Delhi

My college has a compulsory rural research project component in it, which in the words of a MICAn means HOLIDAY! So the destinations mostly are Mcleodganj, Goa, Konkan and Kasol. We do manage to get a few days off to visit an actual village and get some data out by interviewing people or by imagining that we interviewed people.

If you know me, then you would know that any excuse to travel is just an excuse to eat. I very conveniently took off to Delhi 5 days before I was meant to get there, so I could catch up with my best friend and eat my way around the city.

I visited Chandni Chowk, Paranthewale Galli, Karims, Hauz Khas Village and Big Chill.

The dahi chaat at Chandni Chowk was very different from what we get at Bombay. It had papdi and dahi vada in it.

The chaat wala who sold sooji ka pooris

Dahi chaat!

I have wanted to visit Paranthewale Galli since a college senior blogged about it, along with a picture of a brilliant Rabdi Parantha. The paranthas here are fried, rather than being toasted. I strongly recommend the Rabdi Parantha. 

From top: Mirchi parantha, Rabdi Parantha and Khurchan Parantha

Another place to visit, while in Chandni Chowk is Karim's. Go there for the kebabs and the amazingly soft and buttery naan. The best naan I have ever had. 

 Every one in Delhi will definitely ask you to visit Hauz Khas village. Do go there, there is a great ruin and a lake and a beautiful garden there. There are also a lot of these kitschy shops and boutiques and tiny but expensive cafés all around. Jayesh and I went to one such.

Café Zo, serves Mediterranean food. It also is overtly done up and the owners in a bid to make the place all mediterranean-y have put in textures on everything, so it is an eye sore, at least in daylight.

The food wasn't all that great either.

Lunch at Cafe Zo: Panko encrusted stuffed mushrooms, Greek Salad, Chicken Tajine with Couscous and Pizza with grilled chicken and caramelized onions. 

Another place which people insist you visit is Big Chill. It is full of these old movie posters and is known for its milkshakes. The servings are huge so DO NOT over order like we did. Not that you will regret it, the food is great.

Clockwise from top left: baked potato with cheddar and mushrooms, baked mushroom, cheddar and penne; fusilli with tomatoes, basil and olives; chicken lasagna and chocolate decadence. 

 Delhi has lots of awesome places to eat at. Go with a friend who knows the place and will take you to all the ruins and tell you about the architecture. Delhi is beautiful and full of stories. Your history text come alive.

Trek to Prabhalgarh in the Western Ghats

My best friend of 11 years, Paro and I had been for a trek to Kalamati via Prabhalgarh over this weekend. The last trek we went to was last year the Himalayan Expedition to Sarpass organised by YHAI. It was last year we realised how much we loved trekking and the toned legs you get thanks to it, despite the terrible and unavoidable tan. 

Paro and I being our crazy selves

Trekking never gets old. You may have done 53 treks (a guy who was along with us had, without repeating a single one) or none, but the thrill of reaching your goal, the view and the fear that may at times grip you (it caught me this time) will always be there. 

We climbed up that to reach the pinnacle where we had our break fast of Bread, jam and cheese sandwiches.

The best part about being out in the nature is the food. The organisers or your guide will know about these wild fruits and berries you can find along the way and you get to munch on them while trekking. In our case an old man at the small village where we had lunch, gave us all a basket full of these wild berries which were a lot like blue berries. I wanted to bring some home to make a pie or jam, but knew that they would get crushed on the way back. 

Tokri full of wild berries

 Another thing about the food during treks, it always tastes good. We had a simple meal of rice, dal and aloo and barbatti beans ki subzi made by the villagers, which was extremely satisfying.

A picture of the remnants of the food. 

 Another amazing part about treks is, when you come back down it is hard to believe you actually went up to the hill or mountain which forms a part of your picturesque vision. Seriously 13000ft or 2300 ft you can never believe you did it, the only proof are the picutres, dirty clothes, a shoe without it's sole and the sore limbs.

See the two peaks? We up to there. 

So what did you all do during the weekend? And anymore trekkers out there?