Friday 20 January 2012

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 :-)

Thursday 5 January 2012

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.

Tuesday 3 January 2012

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.

EnglishHindiBengaliMarathi
YesHaHaHoye/ Ho
No NahiNaNako
Thank YouDhanyavaadDhanyabadDhanyavaad
Thank you very muchAapakaa bahut bahut dhanyavaadTomake onek dhanyabadTumcha Khup Dhanyavaad
You're welcomeAapakaa svaagat haiSwagatamSuswagatam
Please KripyaaAnugrah koreKrupya
Excuse meShamma kareMaaf korbenMaaf Kara
Hello NamasteNomoskarNamaskar
Goodbye Alavidha (namaste)Accha - AashiAccha Yetho
So long Phir milengayAbar dekha hobeEvada ved
Good morningShubha prabhaatSuprovatSuprabhat
Good afternoonNamasteSubha aparannahNamaskar
Good eveningNamasteSubha sandhyaNamaskar
Good nightShubha raatriSubha ratriShubh Ratri
I do not understand Mai nahii samajta huAmi bujhte parchi naMala 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 AngrejiiEngrajiEngraji
French PhransisiPharasiPhransisi
German GermanGermaniGerman
Spanish SpanishSpanishSpanish
Chinese CheeniChineseCheeni
I MaiAamiMe
We HumAmraAamhi
You (singular)TumTumiTu
You (formal)AapApniTumhi
You (plural)Aap sabTomra/ApnaraTumhi
They Vo sabOnaraThyani / Tey
What is your name?Aapka naam kya hai?Aapnar naam ki?Tumche nav kai aahe?
Nice to meet you. Aapse milkar khushii huyiiAapnar sathe dekha kore bhalo lagloTumhala bhetun anand Jhala
How are you?Aap kaise hai?Apni kemon achen?Tumhi kashe ahat?
Good AchchheyBhaloChaangle
Bad BurayBaaje/KharapWayit
So so Thik thakMotamutiThik Thak
Wife PatniSthree/BouBaiko
Husband PatiSwami/BorNavra
Daughter BetiKannya/MeyeMulgi
Son BetaPutra/CheleMulga
Mother MatajiMaaAei
Father PitajiBabaVadil
Friend Dost, mitraBondhuMitr