{"id":787,"date":"2012-09-07T13:03:35","date_gmt":"2012-09-07T13:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sethandberkley.com\/?p=787"},"modified":"2012-09-07T13:59:50","modified_gmt":"2012-09-07T13:59:50","slug":"new-delhi-hold-the-belly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sethandberkley.com\/?p=787","title":{"rendered":"New Delhi, Hold the Belly"},"content":{"rendered":"

We needed to do a lot of planning. \u00a0We still had no plans, at all, for our time in India. \u00a0We were starting to see that a good area to visit would be Rajistan, so we began inquiring into a few tour agencies. \u00a0Then we hired a car to take us around for the day to see some Delhi sights before our evening activities.<\/p>\n

Hiring a car is the best way to see India, so I’m told, and so far I believe it. \u00a0If only for the mere fact that they drive on the other side of the road. \u00a0But, along with that, it’s like a MarioKart race of sorts, bobbing and weaving through traffic to get to the red light first. \u00a0But, that’s another thing. \u00a0There were places where all the cars would stop, but I didn’t see any stop lights, or stop signs. \u00a0So, it seems as if there are secret rules. Did we mention we saw Batman driving around Delhi?<\/p>\n

\"delhiTraffic\"<\/p>\n

Anyhow, we hired a car. \u00a0His English was quite minimal, so asking cultural questions and, really, any questions at all were not worth the time. \u00a0At one point during the day we were trying to explain to him that we wanted to buy some water and snacks at a store. \u00a0We used as many descriptive words as possible, “a place where they sell food\/ things to eat\/ water\/etc and other variations of the phrase, and we ended up at a place where they sold textiles and handicrafts. Nope.<\/p>\n

But, we did have a list of places where we we wanted to go that were well known, large monuments, and he was able to get us to those. \u00a0We saw the Gate of India (basically Delhi’s arc du triompf), the president’s house and all the government buildings, we went to the Lodi Gardens, drove past the ultra modern Lotus Temple, and walked around Houmayoun’s tomb. \u00a0It was all pretty neat. \u00a0It was nice to walk around the tomb and the gardens, but it was super hot and humid.<\/p>\n

\"berkley<\/p>\n

We made our way back to the hotel to shower up before our evening adventures. \u00a0Seth found a street food tour online called Delhi Food Tours<\/a> that seemed quite trustworthy. \u00a0What sold us was that the wife, Aisha, was the tester. \u00a0Aisha apparently has a very sensitive stomach, ever since she attended an American boarding school for high school. \u00a0So, if she gets sick within 2 days after going to a restaurant, they take it off their list.<\/p>\n

The first stop on the list was to a tea shop where we were invited to try a variety of teas from India. \u00a0This is something Seth and I really enjoy and visiting the tea shop was an unexpected treat. \u00a0There were light white teas all the way to rich, full bodied black teas. A nice start to the evening.<\/p>\n

\"Delhi<\/p>\n

Our second stop was a restaurant that is spposed to have food from the area of Goa. \u00a0That’s a beach area in the south of India. \u00a0I really liked the food there. \u00a0They had a fried fish with chili powder and lime and it was so, so good. \u00a0I also really liked their chutney.<\/p>\n

\"first<\/p>\n

The next place we went to was fabulous. \u00a0There we tried something called a dosa. \u00a0A dosa is kind of like when you take cheese and slap it on a fry top until it turns into a chip. \u00a0But, it doesn’t taste like cheese, it tastes like a cracker. \u00a0And really good. \u00a0And you use it like a nacho, dipping it into sauces. \u00a0I really liked the sauce that was like a tomato lentil soup. \u00a0So good! \u00a0But, what I, also, really enjoyed here was the coffee. \u00a0I don’t normally drink coffee after about noon or so, but I was assured that this coffee would be different from any coffee I’d ever had. \u00a0And it was. \u00a0It was rich and caramelly and oh so good! And they do this thing to mix in the sugar where you pour it from glasss to cup, back and forth to mix in the sugar and make the coffee a bit frothy. \u00a0I really hope to find that again.<\/p>\n

\"pour<\/p>\n

\"Delhi<\/p>\n

We, then, went to a place that specializes in BBQ. \u00a0I truly loved this place. \u00a0We had BBQ chicken that was spectacular. \u00a0It was perfectly cooked, not dry, but nice and juicy and jam packed with flavor. \u00a0Seth’s favorite was the spicy lamb kabob. \u00a0I liked it too, but I was busy with the chicken.<\/p>\n

\"Delhi<\/p>\n

Then there was the dessert place. \u00a0But, before dessert we had to try some of their main courses as well! \u00a0Seth and I each got lassi, one sweet, one salty. \u00a0The sweet one was just like in the states, but the salty one was not just plain yogurt. \u00a0It had spices in it like cardamom, black pepper, and salt. Both really interesting, but I liked the sweet one best. \u00a0We then tried the ‘grenades’. \u00a0Seth tried one first, then waited for my reaction. \u00a0It was like a little puff that you crack open at the top, so that you can fill it wit a potato mixture and a green juice. \u00a0It explodes in your mouth and was quite reminiscent of eggs. \u00a0Since, I’ve heard it described as having a septic like taste. \u00a0Great. \u00a0Then came what has been lovingly named ‘the compost pile’. \u00a0I truly liked that one. \u00a0It was little flat dumpling type things covered in a yogurt and pomegranate, ginger, and some other stuff. \u00a0Not sure. \u00a0I really liked it. A delicious dish came out next with spiced chick peas. \u00a0Oh so good! Finally it was time for dessert. \u00a0The sweets were so decadent. \u00a0My favorite was gulab jamun. Almost like a doughnut soaked in syrup.<\/p>\n