One Chillie....many names

Oo- Morok or Raja Mirchi or Bhut Jalokia or Capsicum chinense

Worlds Hottest Chillie (ex now)

Chilles are a very integral part of Manipuri Cuisine, Eromba will not be the same without chillies and if its prepared with Oo-Morok phir toh khane ka mazza kuch aur he hai. Imagine Kangsoi without chillies or Lafuu Tharo Paknam without any chillie...oh I can't even imagine that for it will not taste like Kangsoi or my fav. Paknam. Oo- Morok no doubt is or now was worlds hottest chillie it measures 1,041,427 on the Scoville Scale ( Scoville units are the measures that grade the hotness of a Chilli.) our fav. Ou-Morok is dethroned by the Infinity Chilli recently and it measures 1,067,286 on the Scoville Scale. 

Manipuri's love Oo-Morok, it adds flavor to any dish esp. Eromba and I feel it tastes best with Oo-Morok. Yongchak- Aloo Eromba with Oo-Morok...yummyyyyy....or Yongchak Singju with Oo-Morok ahhhhh. In Manipur Oo-Morok is mostly grown in Hilly Districts, when my dad was posted at Tameilong I remember dad getting fresh Oo-Morok during the season and the dried one during off season. Recently one of my frens in-laws sent her a Kilo of dried  Oo-Morok and I was just thinking the damage it'll do to the poor stomachs but also the mouth watering dish she and her husband will be having everyday.

Cafe with a difference- Cafe Ethnic, Zaheerabad

Cafe Ethnic- Organic Food Restaurant @ Zaheerabad, Medak Dist. AP

As a real foodie I make it a point to visit the best eating joints where I travel, I google search, read managines ask for suggestions and I have been to many eating joints- Small, Big, posh, road side dhaba's etc etc some of them were really good and some not so good. 

During my visit to Rural Andhra last month we happen to visit one restaurant which I believe is truly one of the best places I have ever visit. Started  on 26th Jan 2004 Café Ethnic is a family restaurant located at Zaheerabad town, 100 kms from Hyderabad, what was really cool and awesome about the restaurant was the menu, serving  organic, really healthy, nutritious and yummy food this restaurant is a must visit again. The  main ingredient was Millets of different kinds I never knew that in India we have Millets of atleast 5 types....all this info was written in the Menu Card and also info. posters were put up in the restaurant. The food was simple but very healthy and yummy, I had the Thali and the rotis made from different types of Millets, subzi and dal was one of the best meals I have ever had....the Kheer was just too good made with Millet and Jaggery. 

If anyone happens to be in Zaheerabad, do visit "Cafe Ethnic" its located in the Zaheerabad town main market area. The food is very reasonably priced and try the thali and "Til Laddu"  and don't forget to get a copy of the recipe booklet (given free of charge).

Twenty Eleven

Twenty Ten is over and its another brand new year Twenty Eleven....reflecting back, I feel Twenty Ten  passed so fast and it was a year full of activities in terms of my traveling, I went on some amazing and thrilling trips...visited beautiful places....went on a soul trip ( Bhutan)....a backpacking tour ( North East India)....free foreign trips( Thailand)....self discovery (Bhutan again)....surprised official trips (Arunachal and Rural Andhra) in short I traveled like a true wanderlust and enjoyed every moment....I remember starting Twenty Ten  with a trip to Imphal and ended the year with a trip to Bangalore. 

Its been nearly 3 years since I started to blog and I have stuck to topics I wanted to write about and I wrote for myself but starting from this year as few more people read my blog I will add few more things in my post :

1. I will add details of places I visited info like accommodation: Hotels/Guesthouse etc with contact details, best time to visit, must eat and buy  and also mention a "Clean Loo Guide" just like my fav. travel guide and Magazine "The Lonely Planet" .

2. Video's of my latest food/recipes and inventions/innovations will be uploaded.
3. Safety from point of travelling alone.
4. Approx Budget.

I was surprised to see that alot of people visit my blog (all thanks to google) and I wish that whoever reads my blog should feel happy about getting the right information. Twenty Eleven will be exciting as I plan to travel a lot more, learn Italian cooking, stay fit & healthy, lose weight (ah thats a priority) , blog more, stay happier, love myself a lil more and yeah I am getting married :) :). Happy New Year to me and I hope to have a Great 2011.

Field and food Trip

When we talk about Biryani is India theirs only one city we all associate Biryani with and thats Hyderabad.... the city of  Nizam, Pearls and Biryani's of course. I was on a four day tour to Hyderabad and this trip sure was one of the best field (read official trip) trip I've done on a long time. Despite the hectic schedule I still managed to shop (pearls), eat (biryani & many other AP special dish) and meet friends (AB and cutiepie her son). Talking about shopping I bought myself a really sexy pearl necklace and earings set, which is so beautiful that I fell in love with it the first time I saw, it looks so khandani that I was joking with my colleagues saying  that the Pearl set looks like "Rani Ki Beti ka haar" and I sure will look like Rani ki beti wearing that. Alot of people might not know but the pearls available in Hyderabad are mostly chinese pearl, I found out from Wikipedia that 80-90% of world's cultured pearls comes from China and m really not surprised with that...China wale kuch bhi bana sakte hai.

We had Biryani at the famous "Paradise" restaurant located in Paradise circle, Secundrabad...the biryani's of course were really good and what was really cool about the restaurant was the orders were taken not on a note pad or some piece of paper but mind you on a PDA...thats the first ever Indian Restaurant I have seen using PDA to take orders...it was damn cool...the PDA was connected with the computer in the kitchen and the order gets registered directly to the kitchen. The biryani was followed by "Khubani ka Meetha" and I must admit that was the best Khubani ka meetha I had ever had till now, it was not so sweet and the apricots just melted in my mouth....I am looking fwd to many more trips to Hyderabad to enjoy not just the biryani's but the whole lot of other yummy things the city has to offer.




Paradise Biryani @ Secunderabad



Khubani ka Meetha @ Paradise

                                               

Dilli ke sardi

It's 18 degree celsius in Delhi and I am sure not enjoying it. I like coming to Delhi for all the food, frens and shopping but not in winter....its been 7 years since I left this city and have come many times since then but I always avoid travelling to delhi in winter...it gets super cold and with the thick fog or rather smog it get's too much to take ...air travel becomes a pain with delayed flights. I remember my hostel days in delhi when  sitting for hrs in the hostel lawn on sundays was one of few things we really enjoyed....the hostel evening tea tasted a lil better n bunking the 1st morning class was guilt free.

Saardi in Dilli is sure not pleasant but its also the time when you can wear/flaunt the best winter cloths :)...   

Enjoying winter

Sitting near a "Meiphu" (Traditional Meitei heater) and having roasted peas and aloo is what I like best about winter, winter in Manipur can be real fun but very, very cold too.  Its that time of the year when sleeping for 5 more mins always feels good and sunday feels like the best day.

Well  winter is also the season when we have runny nose, cough & fever to top it all. But its also the time of the year when the best and fresh green leafy vegetables are available at throw away prices....I associate winter with Hanggam (Musterd leaves) , Kobi lei (Cauliflower), Hawai Maton (Tender Peas leaves)& hawai tharak (Peas)  and also the best time to have " Nga ren" & Hawai Tharak ooti...which is an all time fav. For  a total foodie like me winter is all about having the best possible Meitei dish which taste best only in winter. I am enjoying winter and looking forward to having everything best that I can.

Meiphu- Traditional Meitei Heater