Next up...

It's time to sit down and plan the next adventure, but where am i to go you ask?

Well adding Iceland to the mix

1. Morocco

2. Egypt

3. Canada

4. Iceland

5. Cuba

6. Thailand

i rolled the dice and ... drum roll please.....
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CUBA here i come!!!! Can't wait :-)

India - You rock!

If you ever have the time, then get yourself to India. My latest adventure was wonderful experience. A mix of hot and spicy with cool, creamy and refreshing what more could you want J

Enjoy the ratings and video J

Preparation time: (how long does it really take?)
Roti/Chipati – 25 minutes – Making the dough is very simple –mix flour and water, but the time is taken in the cooking – you have to heat up the pan and then cook each Chipati individually, turning them etc…
Rogan Josh – 15 minutes - if you cheat like we did J – we used a pre made Rogan Josh sauce so preparation was simply cubing and browning the lamb and cutting up the capsicum, then adding a few spices and herbs.  
Butter Chicken – 10 minutes - if you cheat like we did J – we used a pre made Butter Chicken sauce so once again preparation was simply cubing and browning the chicken breast before adding the sauce.  

Mango Kulfi – 10 minutes – the time consuming parts are beating the cream and pureeing the mango. Once that is done simply mix it all together and place it in the freezer.

Balushahi – Hard to say - We had some fun with this one (see the video). Our Balushahi didn’t exactly turn out as we planned. We followed the recipe we had and all was looking good, but after we placed them into the oil they disintegrated L  So rather than give up we make took out dough and made biscuits – Not very traditional, but we weren’t going to waste food.

Ease to cook: (what does it involve?)

Roti/Chipati – A really easy thing to make. Just mix flour and water then cook on a hot plate.

Rogan Josh – As you know we cheated a little J – Using a pre made Rogan Josh sauce  all we had to do was cube and browning the lamb then add the sauce along with the capsicum, chilli and garlic.  

Butter Chicken – Like the Rogan Josh we cheated again and used a pre made Butter Chicken sauce. Made life easier as all we had to do was brown the cubed chicken breast before adding the sauce and a little coconut milk.  

Mango Kulfi – This is soooooo easy. Beat cream, puree mangos, mix together with condensed milk and freeze.

Balushahi – this is not hard to do (just make sure the recipe you use is a good one) Doesn’t take very long to make the dough and roll the Balushahi then deep fry. Unfortunately our recipe wasn’t the best so it wasn’t as easy to cook for us.

Overall: (i'll use a scale of empty bowls - 5 empty bowls is the best - 1 empty bowl not the best J)
Roti/Chipati – 3 empty bowls – On its own it’s a bit like eating cardboard, but when you mix it with the main dishes it blends well.

Rogan Josh – 5 empty bowls – A pleasure to eat – the lamb, mixed with the spices is a treat. Well worth a try.

Butter Chicken – 4 empty bowls – A very creamy dish it was enjoyed by everyone. Bit to creamy for me, but still a pleasure to eat.

Mango Kulfi – 1 000 000 empty bowls – this dish was pure heaven to eat. The ice-cream was creamy and the mango just gave it that something that made it out of this world. Definitely a real winner.

Balushahi – N/A empty bowls – unfortunately I can’t comment on this as the Balushahi we made didn’t turn out as planned. The biscuits turned out well and are nice with a cup of milk or coffee.

As always I have documented the adventure with pictures and building on introduction of using the video feature I have taken it a step further to add to you viewing pleasure. Hope you enjoy the touch of Bollywood ;-)

As for the next destination all I will say at the moment is stay tuned J

Until then as they say in India -  जान है तो जहान है (Jaan hai to Jahan Ha) - (If) there's life, then there's the world.

Let's eat!

मेरे साथी यात्रियों हैलो (Hello my fellow travellers)

My Indian menu has been decided.

To kick the night off i'll be attempting:

Roti/Chipati - flat bread



Rogan Josh



Butter Chicken



and for dessert:

Mango Kulfi - Mango ice-cream



Balushahi - Indian doughnuts



Sounds good on paper and looks fantastic in the pictures. Can't wait! :-)

In the meantime why not brush up on a few simple phrases to help get you around India.

Here's a list of common words, phrases and sentences in major Indian languages - Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada - translated into English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Arabic and Cantonese. Knowing these can prove very useful for people visiting India.

English Hindi Bengali Marathi Yes Ha Ha Hoye/ Ho No Nahi Na Nako Thank You Dhanyavaad Dhanyabad Dhanyavaad Thank you very much Aapakaa bahut bahut dhanyavaad Tomake onek dhanyabad Tumcha Khup Dhanyavaad You're welcome Aapakaa svaagat hai Swagatam Suswagatam Please Kripyaa Anugrah kore Krupya Excuse me Shamma kare Maaf korben Maaf Kara Hello Namaste Nomoskar Namaskar Goodbye Alavidha (namaste) Accha - Aashi Accha Yetho So long Phir milengay Abar dekha hobe Evada ved Good morning Shubha prabhaat Suprovat Suprabhat Good afternoon Namaste Subha aparannah Namaskar Good evening Namaste Subha sandhya Namaskar Good night Shubha raatri Subha ratri Shubh Ratri I do not understand Mai nahii samajta hu Ami bujhte parchi na Mala samjat nahi How do you say this in [English]? Aap ise angrezi mei kaise bolengay? Apni eta engraji te ki bolben? Heey engraji madhye Kase mhanaiche? Do you speak ... Kyaa aap...bolate hain? Apni ki bolte paren? Tumhi ...boltat? English Angrejii Engraji Engraji French Phransisi Pharasi Phransisi German German Germani German Spanish Spanish Spanish Spanish Chinese Cheeni Chinese Cheeni I Mai Aami Me We Hum Amra Aamhi You (singular) Tum Tumi Tu You (formal) Aap Apni Tumhi You (plural) Aap sab Tomra/Apnara Tumhi They Vo sab Onara Thyani / Tey What is your name? Aapka naam kya hai? Aapnar naam ki? Tumche nav kai aahe? Nice to meet you. Aapse milkar khushii huyii Aapnar sathe dekha kore bhalo laglo Tumhala bhetun anand Jhala How are you? Aap kaise hai? Apni kemon achen? Tumhi kashe ahat? Good Achchhey Bhalo Chaangle Bad Buray Baaje/Kharap Wayit So so Thik thak Motamuti Thik Thak Wife Patni Sthree/Bou Baiko Husband Pati Swami/Bor Navra Daughter Beti Kannya/Meye Mulgi Son Beta Putra/Chele Mulga Mother Mataji Maa Aei Father Pitaji Baba Vadil Friend Dost, mitra Bondhu Mitr