Italian Khana @ Diva

My trip to Delhi this time was as usual about me going almost every places in search of good food. I had the best veg momo's from a really small corner shop @ Vasant Goan to the best of Italian khana at the upmarket GK 2. I have read and seen alot of tv shows on Italian khana and abt the restaurant Diva, famous for its Italian Food. I wanted to visit and try italian food since long and this happened last Sunday, I have almost no knowledge of Italian food except for Pizzas and spaghetti (macaroni's) and I went to Diva with a lot of expectations...I ordered a Spaghetti alla Chitarra con peperoni e salsicie (NV) Hand made "guitar string" pasta with a robust sauce of spicy sausages, peas and fennel, not knowing what Guitar String pasta in real life is nothing else but the very normal noodle...was I disappointed well not too much but yeah...I kind of cursed myself for not ordering something else. The food was not that great but ambiance was good and location of course is superb.

I will definitely visit Diva again to try some other interesting food and maybe try Anatra arrosto al miele con arancia -Honey-roasted duck with baby potatoes and aromatic herbs .

Momo's and happiness

Their was a time when having momo was = happiness, that was during my student days. The nearest and the best momo's were available only at Momo's Point, Kamala Nagar (I still love the momo's) and it was abt twice a month that I used to treat myself with momo's...well that was 10 years back and now momo's are available everywhere...every galli and almost all fastfood joints in Delhi sell momo's from Ramu, Shamu to Mainland China, Ramu and Shamu calls it Momo but Mainland China and other fancy restaurant calls it "Dimsum" but giving it a fancy name doesnt change the taste. Momo has sure changed from the exclusive and only avialable @ xyz, now its available everywhere and Ramu, Shamu se lekar sab koi momo ka business jamma diya hai...and with the new development.changes Am I happy....of yeah I am super happy....last time I was in Delhi had some really good momo's at Sarojini Nagar and this time at this really small food joint at Vasant Kunj, for 20 bucks a plate...its a loot.Mumbai and Ahmedabad were two cities where I was momo starved, thankfully in Agartala I can atleast have momo's whenever I want but its far from where I live and its expensive. I love to eat momo's and even bought the momo making container though I have never attempted making momo's but if ramu and shamu can make business from selling momo's from a galli then I should make momo's for my own happiness.

The yummy things I cooked

October was a month full of cooking yummy food and eating loads of yummy food. I want home..twice, the 1st time as part of my yearly break during Durga Puja and 2nd time for official work. Each time I ended up carrying back tons of veggies, I always get veggies back whenever I go home I end up buying almost all kinds of veggies available at Nagamapal keithel from maroi nakuppi to maroi napakpi to cauliflower to thambou to ou morok. I love to buy veggies at the Nagamapal keithel but the most annoying part abt buying veggies is the dirt and garbbage piled up near the keithel. When I was home I invited my fren "A" and her Husband "G" for lunch and ended up cooking the most yummy meitei style chicken after the one at D's place...was I happy??? oh yeah I was super happy.....I always thought I can't cook meitei style chicken but I was wrong! with the right ingredients and an iron kadhai I can sure cook yummiest meitei style chicken. The cook in me tried different things this month and the most succesful in all my attempts was the "maroi nakuppi paknam", I had never tried making paknam but always wanted to, the problem with making it was the availability of turmeric leaves but this time I managed to get one during one of my field visits and with lil help from "A" I got the recipe right and bingo...my paknam turned out to be as good as that of my mom's. I do plan to make paknam next time I visit home and surprise mom with my recipe of a very popular meitei dish.

Mumbai unlimted

I love going to Mumbai, it still remains my fav city in India. I love the feeling of "alone" in a crowd...I like the train ride to VT station and chilling at Colaba, I miss sitting at Bandra Bandstand and enjoy the breeze and not minding the famous Mumbai city stink, I absolutely miss shopping for good and very affordable (read cheap)sandals at Linking road...I miss the vada pav and bhurji pav and despite the humidity and everything else I still love going back to Mumbai.I went to Mumbai after 2 and half yrs, the last time I was there was during an Alumni meet. The campus was similar and familiar, many things have changed in the past 2 and half years except for the same white washed campus roads with birds dropping a new 7 storey building has come up in the campus, the DH has become like fish market and I see students everywhere.When I was in Mumbai I had never visited the Shiddhi Vinayak Temple, this time for the first time I saw the Shiddhi Vinayak Temple and its a fav. among Bollywood stars. I saw the Bandra-World sea link also that's was cool, I took the pic. from a distance. I shopped for sandals and accessories from Linking road and missed my student days I took a cab and not bus to Linking road not because I could afford it but because I had no idea abt the bus route.I saw a crowd dancing with madness before immersion of an idol. Mumbai has alot to offer for travellers and places like Bandra, Colaba are the best place to shop. These places fits every ones budget and style, I bought a sandal which was exact copy of a sandal I had seen in Paris the difference...was the price in Paris it was priced 50 euro and here its 250 bucks...I love to shop in Linking road. I enjoyed my two day visit to Mumbai and would love to go back again.

Travel plans

For the past 4 years I have been travelling like crazy. I travel almost every month and sometimes I travel to 3 different cities and very recently 6 countries in a months. I love to travel and never get tired travelling...I am travelling again next week and this time its a purely personal trip I going to Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Baroda and Ahmedabad, most of my frens think I am crazy travelling so much but what to do I feel m lossing out on something.....whenever I get an chance to travel I never back out...even if its a trip to Dhalai dist. or the most interior place in North Tripura my running shoes are always ready and packed...I return from one trip and plan another...that's me and I love this part of me.

Hyderabad - (Chinese) Pearl City

Hyderabad is known for its pearls and now country's first airport developed in PPP model. When we landed in Hyderabad I was super impressed with the airport,it reminded me of the Frankfurt Airport. It was super clean and very, very swanky . The last time I was in Hyderabad I couldn't buy pearls and was very unhappy with myself but this time I bought loads of pearls. I did a lot of google search and asked frens abt shops and places to buy pearls from, one place suggested was "Jagdamba Pearls" and few more. The Hyderabadi pearls it turns out are all from China, so technically its not Hyderabadi Pearls but Hyderabadi Chinese Pearls, I always thought AP mei people must be doing commercial farming of pearls ....only to realize that in today's time everything and anything is made in china....which includes the the India mei world famous Hyderabad pearls. The resort I stayed at Hyderabad was nice "Golkanda Spa's and Resort" the room was very spacious and well designed, food was awesome the first day I had my fav. Biryani and for 3 more days I had the most spicy south indian food, everyone else was complaning abt the food and the level of spice index but I loved the spicy sambhar, spicy rasam and spicy chicken curry. The resort was very beautiful only I couldn't find time to explore and chill, maybe some other time, I'll be back not for work but to chill and relax.