To eat or not to

Last summer I decided to stop having chicken not completely but cut down as much as possible, I allowed myself to have a chicken dimsum/wantons that I made myself at home but other than that I mostly ate fish, lentils and vegetables. Summer in Sweden is awesome for vegetarians we get all kinds of greens and greens I like starting from hangam (mustard leaves), leibak kundo (purslane),  amaranth, methi leaves and many other varieties of greens we eat in Manipur.

One of the most interesting greens I found was leibak kundo, a vegetable not commonly known to even fellow manipuris. My mother once made kangsoi with some nga ayaiba (smoked fish) and I still remembered the taste, from my days in The Hague I knew that it is available in Turkish vegetable  stores but here I buy it from stoles owned by people from Arabic speaking background. One can even make kanghou with come potatoes and leibak kundo but kangsoi taste the best.

It is much easier to stick to a meat less diet in summer but I do need my daily does of fish and Sweden is Salmon heaven  :) thanks to the neighbouring country Norge we get both farmed and wild caught salmons but also several varieties of sea food.  I was anyways never a fan of meat and since the only meat I ate was chicken it was easy to give it up and for some weird reason whenever I used to cook chicken it used to taste horrible so I stopped cooking chicken long time back. My husband makes really yummy chicken but I normally eat just the gravy.

With summer on the way I plan to continue my meat less diet and some interesting recipes will be uploaded soon.

Purslane (Leibak kundo)

Balestrand- Norway (Norge)

Balestrand- Fjord town

 Last summer my husband and I went to Norway, it was a well planned trip and me being the super planner /organiser I managed to find some awesome deals. Before I go any further I must mention that Norway is super expensive BUT if you dig and do your research one can manage it and stay within budget. Now summer in Norway is a busy time, flocked by tourist from all over the world finding accommodation within your budget could be a challenge (even Airbnb) and the only reason we choose Balestrand was because it was the only place we could find a decent hotel within out budget, fortunately it was a blessing in disguise, our Norway trip was spread over 10 days and Balestrand was the last leg of our trip.

We started our trip from Oslo, it took us just about 6 hours by bus from where we live the Swebus tickets were cheap and the bus comfortable. I will write about the Oslo-Bergen-Balestrand journey in another post.

If you plan to go to Balestrand by public transport that is by the Express boat and if you don't have a car it is best to buy the Norled Fjordcard, we bought the 5 days Fjordcard each costing 995 NOK ( 1250 NOK 2017 summer price) but it is an awesome way to explore the Fjord towns in Sognefjord. We bought the Fjordcard from Bergen and made full use of it. We visited  few other fjord towns and loved every part of the explore Sognefjord tour.

 Food in whole of Norway is expensive, I personally don't like burgers or Mcdonalds food but even the cheapest burger in Mcdonalds or Burger King will cost 99 NOK, so we decided to stick to normal food by paying a little extra. In Sweden I can except to have a decent meal in 100 SEK, I am not talking about donor kabab or falafel but a proper meal say a buffet in a good (not so fancy) restaurant, sometimes we can have lunch even in 65 SEK say at the small Thai-Chinese takeaway food kiosk/restaurant but in Norway that is just not possible. A decent meal will cost 200 NOK or more. So while selecting Hotel accommodation I was careful to book in hotels which included breakfast, in fact the hotel we stayed in Bergen (amazing location)  included even dinner.  So it is important to check what all are included in the price and select hotels carefully.

 Balestrand is a very picturesque town with just about 1500 inhabitants, perfect for a quite and soul searching trip. The view of snow capped mountains and the fjord was not just serene but had such a calming effect on me, the town is also know for some landmark places like the Kvikne hotel, the wooden structure with the view of the fjord I am sure will make anyone fall in love with this place.

Kvikne hotel

View from the balcony....breathtaking...oh yes

 The sunset was late and the sunrise early but when the view is as beautiful as this I was more than happy that the days are very long and nights short or rather very short. We stayed at this hotel called Mintnes and had the most amazing view from the room. The three days went so quick that I immediately regretted spending three days in Oslo. Norway just took our breath away and of all the countries I have visited I have to admit that its the most beautiful and wonderful of all. The mountain, fjord and nature everything was breathtakingly beautiful. I am a mountain girl, I feel most at peace and home in the mountains but the combination of the snow capped mountains + water made me  wishing for a trip to Norway every summer, we do plan to visit Norway as often as possible and we are yet to explore and visit more amazing places.

This does not need any caption

Growing Malabar spinach - Balcony garden

Back to business

Maybe I was thinking to start blogging again ;)

Between work, travel, cooking, eating,packing and moving to another country, it seems I forgot that I once used to actively blog. 2014 was a sure a busy year or maybe the busiest year of my life and 2015 seems like the most relaxed so far and whats better than reviving my blog, so here I am, back to blogging again and hope to continue it without any further breaks. The last post was over  year back waooooo and why did such a long break happened, it's not that I did not travelled or cooked interesting food but  was just too occupied with so many other things in life that blogging took a back seat. 

Now that spring is here and the spring flowers lifts my spirits, it's time to blog about all the interesting places my husband and I are planning to travel and all the yummy food that will follow. 

Steamed Pak-choy with Black Bean paste

Steamed Pak choy with Black bean paste

Inspired by the steamed baby Pak Choy I had at Yauatcha last week, I bought some Pak Choy from Foodhall and tried my version of the same. It was not as good as the one I had but considering it was my first attempt it was good.

Recipe:

Ingredients;
1. 4-5 Pak Choy
2. 3-4 Garlic clove
3. Spring onion (optional)
4. Black bean paste
5. Light Soya Sauce ( Preferably  Kikkomon)

Method:

1. Clean and wash the Pak choy and remove the outer leaves use only the tender part.
2. Chop the garlic and spring onion, mix it with 2 tbsp of Soya sauce, 2 tbsp of water  and Black bean paste. Take a big bowl and coat the Pak Choy with the mix.
3. Take out about 1/2 a mt of aluminium foil and arrange the Pak Choy neatly. Cover it well and place the parcel on the heat proof plate of the steamer. Steam for 10-15 mins.
4. Let the parcel cool for 5 mins and take out your best plate and serve hot :)

Yauatcha, Delhi- Michelin Starred Resturant

Food....good food and me are inseparable, I can go almost anywhere to have good food. Starting last Friday I have had a food filled weekend, which started with the Cheesecake @ Foodhall followed by a platter of Sushi at Sakae Sushi both in Ambiance Mall, Vasant Kunj   but the best food I have had in a very long time, was last saturday at this Michelin Starred Restaurant called 'Yauatcha' which serve modern Cantonese cuisine. My desire to have food at a Michelin Starred Restaurant ended at Vasant Kunj and I must say the restaurant and the food were better than expected. Located in 2nd Floor at Ambiance Mall in Vasant Kunj, the restaurant is very well located and by the time we left at 10 pm it was full. 

The food met my expectation and the service was also good. For starters we ordered  5 types of dim sums out of this I was most impressed with the Pak choy wrapped dim sum, Chicken and Prawn Shui Mai and the thin fish fillet wrapped dim sum, I can claim that I had the most amazing dim sum available in the whole country last saturday , the presentation was super good and the taste even better. The main course we ordered were also good, steamed baby pak choy in light oyster sauce  (I will try to replicate it soon) and french beans with Shaiitake mushroom in spicy black bean sauce (The mushroom was missing tough), 2 types of chicken, thin rice noodles and jasmine rice, for dessert we had Raspberry Delice which was mind blowing, the presentation was so beautiful that I didn't felt like eating it. . 

So if you are planning to experience gourmet food try 'Yauatcha', the price (inclusive of taxes) is a little steep but totally worth it (you may end up spending Rs 2500/- per person including drinks) , booking a table during weekend is recommended . 

My rating:

I will give Yauatcha 4 stars for ambiance, 4.5 stars for Food and 4 for service. The picture of the dessert is to motivate you to visit and enjoy the food :)

Raspberry Delice