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Tuesday, August 5, 2014

I cook too : shakshouka with homemade pita





Tried this recipe :
and Pita bread from own intuition

Result : A success I'd say .... Pita recipe needs work to look less like a chapatti.

Food Trail : Chandni Chowk

Burger Quest : Cafe Delhi Heights


You Beauty!!

Leh : Food Trail Day 2 - Aug 2014

Day 2 

So, we had promised ourselves we would go to German Bakery again for breakfast - BIG MISTAKE.

1) No English breakfast - There was a flat omelette with bread the literally looked like it had come from Germany last week and the essentials were missing - no sausages / bacon .
2) Pancakes - one plain &  one with Nutella & banana - Both looked like a sad version of crepes n no where near what pancakes actually are like.
3) Hummus & Pita bread - this was supposed to be the "safe" choice because honestly, what could really go wrong with this  ?? and so wrong we were.  The best part of the dish were the semi-saute'ed veggies. The Hummus was dry and the olives looked just sad.



So bad was all this, that we sent back our plates half filled  :( and almost all the bread.

Lunch - Skipped to digest the mistake.

After an awesome bike activa ride in & around Leh, tiredness demanded we settle for a "home - cooked" meal in the guest house.

Other notable Eateries

IL FORNO - A must try for Italian & Indian
Notable dishes -
Pizzas & Pastas ( stuffed oven baked pizzas.. should be eaten hot)
Butter chicken - Yes... one of the few places serving Non-veg & decent stuff at that!
A note : the food they serve must be eaten hot, else it somehow loses all its flavor.

NORLAKH Cafe
This was brilliant discovery.
Small cafe. right opp the SBI atm in the bazaar. One would probably never climb up, so narrow is the staircase. But once inside, its absolutely stunning-
This family run 1st floor 6 table cafe serves authentic, very reasonable, yumm Tibetan food.

Go for the Tibetan Butter tea, Kothay Momos or the sizzler. Pure Veg place.

The highlight is however the service. Extremely warm.



PIZZA DE HUTT

Another Clay Oven-baked pizza corner that serves punjabi, chinese & Italian  ( both eg & Non-Veg)
The Pizzas are thin crust and to-die-for.
I was impressed by the way the humble tandoor put to shame all the electric ovens !!





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Leh : Food Trail Day 1 - Aug 2014

I had always imagined, Leh would've been a non-vegetarian's paradise, what with all the exotic animals abounding the region and the cold weather. And so I buckled up for a week long gastronomical journey of Chicken, mutton , Yak meat and all that moves...

And boy oh boy.. was I in for a shock!

Most of the eateries in and around Leh have limited stock of food and almost ALL are vegetarian for simple logistic reasons. The choices on your place are either home grown or dried and stored or ordered 2 days in advance.
Shocked .. sad & dejected ... ( not to mention out of breath in the high altitude & unexpectedly Hot weather -- read hotter than Delhi) .. But once one gets over the initial jolt of a "different" & "adjusted" cuisine, Leh although not quite a connoisseurs dream, is very VERY interesting .


The places sampled 

Day1 - We slept most of the day to aclimitize. Evening strolled to the central Leh market to 1) Eat 2) buy T-shirts & summer clothes ( but that's another story for some other time )
The places tried today

Roadside Seekh Kababs
Smell - heavenly  ; 2 "chicken" Seekhs for 50 Rs ( I try not to notice the husky dogs around & Take a bite )
Taste : I have definitely had better. Juicy on the outside; dry & chewy inside ; served with a small soft roomali roti.
Good if you are desperately craving some non-veg. But best avoid.

German Bakery 
We tried the following
1) Coffee cake - Dry , tasted like it was made in the morning ; put me off sweets & cakes for the entire trip
2) Chocolate balls - Not bad ; just that the coconut gratings were an unnecessary addition
3) Shakshouka - The "non-egg" vegetarian version of the Israeli dish. A pleasant surprise, with beautifully saute'ed tomatoes, onions & capsicum with a "roti" - like Pita bread better that was better than the original Pita. A little on the spicy side, definitely indianized to suit the local palette - impressive enough for us to promise ourselves coming here the next mornign for breakfast.
 4) Thukpa - The best part of the evening was the humble Thukpa - as authentic as it gets - Vegetarian again , but tasted just the right amount of soupy, noodley and spicy. Loved it.