Jungle Getaway and Giveaway Winner!!

Some shots from my trip in January this year to the Satpura jungles in Madhya Pradesh - I had gone along with two other girlfriends to a jungle lodge which one of them is a partner in. We helped revamp their menu and train the kitchen staff who have been hired locally.  I had posted one of those recipes here for Patrani Machhi or Fish steamed in Banana Leaves.

 
Thank you for all your wishes on completing 4 years - couldn't have done it without your support and encouragement!

I entered the serial numbers of the participants in the Giveaway into a random number generator (www.random.org) and the number that was generated was of Sarah! Congratulations Sarah!!! I will mail you shortly for your address details - looking forward to sending you the Mainland China Cookbook - hope you enjoy cooking from it.(edited to add: I forgot you are from Ireland, so you will be getting Anjum Anand's new book - I Love Curry)

No Fuss Chocolate Mousse and a Giveaway

I used to be quite the expert at making chocolate mousse from scratch; dishing out smooth, velvety scoops of delicious goodness! Till I started reading about the dangers of consuming raw eggs especially for children. So I stopped.....

Recently I started dreaming of a spoonful of chocolate heaven again but didn't want to go down the gelatine route either. There were recipes with cream and agar but frankly with the thin cream we get here (no double whipped) I was very doubtful of its ability to set well. That's when I remembered seeing a recipe in Nigella's book. Yes - it was very much there and used marshmallows.

So I tried the recipe and it was a very easy and fabulous tasting one. The mousse turned out silken smooth and with no fuss at all! I made these for a dinner with friends during Navratri and served them in shot glasses as well as these antique glasses (antique - because they are 40 years old, my Dad got them from Japan when he was posted there!). The kids had a whale of a time licking the ends of the shot glasses which they couldn't reach with their spoons!

My blog is now 4 years old!! Only apt that I celebrate with a chocolate dessert since I began this blog with another delicious chocolate dessert. Thanks to all my readers and especially the people who take time to comment and mail me - its your interest which inspires me to blog about my cooking efforts.

And because I love y'all so much and to thank you for your support, I am hosting a GiveAway on my blog this month. For my Indian readers, I have The Mainland China Cookbook by Anjan Chatterjee to give away. The book will be sent to the lucky winner through Flipkart.

 This is one of my favourite restaurants and they have an amazing spread, not to mention some great customer service from a warm and welcoming staff. I have eaten in their restaurants in Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai and enjoyed most meals. The book has recipes for all their signature dishes - Crackling Spinach, Lotus Leaf Wrapped Rice, Lamb Stir Fry, Stir Fried Chinese Greens, Shao Xiang Chicken with Cashews and Chillies, Spring Onion Pancakes - in a crisp and clean format which makes the recipes easy to replicate in your own home.

For my readers outside India - I am giving away one copy of Anjum Anand's new book "I Love Curry" - a lovely collection of Indian recipes (not only curries but also sides, raitas, breads, salads and rice) with a contemporary twist to them. Anjum Anand is the host of Indian Food Made Easy and I love her effortless style and how she breaks down Indian cooking to show the depth and variety the cuisine has to offer without making it seem too complicated and preachy. The book will be sent to the lucky winner via Amazon.


So from Nov 1 to Nov 15th, 2011 - to participate in the Giveaway:
1. Leave a comment with your email id and place of residence
2. Tell me what's your favourite recipe on the blog
3. Share with me the dishes / cuisine you would like to see more of, on Peppermill

Chocolate Mousse

(serves 12-14)

Marshmallows - 200gms chopped into smaller pieces
Butter - 100 gms
Dark Chocolate - 400gms
Cream - 300gms
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

1. Take a heavy pan and put in the chopped marshmallows, butter and chocolate (I had a packet which was a mix of white and pink marshmallows!) Chop the marshmallows else it takes a lot of time to melt.

2. Heat the pan over a low flame, stirring now and then till melted and comes together.Don't overheat or it might get clumpy. Remove from heat and keep aside.
    3. Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla essence until a little thick, and then fold into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture - it should be a nice, smooth mixture.
   4. Spoon into 12-14 shot glasses - about 3-4 tbsp in each. Refrigerate till it sets and then serve.

The Mistress of Time - Of Chalks and Chopsticks

 Manisha, or Manu as she seemed to be called by everyone around her, was a fast worker. She prided herself on how efficient she was and how she was able to accomplish the working woman’s dream in Mumbai – wife, mother, ad executive, party hostess – superwoman. Wasn’t that what everyone wanted? To be appreciated for their skills in time management? Or so it seemed.

 Because that’s all it had come down to it– bundling her life into neat time slots that could be fitted around her busy schedule – there was the doting mother slot where she had to make sure there was enough space for PTMs, birthday party return gift shopping, THE birthday party planning, homework assignments, assembly day costume one upmanship, actual mother daughter and family bonding on weekends, crazy morning routines and evening end-of-the day winding down (which only seemed to wind everyone up).  Then there was the socializing pigeon hole – one for hospitals/condolences and another celebratory. The Ms Fix-It who seemed to have a laundry list of things to do around the house – which is not to say she actually did all of it, but even getting her husband off the couch and to the shops was a chore.

    

Not to say that Satish was a chauvinist – he most enthusiastically pitched in from shopping trips for upholstery to choosing the “correct” frame for pictures from the last holiday. His booming voice and strident opinion resonated around Fab India’s walls as he took one last look a the sofa material before declaring all of them too “dull” for their living room. 8 year old Kanya followed suit – ever her father’s daughter.

 

But the laundry list only churned through Manu’s brain – at 5am on a Sunday morning when there was no need for her to be awake. So, one compressed ones life into manageable parcels of time and tried to live from one to the other – which reminded her that the fish parcels for paturi needed to be marinated for lunch. She would tell Bharati her cook to do that when she came in – she actually felt like having patrani machhi but the Bengali steamed version paturi, was the recipe B was familiar with, having imported it from the previous household she worked in, and it wouldn’t do to have things changed around when she was expecting company.

She had to take care of other things – things that coukdn’t be outsourced - flowers, place settings, Hindi dictation practice, a belated birthday gift for one of the visiting couple’s children  since she knew she loved books and while she was at it, looking for the Jhumpa Lahiri book for Remya in her own library, because she had been meaning to send her that for sometime now – they had the most wonderful discussions after these shared book reads and she quite looked forward to them.

But suddenly she felt it gnawing away at her – she felt like eating patrani machhi – just the way it to used be made in the Khambatta home while growing up – a special occasion treat; not a bhonu but at least a "90 in English". It wasn’t even difficult to make as compared to the paturi – just a different marinade and to suit her liking she used to retain the mustard from the paturi and omit the coriander from the machhi. She decided then she wasn’t going to allow herself to be slotted like this, it was definitely taking over from her first love – cooking. She was doing things in the kitchen which could more and more be “delegated”. Not what she felt like cooking or eating. Like today; she decided then that she wouldn’t do that -  she was going to make Parsi food – Satish could give a Hindi dictation exercise as well as she could, if she could let go of  paturi then she could let go of dictation.

So she woke up that Sunday morning feeling refreshed at the internal decision she seemed to have reached and Satish wondered at the smile which played around her lips as she shook out her wet hair - well Sunday meant an oiling followed by a shampoo – now that was many years of conditioning, nothing to do with slotting, so she couldn’t possibly break that routine could she? When else would she get an hour for her to oil her hair and Satish’s and then wash it off with enough time to dry without having to go out in the interim? Sigh, what a time tyrant she had become!

Satish grumbled good naturedly but went out to buy mutton, pleased at the thought of them cooking dhansak together – another Parsi dish which was made from goat meat and lentils cooked down into a stew. It used to be his speciality when they were newly married but he had stopped making it since he was now supposed to spend quality time with the family. Now he hummed at the thought of all that unstructured time creating something which would feed their friends and bring cheer to the table. Some potato cutlets and cucumber salad on the side and they would be done.

Manu quickly turned the marinade around, wrapped the fish fillets in banana leaves and kept them ready for the steamer. These simple ingredients came together in such a flavourful preparation, they belied the time spent on them – just showcased her skill in the kitchen. And the little time she spent brought her that familiar sense of satisfaction which she had been missing.  No longer the time slave.
 

This is my first entry to Of Chalks and Chopsticks -the event started by Aqua and is being hosted by DesiSoccerMom this time.- in fact my first entry to any food fiction blogging event. I have been enjoying the tales being spun (now mostly by the trio of J,Sra and S). I spent about a couple of hours start to finish so not sure how polisehd this is - but thats all the time and energy I have while I recuperate. But I do have the creative energy now for a tale, so that may not be a bad thing.

And this is the recipe for Patrani Macchhi - get out there and do what you want, your umpteen chores will wait. They did while joined a friend in February on a trip to a jungle lodge in Madhya Pradesh and taught the local chefs out there some of our favourite recipes as well as some solid menu plans they could use with locally available produce. This is R's favourite recipe for steamed fish and we made it for lunch that day.

Pomfret fillets (deboned) - cleaned about 10-12

Marinade/Chutney

Coconut - 1 cup grated

Green chillies - 3-4

Mustard seeds - soaked in a little water - 2 tbsp

sugar - 1 tsp

salt to taste

lime juice - 1 tbsp

1/2 tbsp oil

(the original recipe does not have mustard which only paturi has, but this is changed to omit the coriander leaves in the original and substitute with mustard - so its different from Mrs Khambatta's home, but makes it all of an original.

1. Grind all marinade ingredients to a smooth paste and marinate the fish fillets in it for about 15 minutes or till ready to steam.
2. Oil individual banana leaf pieces and wrap the fish fillets in them, securing them with toothpicks.  Then steam for about 20 -25 minutes till the fish is cooked but still moist and just flaking.

Taking a Break

Hello people. I will be taking a break from the blog for a bit. I am unwell and need some time off to recover. Be back soon. Meanwhile, do write in with your plans for the summer and the treats you have planned to make to beat the heat. It will make for interesting reading for me while I recuperate!

Miri

Getaway from Delhi

As we get down to the routine way we all tend to mark the 62nd year of becoming a Republic, an attempt to appreciate the natural beauty and heritage of our country. This is a fort in Alwar, Rajasthan - just about 200 km away from Delhi - now converted into a B&B. We were here for a much needed getaway in mid January - just one day since we had gone without K - and what a lovely getaway it was. Truly romantic.

Jai Hind!

Christmas Cake preparations - and Milestones

I have been tardy this year in soaking the dry fruits for the cake I make for Christmas every year. I usually try to do it mid-November, or atleast by the 25th, but this year we seemed to have a million things to do on the weekends this month.

Started with our Diwali celebration at the beginning of November, in Mumbai with family, then there was a breakfast picnic like this one, outdoor parties before it becomes too cold, dance and musical performances -The Manganiyar Seduction (an international act of Rajasthani folk musicians performing in 36 boxes stacked one on top of the other in 4 rows) was particularly spectacular!  - a children's literature festival called Bookaroo which has managed to reach its third year with much support from enthusiastic parents and children and the driving force of Swati Roy and Sanjay Roy who own Eureka - the children's bookstore.

In December, the 3-day Jazz Utsav was this weekend - we went on Friday, which was the opening day, and were treated to some scintillating performances - especially the one by Ranjit Barot and Talvin Singhs' bands.
The Delhi International Arts Festival (DIAF) also began this weekend - it has a smorgasbord of events happening till the 12th December including some excellent classical dance performances and theatre. The first ever exhibition of Anish Kapoor in India - (Anish Kapoor is a celebrated contemporary sculptor), opened this week at the newly refurbished National Gallery of Modern Art - and while I don't pretend to understand contemporary art and installations, I am definitely not going to miss an opportunity to broaden my horizons. As I tell my daughter - its OK to not like something after you have tried it, but you should atleast try everything once.
Then there is the Old World Theatre Festival at Habitat Centre, Christmas fairs organised by the various embassies, the Christmas decorations inside hotels and malls to gawk at....November to February is such a nice time to do things in Delhi - its what makes the rest of the year bearable!

These are some of the pics from the German Christmas Fair yesterday - my daughter and I had a nice time picking through the stalls and looking at the christmas stuff all over. There was a stall by the Swiss German Bakery where I picked up some wonderful baguette and sour dough bread as well as the aromatic Lebkuchen - a traditional Christmas cookie/cake which is quite strongly spiced with cinnamon and cloves. The reason I call it cookie/cake, it though it is a cake, it is not soft, melt-in-the-mouth, but quite crumbly in texture with a nice crust. I was happy with my glass of German beer, a quiche and some bratwurst (which was quite pungent I must say) while K devoured a lovely chocolate croissant. 

Anyway, suffice to say that I have enough excuses to have postponed the soaking this long. But I got up early this morning and managed to soak all the dry fruits and nuts. They will sit there for the next two weeks till I bake the cake on the 22nd or 23rd December - the cake tastes better later, as the flavours have time to meld.

'Tis the season to be jolly and all that - well, Peppermill has turned 3 - yes, can't believe it, but my first post was in November 2007. Thank you everyone who reads this blog, for all your encouragement and support and for reaching out to me - I have received much more than I can give, and for that I am thankful.

 

Don't need an excuse to celebrate though, so if you have always thought of baking a fruit cake, now's the time to start! Its a small list of ingredients and all readily available. For those who don't want to steep the fruits in alcohol, just use orange juice. Also, there are a lot of recipes which recommend "feeding" the cake with alcohol, after its baked (some days before Christmas) till its finally eaten. I don't - I also don't cover it with marzipan icing which is another traditional thing to do. I like my cake slices just as they are - filled with fruit, soft and dense and with that lovely dark colour and rich smell.

These are the ingredients I soak

Mixed Dry Fruit chopped - 350 gms (choose from currants,sultanas,raisins, dates, fig, apricot)

I use equal quantities of currants,raisins, dates,apricots and plums (dried)

The dry fruits are soaked 3-4 weeks in advance in about 1/4 cup of dark rum (brandy can also be used)

For the complete recipe and the earlier post- look here

Or you can also try Chocolate Gingerbread Men or White Chocolate, Cherry and Oatmeal Cookies

Friends, Farsaan and Rain Flurrys

As the (10!) readers of this blog never fail to be reminded - I was born and brought up in Bombay and I continue to be attached to the city. Yes, it is big (but not bad), in a hurry (but not impatient) and the differences are stark (but never out-of-sight); it holds a lot of fond memories for me and has the kind of cosmpolitan spirit I have not been able to find in either Chennai or Delhi. Sure these cities have their own charm and I definitely appreciate them, not allowing myself to be blinded by my love for Bombay. But there is something about Mary.....

So, even after leaving the city 13 years back, I have managed to make a trip back every year (barring 2002 I think) to spend time with my best friends and trawl through my favourite haunts. In the past two years, I have also been making business trips and if they are on a Friday, then I try to spend the weekend too. My brother recently moved back and I love the chance to spend time with my nephew and niece. I usually try to do this so that hubby and daughter accompany me too (the guilt of a working mother who doesn't want to sacrifice precious weekend time with family), but last month this wasn't possible and I just decided to anyway stay over at my best friend's house on Friday night and spend a day at my brother's place as well before heading back on Sunday.

S and I go back to college and have known each other for close to 20 years now and she is my BFF(as Paris Hilton would say ;)), if there ever was one ; we were super excited about spending time together. She also managed to get together half of our Gang of eight in college - the other three are no longer in Mumbai - to come over for dinner on Friday night. Her younger sister who was often part of our shenanigans, also joined us that evening and the poor spouses and kids looked on while we rewound back to our patent silliness and hysterical laughter. Old jokes were brought forth, crushes revisited (and denied) and we pretended to look shocked when the incorrigible flirt of the group got down to changing nappies and mixing formula for his 6 month old cutie! It was such a fun evening - the barometer for us being when S laughs so much that there are tears rolling down her cheeks! - as we chatted and drank and ate and then laughed some more. We ended the night with some amazing brownies from Theobrama in Colaba.

pic courtesy Reuters

The next morning we dropped off S's adorable 3 year old to her Mom's house and along with her sister, set out to shop in Dadar. It started raining as we stepped out, but did that stop us - Naah. Have I shopped in Pondy Bazaar or Lajpat Nagar in the rain? - Nevah! But having grown up wading through knee deep water to get to school or even for bread (and later beer and bhutta!), the rain in Bombay doesn't seem to faze me. The heavy drizzle didn't bother us much anyway; the roads were not flooded and traffic wasn't snarled. So we made our way down Dadar TT  (later Khodadad Circle and now something else but we still refer to it as TT) and then on to Plaza, browsing the shops - (picked up some lovely handbags at throwaway prices and gifts for my Dad) and finally reached Sena Bhavan, where we wanted to go to a small jeweller. But he was closed for lunch and wouldn't open till 3pm - yes, thats how small the establishment was. It was 1.30pm and the rain had just picked up the pace and was now coming down in sheets. So, we quickly ducked into a tiny eatery next door, called Dattatrey, to get out of the rain and to have a bite as well.

Now this is a tiny place - typical of many such places in Dadar. Functional, clean and definitely not the place where they encourage lingering. The food comes to your table on the double, you are served efficiently and out you go!. So, we decided to order one dish at a time so we could last till the jeweller opened after lunch. The story about this place goes that it was on the verge of shutting down due to operational and cash flow issues, but since it was a favourite of Mr Thackeray (he used to frequent in his heydays and apparently still enjoys food from there), it was re-opened and still continues. The food is typical Bombay Maharashtrian vegetarian fare - mostly snacks like Misal, Kothmir Vadi, Thalipeeth and the like. But they also had full fledged "thalis" for lunch and dinner which consisted of servings of rotis or puris and rice with 2 types of vegetables, two lentil dishes, yoghurt and a dessert.

We ordered kanda bhajjias (onion fritters) - the perfect snack for the rains - and this was a tad greasy. But the puri bhaji , sabudana vadas and vangi bhath which followed one by one, were outstanding. I don't remember whether I ordered some sweets.....I know S didn't, since she gives up sweets for the month of Shravan (commendable to me; I can easily stay away from meat, but sweets?!).  But there was coffee at the end. All this cost a total of Rs. 204- I don't even remember the last time I ate a good meal that cost that little, even for one person, let alone for three!

 

All in all a really satisfying meal which one can't really put a price on (forgive the poor quality of the pics, they were taken on my mobile). Considering the amount of time we used to spend together in college and later, the fleeting moments we manage to spend now with our best friends, are priceless. A quick lunch between meetings, an hour at an exhibition in the same city on the way to the airport, staying one night before catching an early morning flight the next morning - these are the ways we stay in touch and connect and exchange notes on our lives - those important smiles and looks which can never be shared over the phone. Those resentments and resignations which seem so petty to talk about, when we are miles apart.

So, while I loved this place, you may have some other tiny-6-table places to recommend - whether for the excellent food or the beautiful memories. Do share.

Orange and Clove Tea Cake - Mad Tea Party comes home!

This cake was made on an almost instantaneous decision....no plan, no lingering over recipes, no comparing notes. Just 15 minutes to put together the ingredients and another 35 minutes to bake - it was the first time I was trying this recipe, so I was a little anxious how it would turn out. But it was perfect.

Just like the person and the tea party this was made for - an instantaneous connection made just by reading each other's blogs. Sensing the similar wavelengths, appreciating the passion for food, the honesty and the humility which shines through. So, when the opportunity came to meet - couldn't pass it up. Not even if the both of us were on the last weekend before we went on a trip and had a million things to do. And it all came together so beautifully - a perfect tea party (though coffee was drunk!) with the right company and some stimulating conversation.

As some of you may have guessed by now, this was me meeting up with Anita of Mad Tea Party. For our own Mad Tea Party.  Exchange of mails, telephone numbers, calls and we had a tentative plan to meet on the weekend. So Sunday morning, Anita called and we fixed up for that afternoon 3 30pm. My relatively free Sunday had by then transformed into a matinee show of Beauty and the Beast with kiddo followed by lunch with friends, so I knew I wouldn't have time to serve up an elaborate spread. BUT when you have a food blogger coming over, you have to have food!

I had a couple of tangerines at home and I knew a tea cake would be nice and light for that time of the day.  So, I quickly looked for an orange based cake, which I found on the Whole Foods Market website - scanned through the list of ingredients to check that there were no exotic deal breakers. The main ingredient was Greek Yoghurt - which I thought could be substituted with hung curd. So, I tied up some home made yoghurt to hang in the fridge and then left at 10am to return only at 3pm.

I then raced around roasting the cloves and then grinding them, combining the eggs with the yoghurt, honey and zesting the oranges and lemon, while Tara (my girl Friday) tried to get some semblance of segments from the tangerines without mangling them. Managed to get everything together and into the oven by 3 30pm and 5 minutes later Anita and her husband were at the door! So, the cake baked itself while we chatted and caught up on who we were and what we did and all the things that connect us in this small world.


And as the filter coffee perked, hubby joined us too after his brief siesta while my daughter came back from our neighbour's place and we talked some more.Finally, time to check the cake (I had set it for 45 minutes but it was done in 35) and it looked gorgeous - lovely brown crust with the oranges peeping out.  It smelt delicious too - the cloves and the orange filling up the house with their aroma.

By then the dance of the cameras had begun, with my daughter pitching in for good measure, insisting that she wanted to take a pic too - talk about seizing the moment! The husbands waited patiently ("long suffering" were the words used I think) while we took our pics. And then we sat back and did what we do best - eat! 

I had made some khari biscuits too - with my latest discovery of readymade puff pastry from a local gourmet chain. I really, really miss my khari biscuits and the puff pastry makes it as easy as one- two- three! Roll it out, cut and bake. But more on that later.
The cake was moist and had that lovely citrusy flavour - a little sweeter than the recipe said it would be, but not as sweet as a dessert cake. Went well with the coffee - despite what one might think about a citrus cake.

Orange and Clove Tea Cake (adapted from here)

Ingredients:
1-2 oranges cut into peeled sections - I used one large kinoo (mandarin) orange.

1 cup whole wheat flour (atta)
1 cup refined flour (maida)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp clove powder (1 tsp cloves, roasted for 3-4 minutes and then ground) (the original recipe calls for 1.5 tsp but I didn't want to experiment with that much; this quantity gave a gentle bite to the cake without overwhelming it)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup castor sugar
1 1/2 tbsp orange zest
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp orange extract

1 cup hung curd (hang about 2.5 cups of homemade yoghurt or 2 cups of  store bought yoghurt for atleast one hour)

6 tbsp honey ( I would reduce this to 5)
3 eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup pure olive oil

1. Grease and flour an 8" cake tin. Pre heat the oven to 350C
2. Combine the dry ingredient - sieving the whole wheat flour before adding to the refined flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, clove powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl, mix the castor sugar with the lemon and orange zest with fingers. Add the eggs and honey and essence and beat till well combined,.
4. Add the olive oil and the hung curd and beat again till you get a smooth, thick batter. 
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and arrange the orange segments on top so that they are half in and half out of the batter.
6. Bake for 35 minutes or till a skewer comes out clean.

Heritage Walk -Chandni Chowk, New Delhi

After coming to Delhi, we have been to Chandni Chowk quite a few times - but mostly as foodies to enjoy a great breakfast at Karims and then back home. Once we followed it up with a visit to Red Fort, but other than that hadn't done much exploring in the famed streets of Old Delhi. Till I signed up with a couple of friends last year for a Heritage Walk organised by INTACH.

So, one February morning the three of us met up, parked our cars at the nearest Metro station and took the train to Chandni Chowk. A short cycle rickshaw ride from there and we reached the starting point of the walk - opposite the Gurdawara Sisganj. Below are some of the sights we saw - To be honest, I wouldn't call all of them beautiful, but the walk certainly did a lot to gain an insight on life in times bygone.

Below - The Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib is built at the site in the Chandni Chowk area of Old Delhi, where the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded on the orders of the Mughal emperor in 1675 A.D., Aurangzeb, for refusing to convert to Islam. Before his body could be quartered and exposed to public view, it was stolen under the cover of darkness by one of his disciples, Lakhi Shah Vanjara, who then burnt his house to cremate the Guru's body. This place is marked by another Gurdwara, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib. The severed head ("Sis") of Guru Tegh Bahadur was brought to Anandpur Sahib by Bhai Jaita, another disciple of the Guru. It was cremated by the Guru's son, Gobind Rai, who would later become Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last Guru of the Sikhs. The Gurdwara at this place is also called Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib. Courtesy wikipedia



One of the many heritage buildings from a different century; and Ghantewala, the famed sweet shop - we had the most amazing ras malai ever and also packed some more sweets to take home.

















Parathewala Galli - a sore disappointment after all the stories we had heard about it - we even came back after the walk ended just to have breakfast there. While we could have taken the deep fried parathas in our stride as part of an old tradition, there was hardly any stuffing whatsoever inside the parathas!


















Anyway, the better part of the tour was seeing some of the remaining samples of the lovely architecture of that era - painted tiles, arched doorways, carved jharokhas; some of it had been painted over in garish colours....


















b















But then there were the others who had lovingly added to the architecture by furnishing the inside with antique pieces.























Some more pics from the walk - including a Jain temple from the 19th century with some lovely inlay work and tiles.














































We ended our morning by climbing up the stairs of the Jama Masjid for a splendid view of the Old City resplendent in the morning sun.

The guide for our walk wasn't very impressive and most of his commentary seemed aimed at the foreigners in the group. But while we tuned out most of what he said after the initial half an hour, we did enjoy the experience of being taken around one of the oldest marketplaces - something we may have had trouble negotiating on our own.

Also since we were there early one Saturday morning, most of the shops were closed - it was only when we were on our way out after breakfast, that we saw some of them open - like this amazing shop selling only bangles!

The harsh truth about a heritage area in a country fighting for space, is that one can't simply cordon it off to preserve it. It houses many, many people and is the workplace for even more. Its preservation is fraught with complexities and has to be balanced with the needs of the existing owners of the havelis who may want to sell out to builders of commercial buildings and shift to more spacious quarters in the suburbs.

Besides INTACH, the India Habitat Centre also organises walks to most of the important landmarks in Delhi - log on to their website and keep abreast of their planned walks. There is also this place I found quite recently - I hope to be able to join one of their walks and will report back when I do.