Crooning for Kowloon

For more pictures, see the album of the trip.

The last stop on our trip: another day long layover in Hong Kong. Our flight got in around 9am, so we were hungry and decided to have breakfast at the airport before hopping on the train into town. We went to Crystal Jade. I had a soup of hand-pulled noodles made on premises and Xiao Long Bao (dumplings filled with soup)while Catherine had some congee. It was a very impressive meal for being in the airport and a great start to the day.

For this layover, we took the opportunity to explore Kowloon, across the bay from Hong Kong Central. It's a much more down to Earth area of the city: filled with open air markets instead of the high end shopping malls of Hong Kong Central. Most of our day was spent exploring those markets. We started with the jade market. It's a city block filled with all things jade from figurines, to earings, to necklaces. You can get everything from fake, plastic jade for a couple of dollars all the way up to high quality natural jade for thousands. There's also a multitude of colors including purple, orange, black and of course, green jade. Catherine found herself some pretty earrings and had fun negotiating with the vendors to get them for a very reasonable price.

After the jade market, we found a BBQ place on the main street for lunch.  We had a plate full of goose, chicken, BBQ pork, crackling pork and sausage. It delicious, but was way more than we could eat, so some had to go to waste.

Our afternoon was spent working our way north through the markets. The first one was mostly a food market. It started with produce where there were a lot of fresh options including jackfruit and this little red fruit that was the size of a pear, but looked like a trumpet flower that had curled in at the end right before it falls of its stem. On a side street from the produce area is the seafood market and it is not for the squeamish. In order to show that everything is fresh, most of it is alive, or just recently killed. For example, we saw fish heads that were still breathing. We also saw an eel, where somebody only wanted part of it, so it was chopped in half and the front half was just thrown in a bucket, bleeding and alive, ready for the next customer who wanted it. On the less gruesome side, there was an amazing variety of mollusks and shellfish from prawns, to razor clams that are skinny and long like a straw, to $80US geoducks, the largest clam species in the world and comes from North America.

Moving on from the food section, we found the pet fish market. You can buy little fish for a dollar or two, all the way up to large, deformed goldfish that sell for hundreds of dollars. Beside the pet market, there is a flower market, which contained a plethora of flower shops. Some of them were very specialized, like one which only sells a specific subtype of orchid. Catherine found a shallow dish for forcing bulbs that we decided bring back with us.

By this time, the sun was starting to set and so we walked up to the pet bird market. Unfortunately, it was mostly closed by this time, so there wasn't much to see except for a very talkative parrot in the one open shop. From there, we started to head back to the southern edge of Kowloon. On the way, we walked through the famous night market. It only opens at night and is full of random, cheap things. It's mostly useless crap, but it was very colorful and fun to walk through.

For dinner, Catherine's parents treated us to an experience at Spoon, Alain Ducasse's restaurant in the Intercontinental. It's right on the water, so it has an incredible view of the Hong Kong skyline to complement some exceptional food. We started with two appetizers. Catherine had a jaw dropping baked egg with a rich, creamy, crayfish broth. The white of the egg was whipped, so that it was almost a meringue consistency. I had a solid dish of marinated and smoked mackerel belly served with quinoa. Then, we shared a scallop dish with pork belly and a pumpkin sauce. It was ok, but the scallops weren't seared hard enough and they were missing some of that delicious scallop caramelization you get if they are done properly.  For our next course, we had a beef tournedos served with a celeriac raisin sauce and for me, a tortellini and parmesan crisp. We paired that course with our first glass of good red wine for three weeks. It was very satisfying. For desert, Catherine had a chestnut-pear vacherin, which is a meringue crust filled with chantilly creme. The chestnut, pear combination, made it an epic dish. I had the baba, which is a sweet, chewy cake doused with fresh armagnac and topped with rich vanilla creme. Overall, it was a very special meal to put an exclamation point on the end of our fantastic trip. 

Mysore. It's not an Eye Sore

For more pictures, see the album.

Actually, it's the most beautiful city we've seen in India. It's known as the "garden city" because of its tree lined streets. We arrived around noon in Mysore at Ranjani's family homestead. There, we had an impromptu lunch and met her family in the midst of the chaos of party preparations. The meal finished with our introduction to Mysore Pak, which is a sweet made of chickpea flour, sugar and lots of ghee. Hunting down the best would become one of our goals in Mysore.

After lunch we dropped our stuff off at the university guesthouse, where Ranjani's family were graciously putting us up, and then went shopping. Catherine wanted Ranjani's help so we went kurta shopping. Kurtas are a kind of Indian tunic and Catherine wanted a nice one that she could wear to the birthday party on Sunday and then wear as a dress back in the US. After examining many pre made kurtas, and finding them all having too much embroidery, or crazy styling or too loose, she was directed upstairs to the fabric department. There, after much discussion with a tailor, Catherine decided to custom tailor two dresses, one a simple peacock green affair and the other a more complicated red and gold one. All for less than $100.

We then visited the government run memorabilia shop called the Cavery where we picked up some Mysore silk scarves and ties to use as gifts. Then it was dinner at Nalpak, a local chain where we had our first taste of Mysore masala dosa, which was fluffier than previous dosas we had had and filled with a tasty potato filling.

The next morning, we decided to change accommodations. Unfortunately, the people running the university guesthouse had been getting lazy and hadn't maintained it well so it was dirty and the plumbing had some serious issues. After checking into the new hotel, we went for our cooking class at Anu's Bamboo Hut. Anu runs a lunch only restaurant that caters to the local yoga student crowd. Mysore is a big center for learning Yoga because the master of Ashtanga Yoga made his home in Mysore. Up to 2009, you could come to learn with him, but since his passing, his kids have taken up the mantle. To come and train, you need to commit to a number of months of study and come in on a student visa, not a visitor's visa. Also, if you want to be a true Ashtanga teacher you have to commit to coming back for another session with the masters ever year or two. It's a lot of dedication.

As for our cooking class, it was a packed class with about 20 other yoga students. We asked Anu for a gluten free class, which meant learning how to make Mysore masala dosa. Apparently that piqued the interest of many of the yoga students. Anu was a great teacher and we learned some great tips like finding out that Indians always put mustard seed in the oil at the beginning of a curry, or to add ginger later in the cooking process so that the flavor stays fresher. We also learned that dosas require real planning. To make the batter, you have to soak the rice, gram dal and chana dal for at least 8 hours before blending. The batter then needs to ferment for another 8 hours depending on the temperature. You basically have to commit to a 24 hour process. However, the wait is worth it, the dosas were excellent: nice crispy bottom and fluffy tops. Anyway, Anu's recipe are posted separately on the blog.

After the cooking class, we went to check out the Mysore Palace. It's probably the biggest tourist draw in Mysore and it's really easy to see why. In the 1800s, the old palace was burned in a fire and so the King at the time requisitioned a palace to be built with no expenses spared. It was designed by a British architect so it's a fascinating combination Victorian, Indian and Muslim architecture. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to bring in cameras so I don't have pictures of the inside. There are some amazing stained class roofs made in Scotland that were incredibly memorable.

40ft tall golden Buddah's anybody?

After the palace, we made a brief stop in the ancient bazaar. It's a great open market with colorful piles of festival color powders, bales of banana leaves, tons of fresh veggies and even cows roaming the aisles. After the fun time in the market, we went back to the dress store for a fitting and I did some shopping for some casual long sleeved shirts and pants. Then, we went back to our hotel for dinner and to turn in for the evening.

In the morning, we drove out to Bylakuppe, which is a Tibetan refugee camp a few hours from Mysore. The Tibetans have settled in quite well and it's an impressive little town. First, crossing the line, all of a sudden, everything is much cleaner, there is very little trash on the ground and there are monks everywhere. The highlight is definitely the temples, which include three, 40 foot tall golden Buddah statues. Along with the main statues, there are many colorful paintings of deities, teachers and other important Buddhist figures. It was definitely worth the trip.

After the temple, we had lunch at one of the random tibetan restaurants (instead of McDonalds where our driver tried to direct us), mostly to have the opportunity to try some tibetan food. There was some confusion, mostly because of the language barrier, so the meal could have been better, but we had some tasty stir fried veggies and steamed bread that were unique.

For our next stop, we went to the bird sanctuary near Mysore. It's a dinky place, but most importantly, it there are a number of islands that have been left for birds to roost on or to act as a stop on a migration. You can take a little rowboat ride around the islands or just walk along the shore and watch the plethora of birds hooting and hollering. It was worth the visit to see all the different birds, although you can't really spend more than 45 min there.

Back in town, we picked up Catherine's dress and then got dressed for the birthday party. The party itself was a charming little event for Ranjani's parents. We were touched to be a part of it. It had a great turnout. Most of her Dad's students from over the years even showed up. It's hard for some of us to imagine going to our advisor's 70th birthday party. The food at the event was also very spicy. We had been thinking that overall, we were surprised how little spiciness we had encountered on the trip, but the reception food definitely showed that the cooks along the way had done a deliberate job of toning down the heat for western palates.

In the morning, we had breakfast with Ranjani and said our goodbyes before visiting a couple of last sights in Mysore. First, we hit the silk factory. It was an awesome stop. There's no real "tour" per se, but they let you just walk through the factory. It's largely automated and they do everything from boiling the silk cocoons to folding the finished saris. As you wander through the factory the workers are really helpful. When we looked lost, they pointed us where to go and some even showed us more in detail what they were doing. One weaver even let us feel the fabric as the loom was clacking away. There was definitely no safety precautions for guests beyond your common sense.

After the silk factory, we made a quick stop at the charming little railway museum before hitting the road for the Bangalore airport. On our way out of India, we flew from Bangalore to Mumbai before connecting with our late night flight to Hong Kong. We thought that a 4 hour layover time in Mumbai would be plenty, but wow, were we wrong. The domestic terminal at the Mumbai airport is on the side of the runway from the international terminal. You have to take a shuttle bus between the terminals, but because you don't have tickets for the international flight yet, they route the bus (via a U-turn), right into the mess of taxis that are dropping people off in the front of the terminal. Then, you need to wait in line to go through security to get into the airport. All of this happens before you can check in. The process took us 2.5 hours and we had to bribe three of the porters to skip the line and get into the airport in time to have our bags checked. It was a very unfortunate and stressful last experience in India.

Anu's Dosa Recipes

While in Mysore, we took a Dosa making class at Anu's Bamboo Hut. It was a blast and Anu was a charm, as well as a great teacher. Here's her recipes. If you have the patience to make real dosas, they are completely worth it.

Dosa

Ingredients

Serves 4 to 6.

Parboiled rice	¾ cup
White/brown rice, raw	2 cups
Urad daal	½ cup
Chana daal	¼ cup
Fenugreek or methi seeds	¼ cup
Salt	to taste
Cooking oil
Butter (optional)

Soaking

The best time to begin the process of making dosas is around noon the day before serving.

Wash and soak the dosa rice and parboiled rice together in plenty of water.  Wash and soak the daals and fenugreek seeds together in plenty of water.  Let both soak for between 6 and 8 hours.

Grinding

After soaking, drain off the water and blend the soaked rice with enough fresh water to facilitate blending into a smooth, thick paste.  Similarly blend the soaked daals, fenugreek seeds, and salt with the required quantity of water to make a smooth paste.  Mix both pastes along with salt into a homogenous batter.  The consistency of dosa batter should be as thick as that of pancake batter.  Choose a tall container to ferment the batter in and cover it with a tight lid.  Allow batter to ferment for at least 8 hours or overnight.  The ideal temperature range for fermentation is 22 °C (71.6 °F).

Pour Out Your Dosa Batter

Lightly mix the batter.  The texture should appear fluffy.  If the batter is flat even after 8 hours of fermentation (possibly resulting from climatic conditions), add 1 tsp of cooking soda to the batter and mix thoroughly.  Wait for 10 minutes for the mixture to ferment and lighten.

Heat a nonstick pan and pour a small quantity of the batter onto the centre.  Spread it evenly and outward with a flat-bottomed steel cup or a deep ladle in a circular motion.

Add a few drops of oil on the dosa and around the edges.  When it roasts to a golden brown, fill the center with potato palya, fold one half over the other, and remove from the pan.

Plain dosa is served with chutney.

Set dosas are poured thicker and smaller, just like pancakes.  They are flipped over and browned slightly on the other side, and served soft.  They may be served with curries, honey, chutney or anything that attracts your imagination.  Three or four set dosas are served together in a plate.

To roast your dosa crisp, add some butter to the dosa when on the griddle.

Note
If the batter does not ferment or rise owing to cold weather, leave it covered tightly, for 6 to 8 hours in a warmer room where the temperature is controlled, like your bedroom – no kidding!

Potato Palya

Ingredients

Serves 4 to 6.

Potatoes, boiled and semi mashed	4 large
Cooking oil	4 Tbsp
Mustard seeds	½ tsp
Cumin seeds	½ tsp
Curry leaves	2 sprigs
Green chillies, slit in the middle	4
Chana daal	1 tsp
Onions, finely sliced	2 cups
Turmeric powder	¼ tsp
Water	½ cup
Ginger, freshly grated	1 tsp
Coriander leaves, finely chopped	garnish
Salt	to taste

Method

Heat oil in a pan.  Add the mustard seeds and heat until they pop or sputter.  Add cumin seeds, curry leaves, chana daal and chillies and fry until chillies are sautéed and the daal turns golden.  Add onions and fry for about 2 minutes.  Add turmeric powder and fry for a few seconds.  Add ½ cup of water and salt to the frying mixture and cook for about 2 minutes.  Add ginger and mashed potatoes and mix well.  Leave on the stove for a couple of minutes.  Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve with dosas, chapattis, and poories.  You may even use the potato palya to make excellent grilled sandwiches.

Coconut Chutney

Ingredients

Makes approximately 4 to 6 servings.

Fresh grated coconut	1 cup
Fried gram	½ cup (or more)
Green chilli	2 or per taste
Garlic (optional)	2 cloves
Ginger	½ inch piece
Tamarind paste (optional)	½ Tbsp
Curry leaves (optional)	from a sprig
Coriander leaves	1 small bunch
Mint leaves	handful
Salt	to taste
Water for blending

Method

Blend all the ingredients together with the required quantity of water in a blender (remember not to make a very smooth paste).

Note:

Add coriander and mint leaves at the end instead of blending them together with the other ingredients. Blend for about 5 to 8 seconds only.  This will leave specks of green coriander and mint in the chutney rather than making it look a uniform green.  

Mint Chutney or Dip

Ingredients

Makes approximately 4 to 6 servings.

Green mint leaves with tender stems, fresh	1 cup
Coriander leaves, fresh	1 cup
Green chilli, fresh	2 or per taste
Coconut, fresh or dry	1 cup
Tamarind paste	1 Tbs
Cumin seeds	1 tsp
Garlic	2 to 4 cloves, or per taste
Salt	¾ tsp or to taste
Sugar	1 tsp
Water for grinding

Method

Blend all the ingredients into a fine paste using minimal water.  Serve as a dip with parathas, samosas, bhajias, or pakodas.

Note

Mint chutney sandwiches are popular at parties and picnics.  Lightly butter one slice of bread and apply mint chutney to another slice.  Serve plain or use cucumber and tomato slices as the sandwich filling.  Substitute mustard and ketchup with mint chutney in veggie burgers and enjoy a new exquisite taste!

Peanut Chutney

Ingredients

Makes approximately 4 to 6 servings.

Roasted peanuts	2 cups
Fresh grated coconut (optional)	½ cup
Green chilli or dried red chilli	2 or per taste
Mint leaves	2 sprigs
Tamarind paste	1½ Tbsp
Onion, chopped (optional)	1 small
Garlic (optional)	2 cloves
Coriander leaves	1 small bunch
Salt	to taste
Water for grinding

Method

Sauté mint leaves and chillies for a couple of minutes with two to three drops of oil.  You can also skip sautéing the mint and chilies, and instead add raw mint and chillies to the mixture.  Blend this with peanuts, coconut, tamarind, garlic and salt, with enough water to make a rough paste.  Add onion (optional), and coriander leaves and grind for just five more seconds.  Serve with items such as idli, dosa, chapattis, upma.

Multipurpose Powder

Multipurpose powder may be used in preparations like sambaar, rasam*, tomato chutney, and a variety of dry vegetable dishes.

Ingredients

Makes approximately 300 grams or 1 cup of powder.

Byadgi chillies	50 grams or 10 to 15 pieces
Fresh curry leaves	2 to 3 sprigs
Chana daal	25 grams or 1 Tbsp
Urad daal	25 grams or 1 Tbsp
Toor daal	25 grams or 1 Tbsp
Moong daal	25 grams or 1 Tbsp
Coriander seeds	75 grams or 5 Tbsp
Mustard seeds	25 grams or 1 Tbsp
Fenugreek seeds	25 grams or 1 Tbsp
Cumin seeds	25 grams or 1 Tbsp
Black peppercorns	25 grams or 1 Tbsp
Oil	2 drops
Asafoetida	1/4 tsp

Method

Dry roasting should be done separately as there are many ingredients with varying moisture contents and textures.

Dry roast (constantly stirring) or dry in the hot sun the chillies and curry leaves until they turn crisp.  Put them in a dry bowl and then continue adding the other ingredients to the bowl as you dry roast them.

Dry roast the daals together, stirring constantly until they change color slightly.

Dry roast the corainder, mustard, fenugreek, and cumin seeds and black peppercorns together until they lose their moisture and begin to give off their aromas.  Cool this mixture to room temperature and add to the bowl.

Add asafoetida and blend all of the ingredients into a fine powder.  Do not open the blender immediately, as the fumes from the powder are strong and may irritate your eyes and nose.  Cool and store in an airtight container.

Note

Dry red chillies have some moisture and will not blend into a fine powder unless they are sun dried for 3 to 4 hours, or lightly dry roasted in a wok while constantly stirring, for about 5 to 7 minutes.  Use a medium-low flame to prevent the chillies from changing color.

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* Rasam is a spicy watery soup, usually made with tomatoes or tamarind water. It is served piping hot with rice and ghee. Rasam with rice is one of the many courses served at a traditional South Indian meal.

Onion–Potato Sambaar for Idlis

Ingredients

Serves 4 to 6.

Toor daal	1 cup
Baby potatoes washed and scrubbed OR     Regular potatoes diced	12 OR     3 medium
Water	4 cups
Baby onions, peeled OR     Regular pink or white onions, diced	1 cup
Oil	3 Tbsp
Mustard seeds	½ tsp
Curry leaves	2 sprigs
Asafoetida	2 pinches
Turmeric powder	¼ tsp
Tamarind paste or juice	1 Tbsp or ¼ cup
Jaggery	1 inch cube OR     1 Tbsp crushed
Multipurpose masala powder	2 tsp
Freshly grated coconut	¼ cup
Salt	to taste
Coriander leaves, finely chopped	2 Tbsp
Ghee (optional)	2 Tbsp

Method

Blend multipurpose masala powder and coconut with some water and set aside.
Pressure cook the toor daal and potatoes with water and set aside.
Heat a deep pan or pot and add the oil.  When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and heat until they pop or sputter.  Add the curry leaves, followed by the asafoetida and onions, and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add turmeric powder and stir-fry for 15 seconds.  Add half a cup of water and cook with the lid on for 3 minutes or until onions are half cooked.  Add tamarind paste or juice, jaggery, and salt and boil for a minute.  Add the ground masala and stir well.  Simmer for about 2 minutes.  Add the cooked daal and potatoes and bring to a boil.  Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and ghee (optional), and serve hot with idlis, dosas, medhu vadas, rice and chapattis.

Note
You may ignore the fresh coconut if not available.  Sambaar tastes good even without it.

Way Up To Wayanad

For more pictures, see the album.

From Cochin, we hit the road up to Wayanad in the western Ghats. It was only 280km away, but took us 10 hours to get there because of traffic, speed bumps and other shenanigans that fall under the "incredible India" category.

In the morning after the drive, we met with Sabu, our guide for the next couple of days. He's primarily a farmer, who farms his family's spice plantation, while one the side he guides people around the area. He's incredibly knowledgeable about the region and knows some great little gems. On our first day with him, we started a little later since it was New Years day. We started by going to see some geoglyphs made a few thousand years ago in a cave. They were scratched into the sandstone walls with different groups using the cave over time. As a result, new people would overwrite some of the older carvings and you end up with a sequence of carving overlaid on each other.

After the geoglyphs we stopped for a quick walk in a tea plantation. The tea is gorgeous and grown in the side of the hills. The individual bushes can be over 100 years old, but they are pruned to keep them manageable since only the new growth leaves are used for making tea. The result is a chetah-like pattern of topiaries tea buses blanked the hillside. Interspersed between the tea bushes are some silver oaks that provide a little bit of shade because apparently the tea does better when there is some shade. Unfortunately, the majority of the tea in the area is turned into dust. That's literally what it's called: "tea dust". Then it is used the Indian/British way, namely over-steep it, dump in a half a cup of milk and a wad of sugar until it's barely discernible as tea.

After checking out the tea, we had lunch at a little restaurant in a side village that Sabu knew about. The four of us (Catherine, Sabu, our driver and I) had a filling, tasty thali meal with many sides that cost less that 200 rupees (about $3). Even the touristy places are cheap, but when you look at normal places to eat, they are downright criminally cheap.

After lunch, we went for a hike almost through the jungle. Hiking is rare in India partially because the jungle can be relatively dangerous with animals from poisonous snakes to elephants that you don't want to surprise. Also, most Indians just don't seem to think of it as something fun to do. So, it was challenging to get a hike like what we're used to. Sabu did a pretty good job. The normal hike is to go up to the top of the highest peak in the area, however, the park service was only letting people go up half way since some Maoist extremists were sighted in the area. Plus, being New Years, the remaining distance would be quite busy. So Sabu took us to an area right on the edge of the wilderness where we walked along a road that alternately wounds its way between spice plantations and wilderness forest. We got to see a number of the local giant squirrels that have huge tails and hang out in the trees. We also saw a hawk and as it was flying by, the squirrels would scream in order to warn their buddies.

After the hike, we headed back to the hotel, although on the way, we went by our driver's house where we were invited in to meet his family and have some tea. It was a fun and unexpected privilege. His wife is finishing her nursing degree in Bangalore and was home for the holidays while their 5 year old son was playing with the neighbors. We all talked about our lives and the differences between western and indian culture (e.g. arranged marriage)

The next day, we woke up very early to meet Sabu at 5am for a jeep safari. Animals are most active around dusk and dawn and the sanctuary opens at 7am, so we needed an early start. The back of the jeep has a short ceiling so we spent a lot of time crouching and shivering in the pre-dawn chill, but we started by going along some side roads that were outside the park but that Sabu knew often have wildlife on them. We saw plenty of spotted dear. In the park itself, we saw a wild elephant munching away along with a tribe of monkeys and some birds. After leaving the park, we drove around some more outside and stumbled across a group of elephants making their way down a valley. There was about 8 of them including 2 young ones. It was magical to watch them.

For breakfast, we stopped at a hole in the wall near the park entrance. They only made idly with sambar and chutney. All of which was cooked over an open flame. You pay by the number of Idlis that you eat and it was delicious and cheap. Meal for 4, 120 rupees ($2).

After breakfast, we made a quick stop at a local temple set on a rise with a view of peaks all the way around. It was easy to see why they built a temple there. After that, we went to a small sanctuary composed of a chain of islands in the middle of a river. You take a barge across to one of the main islands and local people often wade int he river so it was a little bit of a madhouse. On the island itself there were a couple of colonies of butterflies. Literally thousands of them twisting through the air in a magical dance. There was also a crocodile basking in the sun. Apparently they don't go after all the people wading.

After the island, we had lunch an amazing lunch at call-ahead restaurant. It's run by this couple who made food once a day and only if you've called ahead to place an order. They go all out. We had a full meal of kerelan rice doused in sambar and served on a banana leaf with a ton of sides including tamarind, ginger chutney, raita, cucumber, pickled beats, caramelized onions, dal, veg curries, dry veg dishes, coconut and cabbage. It was beautiful and delicious. There is no way we would have been able to go to this place if Sabu hadn't taken us there.

After our late lunch, we headed back to the hotel with a couple of stops along the way to pick things up. Our day finished relatively early, but then again, it also started very early.