Photo Courtesy :  Shubh M Singh on flickr.com

"Take Vaccations... go as many places as you can. You can always make money but you can’t always make memories."

Day 1: Pune to Mumbai/ Mumbai – Delhi

The much awaited journey began on a beautiful Saturday morning from Pune. The entire trip was going to be of 9 days Pune to Pune. Out of which 5 days would be the actual time when we would be in Himachal and rest 4 days in traveling to and fro. It was the first big vacation we took after our Kerala trip 2 years back, so I was really looking forward to the trip. There was a slight anticipation also whether all the month-long planning would reap the expected dividend or not.

The weather had really tricked everyone this year. Every other year usually the monsoons arrive in Pune positively by the first week of June. This year however there were no signs of monsoon even on the 14th of June – the day we began our journey. We had one big suitcase, a trekking rucksack, a big camera sling bag and a laptop bag that A had to carry in case some work came up on the fly. I didn’t bother to take mine though, for me vacation meant total switch from office work.

We started at 7 AM towards the Pune station. Pragati Express was scheduled to start at 7:50 AM. Soon we settled down comfortably in our seats and the railway appointed vendors started taking orders for breakfast. They had limited offerings in veg and non-veg food. We ordered for a bread-omlette each. The food was pretty much okay-okay and cost us Rs.109. Later on many more third party vendors got on the train from different stops selling various snacks and breakfast items. The train had limited stops on the Pune-Mumbai route and we reached Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus the erstwhile Victoria Terminus by 11:15 AM.  As soon as we stepped out of the air conditioned coach we were welcomed by the hot and extreme humid climate of Mumbai. We had to go to Bombay Central to catch our connecting train to Delhi. The pre-paid taxi stand was a small walk from the platform where we got down. CST to BCT taxi cost us Rs. 170 for a 5KM distance. Atrocious but there was no other way as we had a lot of luggage with us. The driver of our taxi was a very old gentleman who was constantly shaking when he walked. We were really doubtful regarding how he is going to manage the drive. But he drove pretty steadily all the way.

BCT is much smaller compared to CST but many important long distance trains to MP, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan etc. departs from this station. Our connecting train to Delhi was at 5:50PM same day hence the layover time was more than 6 hours. With so many luggage in tow a Mumbai Darshan option was out of question hence we had already booked a retiring room online to be able to rest during the waiting time. We saw the signboards which indicated that the retiring rooms were located on the second floor. And we could only see a winding ancient looking staircase going up. I was like, really you expect passengers to drag their luggage’s all the way up to the second floor via these stair! It was pretty unbelievable even by the government standards. So we decided to look around for any elevator around and we did find one eventually which looked like it was ready to crash land any moment. We pressed the button and waited for the lift to arrive. We waited and waited and waited but there was no sign of any lift whatsoever. With no other option left we decided to climb the flight of stairs. The big suitcase was very heavy and tugging it along the big steps of the staircase made us pant like a dog; we were just wondering how we would make it through the two odd floors. Fortunately when we reached the first floor we saw that someone had left the door of the lift ajar due to which the lift was not moving.  There were a couple of railways officials walking around who saw the lift door ajar but paid no heed at all. How very typical sarkari people least bothered about customer convenience!

We got into the lift which was as big as a pigeon coop and so lean that it could easily put Kareena’s zero figure to shame. We somehow squeezed ourselves and the luggage as two police personals pushed their way in. As we pressed the second floor button the pre-historic lift with grill door rattled its way to glory. During the onward journey we saw pigeons taking a siesta in the grooves of the walls along the lift passage, how they managed to get there is still a big mystery for us. We stood there transfixed like matches in a matchbox till it reached the second floor, scared that our slight movement might bring down the entire ancient structure.

Finally we reached the second floor. We walked down to the area which looked like a reception with an old wood table spread across at one corner. After the lift experience we half expected to find someone at the reception. But surprisingly there was someone indeed. It’s another thing that the person seated over there looked so ancient himself that we knew it wouldn’t be a seamless process checking into our rooms. His brows furrowed and he looked at us through his almost opaque glasses and we handed him the online receipt of the room reservation. He glanced it once and asked us our room number.

We were so exasperated, now how the hell were we supposed to know the room number, wasn’t it him who was going to give us a room number? But he kept saying “tell me the room number”. When we couldn’t, then he even said that this was not a booking receipt! We were at our wit’s end by then. When another passenger standing at the reception watching our little exchange intervened and said to the person, “Kaka this is indeed a booking receipt, you need to give the room number”. He still wasn’t able to understand and told us to go down to the booking counter and check whether this was really a receipt. I stayed back with the luggage while A went down. The heat was sweltering and I was melting like an ice cream. Somehow the person at the desk took pity on me and offered a chair to sit. Soon A was back. Seems like the room number was already mentioned on the receipt itself which none of us noticed. The person again asked us the number instead of himself checking. We told him and he handed us the keys.

We opened the precarious looking lock and entered the paradise of ancient things. The room was pretty big with a double bed, a wooden almirah, a wooden table with a vintage mirror and a side table. There was a single window at the farthest end of the room which overlooked the entrance of the station. The washroom was small, not very clean but at least not smelly or stained with spit marks. The European style commode however looked pretty out of place in such an ancient environment. Thankfully the shower was working because I was pretty reluctant to use the bucket and mug provided in the washroom. I was already sweating like a pig and took a quick bath to freshen up. The heat seemed like dementors from Harry Potter sucking out all the energy out of our body. As the travel and heat fatigue took over our bodies we decided to sleep for a while before heading for lunch. But all we could do was twist and turn in the beds. The fan above our head was spinning but only visually we couldn’t feel any air on us. I understood taking a bath was totally useless in this extreme humidity, as I was already sweating again.

We left the room at 1 PM to have lunch. The rusted lock was just a customary thing; anyone could break it with one blow. We had the expensive SLR and lenses, laptops, hard disk but there was no other option than to have faith on our lady luck and venture out. The lift this time came without giving us hiccups and we came down.

Bombay central is a small station compared to other big ones in Mumbai and all stored were in limited proportions. There were only two food junctions (Rajdhani and Comesum). We skipped Rajdhani as it serves only vegetarian food. Comesum restaurant at Pune station served excellent non-veg thalis at reasonable rates. With the same expectation we headed into the restaurant and were in for a big surprise. The price of everything was very steep and the menu looked pretty uninteresting. For a basic chicken thali having roti, rice, daal and chicken curry (one piece chicken) cost us more than 200 bucks for each thali. The taste was also pretty disappointing. We wrapped up the lunch quickly and went back to our room. Thankfully nothing was stolen or misplaced. We crashed on the bed and slept instantly.

We woke up at 4:50 PM. I couldn’t help taking another quick shower before leaving. By 5:15 we were on the platform where August Kranti was already standing. As luck would have it, our coach was at the fag end of the long station. We hurried huffing and puffing – we had to mark our territory before someone else encroached. It took us a good 7-8 minutes before we reached our berths. The only good thing among all this was we had got side upper/lowers berths so we didn’t have to share our seats with anybody else. The August Kranti Express is a very good train as we soon discovered. Service, cleanliness, food quality, comfort, washroom facilities everything was really nice. It was at par with the Rajdhani standard and hard to find anything unimpressive about the train.

We settled down quickly, the A/C inside was a real relief from the melting heat outside. The Rajdhani staff soon buzzed into action placing pillows, bedsheets and blankets at every berth. The pantry guy came and took our food orders for the entire journey. Being hard-core non-vegetarians it was all time non-veg for us – short and simple.

The train started and our anticipations soared with every kilometer it went. Both of us took out the books we had decided to read during the train journey. But the scene outside kept engaged. Soon we left Mumbai. The landscape was slowly changing outside. There was no rain but still everything looked interesting – the romance of train travel had caught on us. We entered the perimeters of Gujarat and A kept talking relentlessly about the time he was posted in Gujarat. The state looked spic and span. I kept looking outside while we talked. Slowly the last strains of the sun melted into the ink black darkness of the night. City lights dazzled us occasionally. Dinner was served around 8:15 PM. We made space for placing the food trays on the lower berth. Food served on train can be never expected to have the quality or taste of a good hotel. But the food served on August Kranti was amazingly yummy. Infact it’s the best food I have ever tasted on train. The menu consisted of Ma ki daal, Palak chicken, Veg pulao, Parantha, Dahi and ice cream. The daal was thick and creamy, succulent palak chicken seasoned to perfection, flavorful veg pulao and the paranthas tasted homemade – everything was finger licking good.

After the amazing dinner we settled down with our respective books. I was reading a Bengali detective novel by Suchitra Bhattacharya named “Kurie Paowa Pendrive”. I had deliberately picked up this book for the forward journey because it was based on a crime happening while a family goes on Himachal Pradesh tour. Reading about the place of travel was the ideal way to set the mood for the oncoming journey. Slowly all the uncles and aunty of the other berths went to sleep but we kept reading for a while. With most of the lights out, we could see the outside more clearly. Specks of light floated from traces of civilization far away. After a while tiredness slowly dawned on us and we decided to turn in for the day. The bed was already made and after a quick visit to the washroom we curled into our respective berths bidding each other good night. The rhythmic chugging of the train and the psychedelic effect created by lights straining through the curtains lulled me to sleep soon.

Continued in Himachal Travel Diary - Part 2.

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” 
― John Muir



A preamble to a travelogue – now that’s something unheard of! But I really wanted to put this down because of the amount of R&D and efforts that went into planning a trip meticulously without the help of any tour organizer. Some readers may find this piece of write up unnecessary but I will be glad even if this helps one person like us  planning an offbeat trip to Himachal.

Inception: A had a long holiday coming up in June. Usually during long holidays we would travel to our hometowns. But this time, around May first week A surprised me by saying lets plan a trip to Himachal or Ladakh. I was so grateful to him that he simply didn't say let’s plan a holiday “somewhere” which was the usual case and instead emphasized on two particular places to choose from. Half of my efforts were saved. At least I had thought so in the beginning.

Some of the facts that stared back at me were:

1.    Summer time = Peak season
2.    Summer Vacation in school = too much crowd
3.    Time left to plan = 5 weeks (ONLY!)

The first thing was Feasibility check, whether we could plan a long trip with 7 days in hand. Initial R&D said that both Ladakh and Himachal are feasible if selected places are done. Somehow I was more inclined towards Himachal because of the greenery and riot of colors available than the barren lunar landscape of Ladakh. But on an impartial note I began the price check for both tours simultaneously. We wanted to keep the starting budget low as we knew that once the tour would start we would surely overspent in all the areas marked as “variable”. So the starting budget was fixed at 40K. Most of the packages that we checked were from Delhi to Delhi and costing nearly 35K for a 5 night trip to Leh and Nubra. Which meant we had to take a flight from Pune to Leh, to save days in hand for sightseeing. I checked the flight prices and one way price for one person was almost 11k. I tried out a few permutation and combination but still couldn't fit anything in the decided range. So Ladakh plan was positively out of question. Happy at the verdict I launched a full throttle R & D on Himachal to identify the areas that would be on our travel list.

Basic Info about the state:
Himachal Pradesh is believed to be a hallowed land of gods, goddesses and saints. As the name connotes ('Him' means snow), it is a land of snow-clad mountains, snow-fed rivers and sparkling streams. The state is landlocked with the Tibetan plateau to the east, Jammu and Kashmir to the north, and the Punjab to the west. However, the state stands apart from its neighbors in terms of its sheer topographic diversity and breathtaking pristine natural beauty. Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation has divided the State into four interesting circuits. These circuits pass through different terrains each unique from the other.


1. Beas Circuit: Deriving its name from the ancient river Beas, this circuit makes its way through the popular Kullu-Mandi region known for its amazing natural beauty. The Beas River, with its clear water gurgles and sloshes through the landscape adding to the picture perfection of this circuit. One can witness well-defined snow-capped peaks, Deodar and pine trees, tiny alpine fields, rocky slopes amid grassy meadows carpeted with wild flowers and Terraced field of apples orchards across Kullu Valley. This 1335 km circuit includes: Delhi, Swarghat , Bilaspur, Mandi, Rewalsar, Kullu, Manali, Manikaran, Naggar, and Rohtang.

2.Sutlej Circuit: This circuit is named after the popular river Sutlej. The Sutlej circuit passes through the Shiwalik foot hills through apple orchards, forests of pine, oak and deodar, majestic monuments of the Raj, snow covered ski slopes and the furious Sutlej River. The Sutlej Circuit includes Delhi, Sarahan, Solan, Shimla and Kiarighat Narkanda, Parwanoo, Rampur, Naldehra, Tattapani, Kasauli, Renuka, Barog, Paonta Sahib and Nahan, Chail and Hatkoti

3. Dhauladhar Circuit: This circuit is named after the famous Dhauladhar peaks located in the West of Himalayan range. Also known as the Outer Himalaya, Dhauladhar range begins from near Dalhousie of Himachal and extends as a necklace through the state to near the bank of the Beas River in the Kullu before ending near Badrinath. The flowers of the meadows, the beautiful architecture of temples, the amazing tea estates and grazing sheep gives a wonderful experience to the traveller. This Dhauladhar circuit covers Delhi, Dharamsala, Jwalamukhi, Palampur, Chamunda, Kangra, Dalhousie, Chintpurni, Khajjiar, Jogindernagar and Chamba.

4. Tribal Circuit: The cold desert mountains, mighty glaciers, icy frozen lakes, high passes, snowcapped peaks, spectacular monasteries, lamas and yaks - this region is marked by rich cultural traditions.This circuit covers Delhi, Losar, Kunzum, Kaza, Koksar, Sissu, Tandi, Trilokpur, Rohtang Pass, Manali, Udaipur, Sangla, Kalpa Nako, Sarahan, Shimla, Tabo, Dhankar and Pin Valley

In every circuit there was something which was not to be missed. First I picked out the places from the entire state which seemed interesting. The list looked something like this: Kullu, Manali, Naggar, Rohtang, Sarahan, Narkanda, Naldehra, Tattapani, Kasauli, Chail, Dharamsala, Palampur, Kangra, Dalhousie, Khajjiar, Chamba. Tribal circuit was completely left out because of the similarity of landscape with Ladak. Also we had heard that the passing road maybe would remain close during the time of our visit.16 places were not possible in 7 days, so it had to be brought down to some 3-4 places so that we could have ample sightseeing and resting time at each location plus the travel time had to be taken under consideration from one place to another.

A had never seen snow before so his priority was to experience snow and to get snow in the sweltering heat of June one definitely had to travel to Rohtang. Hence Rohtang was mandatory which meant we had to stay in Manali, which is the nearest city to Rohtang. Since for Rohtang one needed to start at 2.30 AM hence we possibly couldn’t do on the very next day of reaching Manali at 2 AM. So two days stay in Manali was finalized – one day for local sightseeing and one for Rohtang & Solang.

Now we had 3 more days left. While surfing through the stay options near Manali in the http://hptdc.nic.in/ I came across Nagger and Jagatsukh which looked very picturesque. Especially I was bowled over by Nagger Castle – a wooden shikara style architecture castle and they had stay options available too at affordable prices but unfortunately the best view room of Naggar was booked and the leftovers didn't have that great a view.

In parallel I was looking for Kasol, which looked like another quaint little town with loads of natural beauty and the beautiful Parvati River flowing right across it. Since our destination always went along the offbeat path I was more than eager on doing Kasol. The articles said that Kasol was a tiny place where you could cover the entire town on foot in a few hours itself. Hence Kasol was fixed as Destination number 2. And Naggar and Jagatsukh would be done on way to Kasol.

For the third destination and maybe a 4th one as well the dilemma was there. Khajjiar, Chail, Palampur all looked good but we had to be somewhere from which the travel back to Delhi/Chandigarh would be easy. If we choose something in a faraway place then travel time would increase. And it’s always advisable to start with the farthest point in the itinerary and gradually come closer to exit place. After infinite hours of googling, I found out that there were a couple of very beautiful places scattered south of Kasol. The devilonwheels.com site gave a pretty description of the following places: Barot, Tirthan valley, Chindi and Pabbar Valley. Each of them was far away from civilization, had the much needed peaceful ambiance and oodles of natural beauty. I wanted to do them all! But time was sparse hence everything was not possible. The knowledge of Trout fishing possibility in Tirthan interested me. The final contenders were Barot and Tirthan. Both looked and felt quite similar from description but I really loved the Tirthan Valley pictures hence we decided we would select Tirthan Valley as the final destination just for chilling out doing nothing. So the final plan looked like this :

Delhi --> Manali --> Rohtang/Solang --> Jagatsukh -->Naggar --> Kasol -->Manikaran --> Tirthan valley --> Delhi (Almost entire Beas Circuit)


Later on during the course of the trip due to a small change in plans we got the opportunity to visit Kullu as well.

Logistics: This is very important part of the travel.

Train: If you are following the same route as us, it’s advisable you do it from Chandigarh to Chandigarh instead of Delhi to Delhi as we did. That way you will be spared at least 6 hours of journey each side. But for this you need to make sure that you book your tickets nearly two months before the D-day.

1.    Train 1: Pragati Express (Pune Station to Mumbai CST, 7:50 AM – 11:15AM same day, Rs 341/head)  = Good*

2.    Train 2: August Kranti (Mumbai BCT to Delhi Nizamuddin, 17.40 PM – 10.55 AM next day, Rs 1815/head) = Very Good*

3.    Train 3: BCT Duronto (New Delhi Station to Mumbai BCT, 23.30 PM – 16.15 PM next day, Rs 1815/head) = Good*

4.    Train 4: Shahyadri Express (Mumbai CST to Pune Station, 17.50 PM – 21.55PM same day, Rs.676/head) = Bad*

* - Rating

Car: I am a person who has acute motion sickness which gets amplified while travelling on any ghat roads in a closed vehicle. The most preferred way of travelling to Himachal is taking the overnight Volvo. I felt pretty reluctant to take the enclosed Volvo for a 14 hours journey, due to my earlier experience of returning in a Volvo from Goa wherein throughout the way I kept vomiting. I positively needed a vehicle where I would have easy access to natural air whenever I feel queasy. Also we had big luggage with us, so taking local transport option for moving from point A to B during the travel was also not a good option. Thinking about all this we decided to book a cab for the entire Delhi to Delhi* journey, that way we would have flexibility in movement at all times. I also had to give up the temptation of travelling on the roof of a local bus to Kasol (recommended) as I didn't want to compromise on convenience.

Car Company Details:

IndiaTaxiOnline.com
Contact Person : Kailash Kumar(09540000804)
Total Amount for 6 nights 7 days = Rs. 20,000 for 17000 Km (Maruti Dzire)


>> Volvos are available only overnight. Non-Ac government buses are however available during the day also. * - for only Delhi drop and pick the charge was coming close to 11k so it is a better deal to book the car for entire journey.

>> In all probability your car will not go till Rohtang. Mind it Beas Kund is NOT Rohtang till where your car will drop you!!! From there the local union provides 4X4 jeeps for which they charge an atrocious amount. They will quote anything like 5-6k for a full car w/o sharing. Bargain and bring it down to 2K. Anything above it is not worth, anything less is great. And it’s worth going up till Rohtang if the weather is good. Another important point, Rohtang IS OPEN ON TUESDAYS, so all those info you read on net may or may not be applicable. Inquire properly before you plan. We went on a Tuesday only.

>> If planning for Rohtang, carry a good UV protection sunglass. The stark white snow reflects terribly in the eye, so definitely don’t go there without the necessary glares.

>> Don’t carry too many woolens thinking about Rohtang visit. We did that mistake. If you are going in summer, the ski suits that you can rent anywhere in Manali for Rs 250 and galoshes for Rs 200 is good enough in the subzero temperature. But you will need a woolen cap for sure, so carry it with you. Don’t make the mistake of not renting a suit, if you want to go in the snow which is why you will go all the way to Rohtang you will definitely need them if you don’t want to become a wet icicle.


Hotel Details:

1. Manali – Drifter’s Inn (Old Manali), Contact: Nishant (09805033127), Standard Room w/o food : Rs. 950/day

2. Kasol- Alpine Guest House (best strategic location in Kasol, don’t opt for anything else if you get this), Contact: Mrs. Mukherjee (09816271067), Room w/o food Rs 1200/day

3. Tirthan Valley(Nagni): Khem Bharti Homestay(), Contact : Khem Bharti (09459101113)


>> Stay at New Manali instead of Old if you prefer solitude and nature, or you can even stay near Jagatsukh. Stay at Old Manali only if you want to be near to the Mall road and other attractions

>> Definitely stay at Old Manali if you have plans for Rohtang, it will be nearer.

>> Don’t select any other hotel like Sandhya Kasol, Panchali Holiday Home etc…they will be expensive and without any view. Even if you don’t get accommodation in Alpine at first keep calling them a couple of times

>> Don’t expect mail confirmation from Alpine, they have a bad net connection, non-operational most of time

>> Mobile network very flickering in Kasol. ZERO at Khem Bharti

>> Opt for Raju’s guest house in Kasol for best experience (book very much in advance)

>> Khem Bharti has in-house wifi, which you can access if you get the room at the farthest end of the corridor on the first floor. No TV in room. In dining room there is a TV though.

>> Don’t go for Superior rooms @ Khem. They will say sky high things about the new rooms charging exactly double. You will only get a slightly bigger room w/o TV in the bargain. Not worth.

Useful links:

1.    http://devilonwheels.com/index.php/list-of-5-must-visit-off-beat-places-in-himachal-pradesh/

2.    http://devilonwheels.com/index.php/category/offbeat-places/

3.    http://hptdc.nic.in/

Checklist of things when you go on a travel

1.    http://devilonwheels.com/index.php/list-of-things-to-carry-when-you-go-on-trip/

The opportunities are infinite you just need to plan according to your taste to get the best out of Himachal.



Continued in Himachal Travel Diary - Part 1

We have just returned from the mountains last week. It had been an amazing week in the verdant landscape of Himachal Pradesh. And as usual we went to all the unconventional, rarely preferred by the usual tourist  spots to getaway from the humdrum and enjoy 5 days of complete unwinding. We are still sorting out the photos hence the detailed travelog will be along as soon as the photo sorting is over.

I am still feeling lazy and feel like again packing my stuffs again and head for the hills never to return again. Getting lost in the unexplored forest paths of Kasol was much better than cooking, cleaning and attending office everyday. Sigh! Too much of a good thing never lasts for long.

I had emptied my refrigerator before leaving for the vacation.  So on coming back the first task was to stuff my fridge with the necessary ration to kick start my kitchen. I went to the fish market to get my regular supply of fish. The fish seller usually got small prawns without shells. Fortunately that day I saw she had a bowlful of beautiful Tiger prawns with shells on that looked really fresh. They looked pretty tempting and A also proposed we can make Malaikari with them. So I got 10 of them for my weekend Malaikari.

Now Malaikari is a dish that was not often prepared in our home when I was a kid. Both my parents had shell fish allergy hence I was the only one who would eat prawns. Ma would make simple prawn curry which tasted equally good with the huge prawns which where available during those days. Malaikari is something which I slowly started liking after tasting it in some hotel I believe, I dont remember clearly though. Prawns are such a flavorful fish that it can give a character to any preparation in which it is used. The larger ones are used in the signature dishes while the smaller ones when used in any curry or vegetable dish enhances the taste multifold.

Malaikari falls into the list of Regal items that are usually made during any special occasions like birthdays or weddings. It's a close competitor of Hilsa curry also made in Bengal. Chinri malaikari, Kosha Mangsho and Bhaapa Ilish, forms the troika of the Royal dishes of Bengal. This recipe originated in Bangladesh (though some Ghotis of West Bengal would beg to differ about the origin) and has close resemblance with some of it’s neighboring Thai and Malaysian food, even Sri Lankan if I dare to say so. Interestingly, there is variance in the  traditional recipe made in Bengali homes due to the regional influence of East or West Bengal - everyone adds their own little secret touch to make it a heirloom recipe passed on to the next generation with care.

According to the age old recipe, the curry was cooked with prawns having shells. Its not the prawns that give the main flavor and taste to this curry but the prawn head that does the magic of creating a flavorful and divine melt in the mouth curry. The Malai of the curry refers to the thick coconut milk. You can use any type of big prawn like tiger or jumbo prawns or scampi or lobster for this recipe. The rule is - the bigger the size, the better it is. The juices of the prawn blend in with the coconut milk and the spices to give it great depth of flavor and taste.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes  

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Serves: 2

• Large Prawns with shell and head - 10
• Onion - 2 big
• Shah Jeera (Caraway Seed) - 1/2 tsp
• Ginger - 1 1/2 inch
• Garlic - 4-5 pods
• Ghee - 2 tsp
• Cinnamon - 2 " stick
• Cardamom - 3 bruised
• Cloves - 3-4 bruised
• Coconut milk - 1 Cup
•  Dry Red Chilli - 2 broken in half
• Tej Pata (Bay Leaf ) - 1 big
• Green Chilli - 2
• Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt as per taste
• Sugar as per taste
• Mustard Oil

Procedure for Coconut Milk
For this recipe I had used Maggi Coconut Powder. I used 2 spoonful of the powder and mixed it in a cup of milk, taking care no lump is formed. You can also use the canned Coconut milk readily available in any supermart. Else if you want to use fresh coconut milk then you can scrape the coconut and add hot water to the scraped coconut. Make a thick paste of the scrapings and strain it to get the coconut milk. However it doesn't make much difference in taste even if you use the market available milk or powder.So it's entirely your take whether you want to indulge into the extra effort of extracting coconut milk from fresh coconut or not.


Procedure
1. Wash for long and de-vein the prawns. Keep the head and tail part intact. Remove the shells from the middle. I had removed the eyes from the head (optional). Marinate with salt, turmeric and red chilli powder. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes. 


 2. Heat mustard oil in the skillet . When the oil starts to steam toss in the marinated prawns. Fry till they turn pink for 2-3 minutes. Due to the presence of the head and tail the prawns will curl less.  Overcooking the prawns would make them rubbery hence take care not to cook them for long. Drain the oil and keep the fried prawns aside.



3. Chop the onions and make a paste of onions, garlic and one green chilli. Make a paste of ginger separately. Keep aside.

4.  In the same skillet add some ghee and more mustard oil (if required). When the oil is hot enough add the Shah Jeera, bruised cardamom and clove, cinnamon stick, Bay leaf and dry red chillies.



Shah Jeera greatly accentuates the flavor of the recipe. You can make the curry without a Shah Jeera tempering, but I strongly recommend it. Only thing make sure that you use good quality Shah Jeera for getting the best flavors.


5. When a nice aroma of the dried spice comes add the onion paste and saute till the raw smell of the garlic is gone. Add a pinch of salt to the onion paste, it accelerates the cooking process of onion.

6. Add the ginger paste and fold in. Cook with frequent stirring till the onion releases oil. You can also add a bit of water in between to keep the onion from sticking to the skillet.

7.When the raw smell is gone add the turmeric powder, chilly powder and cumin powder. Mix everything.

8. Add the Coconut milk now. Let the gravy simmer for 3-4 minutes so the gravy gains some body.

9. Now add the fried prawns into the gravy and cover and cook for 3-4 minutes on low flame and not more than that else the prawn will become rubbery and hard. Adjust the salt and sugar level at this stage. The gravy is supposed to be a thick one with a predominant sweet taste. 
10. Add a dash of ghee and garam masala powder and close the lid. Let the gravy sit inside till its time to serve. As the gravy sits the rich aroma of prawns and coconut milk will gradually bring in the soul of the dish together.

Serve it on a bed of steamed rice. I served mine along with a simple peas pulao. The peas pulao tempered with shah jeera as well went wonderfully along with the rich creamy Chingrir malaikari.

Old pic when I had made Malaikari with Prawns without heads

These days I am indulging myself into a lot of Food & Travel shows mainly on Fox Traveller and Food Food. Reason being now a days A is doing a lot of business travelling and I am having the TV all to myself. I am not a lover of Saas-Bahu & Sazish type of soaps and now a days the reality shows have become such a common thing that it has become a drag to watch. With nothing substantial left to watch on the array of cable channels I settled down for Food related shows on Fox Traveller and discovered a new world of travelling and cuisine - my two love.

I had instantly fallen in love with the Peter Kuruvita show exploring Sri Lankan cuisine. The simple travel stories, cooking in the open with beautiful landscapes all around, the usage of earthen pots and pans and the rustic looking traditional fares that he dished out was so awe-inspiring. Instead of fancy dining I always loved anything that was close to our roots. Anything rustic, unpolished, with old world charm has a aura of simplicity which is very emotionally fulfilling for me. I was so charged up with the earthen pot cooking that I started to google where I could get them in India. But then frenzy soon had to die a premature death when I realized that earthen pots could not be used on Induction Oven which was what I used mostly instead of gas burner.

Recently another show I was watching every weekday was David Rocco's Dolce India. A celebrity chef's journey through different cities of India, mingling with local people, exploring signature regional dishes and stirring up scrumptious Italian dishes using Indian ingredients. More than the food he cooks I love the way he presents the show, the way he gels with everything Indian. A very charismatic and humble person exploring India and its cuisine as it should be. Every dish has a story and that's what he tries to explore through his show.

Vikas Khanna's Coastal Curries is another show on Fox Traveller in which he goes exploring the coastal cuisines of western India and reproduce his own version of the traditional fares with some twist.

In all these shows and other cookery shows as well the cookwares used  have always interested me, just like the earthen pots from Peter Kuruvita's show. Recently I was observing that chef's were using some white skillets for frying and sauteing. It wasn't the usual non stick coating skillet. I used to wonder what kind of coating was there on those skillets. The other day as I was browsing through the Kitchen section of Central mall, I saw the same white skillet and was immediately intrigued. The attendant of the section told me that it was a ceramic skillet. He explained that it was better than a conventional non stick pan as the coating would not go away with long usage. Anyway I was in need of a new pan and this looked like a worthy cookware to invest on. I could not wait to try on the new pan so thought of making something traditional and quick to inaugurate it.

I decided my inaugural dish would be Kochu die Chingri (Taro and prawns) - a very traditional fare of Eastern Bengal. Colacasia is a plant grown for its root vegetable, known as Taro or Arbi/Ghuiya in Northern and western part of India and Kochu in Bengal and eastern part of India.

As per Wiki - "Taro /ˈtɑroʊ/ is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the Araceae family. Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated.Colocasia is thought to have originated in the Indo-Malayan region, perhaps in eastern India and Bangladesh, and spread eastward into Southeast Asia, eastern Asia, and the Pacific islands; westward to Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean; and then southward and westward from there into East Africa and West Africa, whence it spread to the Caribbean and Americas.It is a perennial, tropical plant primarily grown as a root vegetable for its edible starchy corm, and as a leaf vegetable."

 The texture of taro root is almost like potato. Taro roots are very nutritious as they are very high in starch and are a good source of easily digestible dietary fiber. Taro roots are consumed in a number of ways - deep fried, stewed, boiled, made into a paste with spicy seasoning, sun-dried and curried. The tender leaves of Taro can also be made into delicious non veg preparation with Hilsa fish.

Kochu or Taro is a very common vegetable I use frequently for making my fish curries so most of the time its available in my pantry. Kochu is more frequently used in a Bangal kitchen than a Ghoti Kitchen. A is Ghoti and I am Bengal but since I am in-charge of the Kitchen mostly its all Bangal cuisines that are dished out. Well now A has also started linking all the simple and tasty fares from the Bangal kitchen. I remember during my childhood days whenever my mother would cook Kochu, I would tell her in advance that it would be only me who would be removing the skin from the boiled Kochus. It used to be one of my favorite activity in the Kitchen back then; maybe because the skin would come off so easily I enjoyed it so much. She would do all other cooking and keep aside the Kochu, when I would get time from studies I would remove the skin. Till today it continues to be a favorite activity.

 I had 250 gm large prawns and decided to make two dishes out of them - Chingrir Malaikari and Kochu diye Chingri. The first one for lunch and second for dinner. Here's the recipe for Kochu diye Chingri:

Preparation Time: 30 minutes  

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 2

• Large Prawns - 1 cup
• Kochu (Taro) - 10
• Radhuni (Celery Seeds) - 1 tsp
• Jeera (Cumin) - 1 tsp
• Roasted Jeera Powder - 1 tsp
• Tej Pata (Bay Leaf ) - 1 big
• Green Chilli - 2
• Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt as per taste
• Sugar as per taste
• Mustard Oil

Procedure for Roasted Jeera Powder:

Heat a tava or skillet. Add the whole Jeera. Saute till the Jeera is fully roasted and browned. Turn off heat and remove the tava to a cooler surface. Let it cool down fully. Put the roasted jeera in a mortar. Grind it uniformly with a pestle and store in a container. Usually I make this in bulk amount and store it in the fridge and use it for seasoning on jeera based curries. Just a little is enough to give your curries a wonderful aroma of roasted jeera. You can use the same for Jeera chicken as well.

1. Wash and devein the prawns. Marinate with salt, turmeric and red chilli powder. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes.

2. Wash the Kochu with the skin on. Take 3 cups of water in a pressure cooker and put the Kochus into it. Pressure cook for 1 or 2 whistles (as per the quality of the Kochu). Remove the cooker from the heat and let it sit till the pressure within dies down.

3. Remove the skin from the boiled Kochu. The skin comes off very easily. Cut into bite sized pieces and keep aside

4. Heat mustard oil in the skillet (I used the new one). When the oil starts to steam toss in the marinated prawns. Fry till they turn pink and curl for a couple of minutes. Overcooking the prawns would make them rubbery. Drain the oil and keep the fried prawns aside.

5. In the remaining same oil toss in Bay leaf, Jeera, Radhuni and stilted green chillies. Saute till you get the aroma of the spices




6. Add the boiled Kochu to the spices. Add turmeric, salt and sugar as per taste. Fold in all the dry spices with the Kochu. Apply light pressure on the Kochus to slightly mash the edges. This would give the texture to the curry. Saute for 2-3 minutes.

You can add potatoes to the curry as well. Boil and dice the potatoes and add it at this step.
If you want to add green peas to your curry you can do so at this point. Add frozen peas directly or if you have uncooked peas then boil it before hand and add it.

8.  Add 3 cups of warm water. Fold in.



9. Add the fried prawns and cook for 2-3 minutes. Switch off the heat.

10. Sprinkle the roasted Jeera powder over the curry. Keep it covered till you serve.


For a slightly different flavor you can substitute the roasted Jeera powder with chopped fresh coriander leaves. 



You can use any fish in this curry instead of prawns and it would taste equally good. Serve it with seamed rice, a wedge of lemon and julienne of freshly cut onions.

Now about the new skillet. Cooking on the glossy ceramic-type cooking surface was pretty easy and even easier cleaning. The food slid easily in the pan and browned very nicely to the desired amount. No staining of turmeric or oil was another thing very interesting. I am quite satisfied with the product as of now.