5 Indian things I appreciated after living abroad | Blogmas 2

I clearly remember how much I used to hate my mom’s habit of putting excessive coriander in everything. And then I went to Europe for around 10 months and I missed it’s presence in regular food terribly. I came back and became equally or more obsessed with coriander.

So, i dedicate this post to 5 such Indian things that I have only appreciated either when living abroad or with age. I am sure Indians who moved abroad to settle can add a lot to this list. If you are reading this, please do consider adding yours in comments!

1. Amla: Indian gooseberry is a superfood that doesn’t get the credit it deserves. I know you will say that it’s way more popular than many other superfoods but my point is just how versatile and tasty it is in so many dishes. Why people don’t eat it more often? Maybe because they don’t know how easy it is to incorporate in so many dishes! Apart from amla candy & murabba (preserve), nothing else seems to be super popular. I think I’ll do a post on some easy peasy recipes with amla.

2. Coriander: of course. No brainer . Chop and put it in any Indian dish and see its magic happen.

3. Spice box: just why do people elsewhere not use a spice box? Just why? If you are reading this and don’t know what this is, please Google. You will know its importance in a South Asian’s life. This point can also be extended to pressure cooker actually. Why are people buying canned legumes and not using a pressure cooker?

4. Fresh mangoes need i say more?

So this is my list but i am sure many others can be added to this list. Please do let me know in comments. Mine are a lot around food but yours don’t have to be. 😀

37 | Easy Recipes 101 | #1 Dahi Aloo Sabzi

I see a lot of recipes on the internet which mention that most of the things needed must already be in your pantry. Well, when that’s not the case, I feel disappointed. More like, duped. Haha, I know its nobody’s fault, but you get what I mean right? Sometimes the recipe is more work than you expected and then the enthusiasm for something quick but delicious goes off!

I hope that’s not the case with this one. Its fairly easy and as all recipes must say: you have mostly everything in your pantry already. 😛 Its my flatmate’s recipe and is really one of the quickest and filling things out there. Only issue is that only those people who like tart-y kind of food will like this. The best part? Since you can adjust the yogurt as per your taste, you can increase it for that extra protein and I usually reduce my number of chapatis to one with this dish to make it a low carb meal, because it already has potatoes for carbs. You can skip chapati as well if that’s your thing!

Oh, also, do let me know how you like this recipe segment on the blog which I was excited to start after this post. 🙂 I have jotted down a couple of recipes previously on the blog, and I loved doing that, so here’s bringing it back!

Things you will need (for 2 servings/bowlfuls):

1. Boiled potatoes cut into cubes – 2 medium

2. Curd/Yogurt – as per taste, you will be putting it post potatoes, so you can choose how much you want to “cover” the potatoes, like, thick gravy or thin (guys, I will always be like this with measurements 😦 )

3. Kasuri Methi (Dried fenugreek leaves) – as per taste (This is the only ingredient which is slightly fancier and not everybody may have in their kitchen but mostly do :P)

4. Cooking Oil – 1.5 to 2 tablespoons

5. Jeera (Cumin Seeds)

6. Red Chilly Powder

7. Black Chilly Powder (Not necessary)

8. Coriander Powder

9. Turmeric Powder

10. Amchur (Mango Powder & Not Necessary)

11. Garam Masala (Not Necessary)

12. Salt

*All spices as per taste

How To:

1. Put oil in a pan and wait for it to heat up for around a minute. Heat should be medium or medium-low.

2. Add jeera and let it crackle.

3. To this, add the cubed boiled potatoes.

4. Add all spices except no 3, 10 and 11 mentioned above. Add them as per your taste & if you are just starting with cooking, half a teaspoon each for all these should do for 2 potatoes. You can taste once the dish is ready if you want to increase anything.

5. Mix everything so that potatoes are well coated with the spices.

6. Start adding kasuri methi to the pan. Again, you can decide how much based on the coverage you are getting on the potatoes, I feel 2 or 3 tablespoons maximum. A lot of people find it bitter when quantity is a bit too much, so you might want to start with little.

7. Now, turn the heat to low. Start adding yogurt/curd and stirring simultaneously so that curd doesn’t split a lot. For how much curd to add, go to point 2 in the ‘Things you will need’ section.

8. At this point, add amchur and garam masala if you have those. Again, as per taste or half a teaspoon each and give a good mix to the pan.

9. Taste the recipe to adjust for salt etc.

That’s it really! Do try this out once at least. Only thing remaining for me is to make Rahul taste this, who loves my regular yogurt sabzi (will post that someday). I am not a big fan of that one, but if he ends up loving this version, then it will be a win-win as I love this one!

4 things that I miss terribly about India!

I have been meaning to write this one since the longest time, but so are a 100 other posts. Better leave it at that. You know how you go somewhere & miss things that you left behind. I don’t mean loved ones & memories, even things. I had few strange revelations regarding  what all I miss from India after I moved to Berlin. That’s why I felt the need to document it. Some are really obvious things, but read on to know the weird ones:

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  1. For-granted things: There are many things whose existence I didn’t even register in my daily life and I miss them. No, I am not talking about easy access to water instead of toilet paper in the toilet :D.  I am talking of things that I really didn’t register in mind while living in India! Coriander, for example. My mom is a coriander lover and she puts excess of it in every dish if she has coriander at hand. I used to be super mad about it and tell her that I don’t want coriander leaves in my food every time and that too so many. Now, here, many times, I miss coriander leaves in my food & I don’t like the other breed available at regular supermarkets (is it parsley?). So, I sometimes buy it for a very high price at Indian grocery stores. Imagine, dhania (coriander), something that is given for free many times by veggie sellers in India! 😀 I can also mention missing Chole Bhature, something that is definitely not one of my favourite fast foods back home but I still ordered it once while eating out.
  2.  Street Markets: Talking of veggie sellers back home brings me to street markets. This is a fairly obvious one. Indian street markets, especially if you live in Delhi, have a character of their own, each one of them and I miss every one of those. Be it the strictly hipster Paharganj, the book lover’s paradise on Sundays – Daryaganj, the shopper’s delight Janpath, the truly Tibetan experience – Majnu ka Tila or the shiny, bling-y wedding shopping haunt but with tiny, dirty streets – Chandni Chowk. Phewww! I miss all of them. cl3a5jd
  3. Street Food: This is so cliched, it isn’t even funny. It’s hard to find someone who has lived in India throughout their lives and they do not miss Indian street food while in abroad. I am going to go ahead and put a picture here so that everyone is salivating right on their laptops! Go people! 😀 I think I should also mention here Berlin is very cosmopolitan when it comes to food & it’s so much easy to find Indian food, even if not street food. By the way, a place near my house here sells Indian street food, yet to try it.IMG_0423_Fotor
  4.  Fabindia: Haha! Never could have even imagined this one. The only article I have from Fabindia right now is a toner spray, which is actually a gift. The last thing I bought from them was Kurtas for my father with his money. Fab India is expensive for my student life right now but whenever I am near a store, I enter it for window shopping & now I miss doing that. 😀

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    Source: http://www.urbandesis.com/2014/10/urban-bites-fabindia-singapore/

    5. Taking my friends to Big Chill: Not a thing about India this is, but it is on my to-do list when I am back. That’s why the post is not called ‘5 things’ 😛 Big Chill is one of Delhi’s favourite places to dine at, including myself, when wanting to have Italian and I don’t know how I have never written about it. I wanted to take my B-school friends once there because none of them have been there. We came to our respective campuses in Europe before that could happen. So, yes, it is on the cards once I am back!

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    Source: nomadicrider.com/2011/02/khan-ka-khaana-eating-out-at-khan-market/

     

That’s all I could think of. I know many of you are living abroad since so long, PB, Shruti di, Bikramjit & so many of you whose blogs I love reading! 🙂 Do share what it is that you miss, if anything at all!

 

Sights & Sounds of Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi

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I convinced my classmates to make a morning trip to Chandni Chowk for a food walk of sorts.

Now, who wakes up in hostels at 8 in the morning on a weekend? So, the trip obviously got delayed and we were rushing through things because everyone had other commitments too.

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Yes, that’s an excuse why I couldn’t click enough but a valid one at that. Here’s whatever I could manage.

Can I please begin by saying that I lovvvvvvvvvveeee (yes, I had to write it like this) Chandni Chowk for the old world charm that it exudes?

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The famous Chaat shop ‘Natraj’

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Parathas getting made. This is a phone photo.

I am totally in awe of the tiny old style shops where the owner (or manager) still sits on a gaddi (cushioned seater) and the shops are stocked with all sorts of bling, as this market is known for wedding-related things.

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The beautiful doors

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The area I visited for the famous parathas (Indian flat bread, Google for details :)) is famously known as Kinari Bazaar or the market of borders. Borders, the bling-y, glitter-y and all other kinds that women buy to design their clothes and put these across their saris, dupattas, suits and so on. This market is thronged by women from all across Delhi (and beyond) going crazy for the beautiful, beautiful borders. How I wish I could click some of them! Also the even more beautiful shops they were housed in! Apart from the reason mentioned in the post’s beginning, I could also not click because shopkeepers at such rugged places generally get offended when you click. However, I am definitely going to take chances next time.

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QD’s, North Campus, Delhi University | Tandoori Momos & all that jazz

You know those places in a city which are known for a special something? If you live in Delhi, you know about QD’s, thanks to the frenzy around ‘Tandoori Momos’ since the past few years.

I am a complete momos person (I need to mend my unhealthy ways but that story is for another day). Momos roasted in a tandoor? Let the fun begin!

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I had visited this place around 4 years back and fallen head over heels in love with the tandoori momos. This place is very far from where I live, work or have studied. So, I went there again today after 4 years but did not enjoy the momos as much. I am not sure what has changed (apart from the stark increase in food coloring). Or maybe something has changed about my taste only. 😛 They are definitely worth a try anyway.

I love the fact that this place has a hell lot of things on the menu and a separate menu for desserts & innovative drinks. The peanut butter and nutella shake is calling out to me for the next visit! ❤ The food is mostly Indo-Chinese which is, frankly, available on every nook and corner of India now (not counting the hygiene factor because I usually eat irrespective of that concern :P, talk about unhealthy ways! ) but the fact that there is so much variety under one single roof is an important one. Their Zomato menu shows North Indian food as well but I am not sure if Zomato’s menu is an old one or I missed it.

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We tried the mixed veg in Schezwan sauce with noodles and I liked it a lot. Note that I am not even a big fan of chowmein but I liked these ones quite a lot. They were kind of crunchy, like pan-fried ones and not super soft like most noodles are. The mixed veg in Schezwan sauce was beyond lovely. I mean, it isn’t like you are missing out on anything if you don’t try it, but the experience of having it was really good. It was mild, comforting but spicy, all at the same time. I should also mention here that the helping of veggies in the sauce was really good for the price, I have tried this dish at few fine dining restaurants and the helping was comparable, if not more. Lots of mushrooms, broccoli (for those who like it) and the usual gang.

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We also tried their fruit beer and this innovative drink called ‘Black Manga’. Fruit beer was sweeter than other places and I liked it. My best friend liked the other drink, it’s fun to try their various experimental drinks!

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We ended it with this huge, huge glass of ice-cream, it doesn’t look huge enough in the picture. It was an assortment of vanilla, strawberry, jelly and fruits. It was a regular ice-cream, if you have tasted Giani’s fruit salad(or Sundae?) one, this is the same. I am not a big dessert person, so I don’t have much to say anyway.

In my opinion, this place should definitely feature on your must visit list, even if you can get similar food elsewhere and here’s why:

What I liked:

  1. It is very affordable! Considering how Delhi’s food scene is getting exorbitantly expensive, this would fall on the cheaper side although they have almost doubled the prices since my last visit 4 years ago.
  2. They have a huge variety of Indo-Chinese food and innovative smoothies and drinks.
  3. The service is super fast.

What I didn’t like:

  1. Tandoori Momos, their claim to name and fame, did not feel just as good as they were 4 years ago, not sure if it has got something to do with me or them!

We visited this place because my best friend is trying to stay away from ‘outside’ food since past two weeks, so he thought he deserved this. 😛 He was extremely satisfied and happy with the visit. 🙂

So, when are you going?