Lovely write up!
VIDYA.
ladyyjae says
looks like a fun trip 🙂 Thanks for sharing your experience. Love reading other peoples experiences. and looks like you got a long with ur mother in law pretty well too. sucha wonderful thing eh?
for the last part - i would definitely freak out if i was late to the airport. very scary to me - what if the plane leave before u arrive right?? scary eh.
have a lovely tuesday love.
jen @ http://www.passion4food.ca
srividhya Ravikumar says
welcome back swathi dear... lovely pictures and lovely post...
Faith says
Welcome back, we missed you! It sounds like overall you had a very enjoyable trip. Your pictures are gorgeous!
Reeni says
Welcome back Swathi! It sounds like you had a wonderful trip! Thank you for sharing your pictures.
Aparna S Mallya says
Welcome back!! Great to know you had fun in India!
Satya says
welcome back swati ..good to know u had a gr8 time in india ...thanks for sharing all ur wonderful moments n those beautiful clicks too
Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com
G.Pavani says
welcome back dear...great u enjoyed a lot in india
Panchpakwan says
Forgot say abt the clicks..ganeshji's pics are really devine!
Panchpakwan says
Hi Swathi, How are you & your lil princess?welcome back dear..gald to hear abt your trip.
Gulmohar says
Glad to hear that you had a fun trip and so is your lil princess:-)Welcome back n take care..
Pushpa says
First time here Swati.. interesting read...thanks for sharing the pictures..
Pushpa @ simplehomefood.com
Sarah Naveen says
Dear, you dont mean a disc stove or a hot plate right? just our ordinary stove here in US right?
I have tried making Cherupayar and meen curry in it...do not put in a high flame...pokayum...medium is the best.my mom asked me to boil water in it and then cook cherupayar first...entho mayapeduthi edukkan anenna paranjathu...be sure you are always around...should ask some body else too..
Niloufer Riyaz says
good to c u back!!!nice post
Priscilla says
Welcome back!! Sounds like you had a great time, I'm looking forward to all the delicious recipes you brought from India!
Have a great day!
Priscilla
Priya says
Glad to see u back Swathi, thanks for sharing so many beautiful clicks, feel like flying to India..
Rachana says
Welcome back, Swathi! Glad to know that you had a lovely time in India. Thanks for sharing the beautiful pics.
Sreelekha Sumesh says
Hey Sawathi,Welcome back dear.Good to hear that u enjoyed the vacation .Nice pics as well.
Silence Sings says
Welcome back dear..liked rading your post...and the snaps made me nostalgic.....The incident you described about India is not new...even in USA also I faced this kind of incident once...every places are getiing same...but the unprofessionalism act will be seen much much more in our native place thats for sure....
SpicyTasty says
Oh! Nice pictures. Looks like you had a great time. I am also going to India this year. Look forward...
Sushma Mallya says
welcome back swathi, seems you had a great time in india...and beautiful pics there...thanks for sharing...
Sarah Naveen says
Good to see you back...nice reading the post..i agree with you; cost of living has gone high up 🙂 and the ads between pgms kills the patience ..had the same feeling when i went for my vacation......i just checked here sometime back today to see whether you are back :)....So wat are you cooking for us???temme temme...
Premalatha Aravindhan says
welcome back! lovely pics.
Ellie (Almost Bourdain) says
Welcome back! Lovely photos.
Fathima says
Great to see you back! looks like you had a lot of fun back home... Indian Vacation is always fun!
Swathi says
Aipi thanks for quick response.
aipi says
Hey Swathi,
Glad to see you back..missed you so much !
good to know you had fun in India with family n friends..Thanks a lot for sharing the awesome pics..love the Ganesha pics..so divine n beautiful !!
US Masala