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Published: December 18th 2011
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Taj
What can I say? Hello friends! Cooking classes were wonderful! As I mentioned in the last blog, the first day I cooked Chana Masala (a chickpea dish), Chapati (similar to a tortilla), and Aloo Ghobi (potato and cauliflower dish). Cooking those three things gave me a good introduction to Indian cooking and I began to understand how the flavors that Amy and I so love are created. As I watched and helped Chandra cook I think I gained an appreciation for cooking more as an Art than as a system. To some extent it reminded me of the time I first tried making Hungarian Chicken. When I first tried Hungarian Chicken I called my mom and asked her for the recipe and essentially I was told a little of this and a little of that, until it looks and tastes right. Well I gave it a shot and it tasted like garbage. Ultimately, I think watching and taking part in cooking is probably 1000 times more valuable than a recipe - you get to see how it is done and understand that cooking is a work in progress and ultimately depends on the individual cook and how they approach the dish.
After my first
My teacher
Me with Chandra - my cooking instructor day I decided another day of lessons to learn a few more dishes would help cement the cooking lessons in my head, but also provide me with some more dishes for the future. We agreed on Palak Paneer (Spinach and cheese dish), Raita (yogurt type dish), and Pulau (rice dish). As with the first dishes, I went out and bought the ingredients, again the total was about one dollar and the amount of vegetables I got was incredible! As I cooked I wrote down the ingredients, but as I mentioned, I think the ingredients (recipe) is not as important as the fundamental way they cook. I'll try to describe the cooking briefly for those that want to try Indian cooking, but ultimately it would probably be easier for me to show you sometime (after I practice a few on my own). North Indian cooking uses a few spices in almost every dish, they are: cumin seeds, mustard seeds, ground cumin, ground coriander, tumeric powder, and ginger powder (fresh if available). They heat some oil real hot and cook certain spices in the oil before adding garlic, onion tomatoes, chiles, etc. Essentially they try making a flavorful paste (sabji/curry) and then
Enjoying the results
Fruits my cooking labor they add the things to it that need to be flavored. The order of the spices and which spices are used is determined by the dish you are cooking. We used fresh ginger in our dishes and an abundance of garlic. In fact, not one of the dishes I cooked used less than 7 cloves of garlic! However, it is cooked in a manner that you do not taste garlic in the dish - Amy was amazed when I told her that one dish had 10 cloves of garlic and she couldn't taste it as she is pretty sensitive to garlic!
Also, cooking with Chandra was like my mom telling me the recipe for Hungarian Chicken. Add a spoon of this and a bowl of that as if I have the exact same spoons and bowls in our kitchen. I mentally tried to translate each amount she was putting in the dish into teaspoons, cups, etc. I guess in the end it probably won't matter as I hope the Art side of cooking will come out and I can recreate the dishes easily using a spoon of this and a bowl of that. Making the Chapati dough was very
Haridwar
Vegetable market...lovely produce! much the same as cooking since Chandra just grabbed some flour and slowly added water to it until it was the "right" consistency. I did knead the dough at the end and I think I have an OK handle on what the "right" consistency is, but the first time I try will be the real test. I do know that it is much stiffer and less wet than bread dough. It will be fun to try all of these when we return and hopefully I can master them so we can enjoy North Indian food for years to come.
Our time in Rishikesh was the most enjoyable of our trip so far, we ended up staying for 6 nights! It was so peaceful there. I was enjoying cooking, Amy was enjoying Yoga, and we were both enjoying the Aarti ceremony each night. If we had not already bought a train ticket back to Delhi - so we could go to the Taj Mahal - we probably would have stayed another day or two in Rishikesh. Not until we got back to Haridwar (the gateway town to Rishikesh and the starting point for our train to Delhi) had I remembered
Rishikesh bridge
Night time at the foot bridge about the chaos and noise in the streets of India. It reminded Amy and I of coming back to civilization from our Boundry Water or Canada Fishing trips - your senses are on overload and everything is way too stimulating! It sure is nice to get away every once and awhile! We did go to the market in Haridwar and picked up a few things. I think we have accumulated enough stuff for a shipment back home...so...mom and dad expect a box or two. I should note, that if anyone reading this blog ever goes to Rishikesh I would highly recommend the Green View Hotel, the hotel and service were superb and the rate was only $12/night (granted it was low season so cheaper rates than normal).
Here's a question for all you readers...have you ever taken a shower that made you dirtier than before your shower? Our first day in Agra I did. At the time I had not showered in a few days, so I was not that clean to begin with, but after my shower I was at least twice as dirty as I was before the shower. My hair felt like I had not showered
Taj
Gorgeous! in 7-10 days and then after that time period I dipped my head in a bowl of wax - it was horrible! I'm not sure if the water in Agra is that dirty or what happened, but it was definitely a first for me!
Agra is the home of the Taj Mahal, the one major attraction I wanted to see in India prior to our arrival (I didn't research India much, so the Taj was an easy choice). I think often times it is difficult to see such an historic monument as you have these expectations and sometimes they disappoint, but if you are lucky they surpass your expectations. I've wanted to see the Taj for years and my expectations were very high - and the Taj certainly was all that I had hoped. We arrived in Agra on Thursday but the Taj is closed Friday so on Friday we took a boat across the river to see the backside of the Taj (a view not seen by most visitors). The reflection in the river was wonderful and I would recommend that others visiting the monument do this easy trip, as it was only a few dollars. Saturday morning
Taj
B-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l we got up at sunrise to be at the monument early enough to avoid the largest crowds and see the sun glistening off the dome as it glowed orange in the Eastern skyline. As you enter the main courtyard the grandeur of the marble encased building is unbelievable. I'm sure everyone reading this has seen the iconic picture of the Taj, it is so much more marvelous and absolutely incredible to be there in person - pictures never do justice. With that being said, I do have a lot of pictures of the Taj in this blog!
I think we will see the Agra Fort yet today and then go to Fatehpur Sikri tomorrow before we head to Jodhpur on Monday.
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