Indian Feast!

 One thing I really enjoy is cooking, especially cooking Indian food..  Another thing which I enjoy even more than cooking is friends.

So it's not really surprising that, for my birthday, I cooked a big Indian feast for my friends.  We made dinner for 18, which is about right for the number of dishes I wanted to make.

 Did I remember to take pictures? No.  These are pictures of the leftovers.  I don't have any leftover friends (still friends) so I don't have any pictures of them.

The Most Fun Thing about this was Klenda asking if I could teach her to cook Indian food!

The second most fun was when I decided I'd better get my apron on and Klenda answered,


" That's a good idea.  We need the extra power of Savage Apron Mode!"

What did I do before I had kids to point these things out?

Anyway, between the two of us, in  2 1/2 hours we made:
naan
coconut curry chicken
lamb rogan josh
spiced spinach with onions
turmeric and coriander cauliflower
lentils with spinach
saffron rice with coconut milk
Indian "hanburger" kabobs
and two kinds of pappadum.

Savage Apron Power!

 Caveat:  I posted links to give an idea of the recipes.  My actual recipes are from Madhur Jaffrey's excellent Indian Cooking.or her Quick and Easy Indian Cooking

Zoomlians in India

Wrapping up India, we really did eat a lot of Indian food - very yummy!

In our imaginary trip we stayed one day in Agra,  We took a bike tour and saw the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort- so awesome!  We also splurged on a photo safari -so we got to see wild elephants, a tiger (from pretty far away), and (my favorite) rollers!

Non imaginarily,  we watched Jodha Akbar, a movie I love.  It's the movie Klenda mentions, and we recommend it to people who want to try foreign film.  It has something for everyone: war, romance, intrigue, opulence, singing, dancing, elephants, history, and some really excellent sword fights. Plus part of it takes place in the Red Fort!  And the movie really is quite long.
Also our Indian friend made a welcome string with the kids.  That's what Choclo is holding in the video.  It's a pretty string of birds, pom poms, and bells, that hangs in the doorway of many homes (many people leave their doors open).

The Zoomlians made this video after many takes.  Trust me, the other takes were even sillier.

Total spent thus far:  $56,153.  (Good thing we can imagine a lot of money.)

Total distance traveled: 21,000 miles!

The Big Trip: India

We have started up our Big Trip again!

When we left you last, we were in Mongolia.  The Zoomlians have been kidding me that we haven't moved on because I love Mongolia.  In reality. life was too crazy- fortunately, in an imaginary trip, you can easily take a break!



So we are visiting northern India, mostly Delhi and Agra.  We've been eating lots of Indian food!  And, of course, touring the Taj Mahal. Hence last week's Poem of the Week.



Did you know that there was a persistent legend that Shah Jahan (who built the Taj Mahal for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal) had built a second Taj Mahal in black stone for his own grave?

He is buried in the actual Taj Mahal (by the son who overthrew and imprisoned him the last years of his life), but he clearly did not intend to be buried there.  His grave (and cenotaph) are the only things in the entire Taj Mahal complex which deviate from it's perfectly symmetrical design.  By "perfectly symmetrical" I mean every last leaf and flower on every wall are mirrored on the opposite wall.

Perfectionist doesn't begin to cover it!

Archeologists have recently uncovered the "Black Taj Mahal!"  But it's not a building.  It's an octagonal reflecting pool (built of  black marble) in the ruined gardens across the river from the actual Taj Mahal.  These were the gardens which Shah Jahan used to visit his wife's grave, and he could see both the white splendor of the actual building and it's ghostly dark reflection.

But what did Shah Jahan intend for his own grave?  We don't know - he never designed or built another tomb. 

Poem of the Week

Shah Jehan

You knew, Shah Jehan, life and youth, wealth and glory, they all drift away in the current of time. You strove, therefore, to perpetuate only the sorrow of your heart...Let the splendor of diamond, pearl, and ruby vanish like the magic shimmer of the rainbow. Only let this one tear-drop, this Tajmahal, glisten spotlessly bright on the cheek of time, forever and ever.

O King, you are no more. Your empire has vanished like a dream, your throne lies shattered...your minstrels sing no more, your musicians no longer mingle their strains with the murmuring Jamuna...Despite all this, the courier of your love, untarnished by time, unwearied, unmoved by the rise and fall of empires, unconcerned with the ebb and flow of life and death, carries the ageless message of your love from age to age: ‘Never shall I forget you, beloved, never.’

- By Rabindranath Tagore (translated by Kshitish Roy) from One Hundred and One Poems by Rabindranath Tagore (pp. 95-96).

HT: Sheridan Libraries