QUENCHING THIRST WITH A MANGO COOLER…CELEBRATING SUMMER!

“Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. “
Russel Baker
Cooler anyone? Make mine mango…
With summer here, a cooler is just the perfect way to chill out. And with mangoes in every avatar flooding markets, how cool would a mango cooler be. In North India, this is a traditional thirst quencher, considered a good way to beat the heat & was made throughout homes across the North. Just the right thing to gulp down when you walk in from searing temperatures hitting 40 degrees C & upwards, & for many, the only way to escape a heatstroke. Aam panna, as it is called locally, served up a healthy mix of sugar & salts to balance the electrolytes that the body lost in the the HOT Indian summer.

My favourite way to serve this thirst quencher is in a tall steel glass

Aam Panna is an Indian drink renowned for its heat resistant properties. It is made from Green Mangoes and it is used as a tasty and healthy beverage to fight against the intense Indian summer heat. Apart from being tasty this drink also looks good due to its refreshing light green color. Green Mango is a rich source of pectin, which gradually diminishes after the formation of the stone. Unripe mango is sour in taste because of the presence of oxalic, citric and malic acids. Aam panna which is prepared using raw mangoes, sugar and an assortment of spices is an effective remedy for heat exhaustion and heat stroke. It also quenches thirst and prevents the excessive loss of sodium chloride and iron during summer due to excessive sweating.
The kids like their cooler in tall stem glasses topped with mint….

Raaga @ Singing Chef posted her mother’s recipe of a mango cooler ‘kairi panha‘. In North India we call it ‘aam panna‘. It is almost similar & in the past I have always made it differently. I usually wash the mangoes well, cook them under pressure with skins on for 5-7 minutes. Once cool, squeeze the pulp out & then continue the same way with the blending etc. Thought I’d give it a shot in Raaga’s Mom’s style as it looked decidedly different. The cooler came out very nice…fresh & exciting; tasted just like I make the other way. The son loved it & frequently asks me to make it.
The recipe as adapted from Raagas‘…
Ingredients:
Raw Mango – 1 cup, peeled and diced ( about 2 mangoes)
Roasted Cumin Powder – 1 tbsp
Rock Salt – 2 tsp powdered
Sugar – 2-4 tbsp
Red chili flakes – 1/8tsp
Mint leaves – a handful

Method:

  • Place all the ingredients, except mint leaves, in a microwave safe bowl with a little water and microwave on high for 3 minutes (till soft).
  • Allow to cool, add the mint leaves & run in the blender. Dilute this concentrate with chilled water, pour into tall glasses over ice-cubes, top with mint & celebrate summer! Can be made 2-3 days in advance. refrigerate until use.

Meeta @ Whats For Lunch Honey has Monthly Mingle #23 on now, which is celebrating Mango mania with all things mango for the entire month. So I thought I’d share this with the nice lady…
Fresh mint finds place in a almost everything I make…
…& also with Dee @ Ammalu’s Kitchen who is running Herb Mania. Her choice of herb for the month is one of my favourites…MINT. I just can’t seem to get enough of this refreshing herb, & it seems to wiggle into most of what I make, as a garnish at the least, if nothing else. There you go Dee.
First it’s mango mania & then herb mania, am feeling like quite a foodie maniac after this post…

This post featured on

  • Chicago Sun Times Southtown Star
Posted by Deeba @ PAB

RUSTIC ITALIAN FOCACCIA…IN A RING & MORE!

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
Robert Browning

as rustic as it gets…

Italian artisan bread…

Thicker than a pizza, this dimpled bread, focaccia, gets it’s name from the Latin word focus, meaning ‘hearth’ , because it was originally baked on an open hearth. Italian bakers use focaccia dough to make many different speciality breads, such as this ring, stuffed with fragrant pesto, or for that matter, with any other flavouring you might like ( quoted from Le Cordon Blue; The Cook’s Bible).

I made one with home made pesto, & the other with a mushroom, garlic, cheese filling (we liked the second one better). Other interesting alternatives include:

  • Chopped fresh sage, crushed garlic, coarse sea salt & olive oil
  • Finely chopped black or green olives
  • Chopped sun dried tomatoes marinated in olive oil, shredded mozzarella & fresh basil
  • Sauteed onions & chopped fresh herbs

Artisan bread is exactly what its name suggests: bread that is crafted, rather than mass produced. Baked in small batches rather than on a vast assembly line, artisan bread differs from prepackaged supermarket loaves in a number of ways. Special attention to ingredients, process, and a return to the fundamentals of the age-old bread-making tradition set artisan bread apart from soft, preservative-laden commercial breads. For a more complex, flavored artisan bread, the ingredients list might expand to include various other items, all of them recognizable: sliced onions, cheddar cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil. Bread has been around for centuries. No chemicals were added to the breads baked by ancient Egyptians or those mentioned throughout the Bible, and none are added to artisan breads now.

We had company for dinner. I wanted to make bread. I had to make bread. DH suggested savoury Danish coz he fell in love with it after the last DB challenge, in June. I was tempted but that much butter was just not on…not twice a month & not in summer at least! So that morning I sat with my faithful pile of cookbooks around me, almost getting carried away to try something very challenging. Almost thought I would just go bake the Danish, & then saw this focaccia in the Le Cordon Blue Cook’s Bible. Made up my mind really QUICK!! It had to be this…I love rustic, artisan breads! It didn’t disappoint at all. I am posting this urgently on a request (3rd reminder today) from my SIL who was over for dinner & loved this bread. Without further ado…here we go. (I got 2 flavoured rings & 2 smaller shaped loaves out of this dough)
Focaccia dough as adapted from ‘The Cook’s Bible’, pg 239
Ingredients:
Active Instant Yeast – 1 2/3 tbsp
Sugar – 1/2 tsp
Warm water – 300ml
Flour – 700 gms
Whole wheat flour – 200gms
Salt – 2 tsp
Olive oil – 4tsp
Dried Italian Herbs- 2-3 tbsps
Filling of your choice ( I did one with mushrooms + garlic, recipe here; & the other with basil-almond pesto, recipe here)

Method:

  • Proof the yeast by sprinkling it over 2 tbsps of warm water from the recipe & 1/2 tsp sugar. Cover & leave until frothy.
  • Stir the flours + salt + dried Italian herbs into a big bowl & make a well in the centre.
  • Add yeast + remaining water + olive oil. Mix to a dough.Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes.
  • Shape into a ball, & place in a oiled bowl. Cover with a damp cloth, & let rise until doubles (1-2 hours).
  • Punch down the dough, knead for 2-3 minutes, then let rest for 5 minutes.
  • Roll about 1/3 of the dough into a 40 X 30 cm rectangle & spread the filling of your choice evenly over it, leaving a 1 cm border.
  • Starting from one long side, roll into a cylinder. Pinch the seams to seal, but not the ends. Transfer seam side down, to a floured baking sheet, shape into a ring, & pinch ends to seal.
  • Slice the ring at 5 cm intervals to within 2 cm of the centre. Gently pull out each slice & twist it over to one side to show the cut edge. Cover & let rise until doubled, 30-45 minutes.
  • Brush lightly with olive oil, sprinkle over with coarse sea salt & bake at 190 degrees C until golden, 30-40 minutes. Serve warm or cold.
  • Note: I made sandwiches from the other loaves the next day…filling them with shredded grilled chicken, tomatoes, onions, mozzarella & mustard.

Posted by Deeba @ PAB

THOUGHTS OF NUTMEG TRAPPED IN A POUND CAKE…& FOODBUZZ

“Once you get a spice in your home, you have it forever. Women never throw out spices. The Egyptians were buried with their spices. I know which one I’m taking with me when I go.”
Erma Bombeck
NUTMEG POUND CAKE…spicing it up
NUTMEG, the spice of choice for this months’ Think Spice has weighed heavily on my mind. Ever since I saw that Aparna @ My Diverse Kitchen, a fellow DB & an Indian blogger (like me) from Goa, was hosting the event this month, I decided I had to send something in.

Freshly grated…

Piney, terpeney and citrus-like aromatics combine with sweet and bitter tastes to provide Nutmeg with its distinctive flavor.Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), native to the Moluccas (the Spice Islands of Indonesia) is unique among spice plants, producing two distinct spices. The seed is dried, shelled and sold either whole or ground as the spice Nutmeg. The outer fleshy network is also dried and ground producing the spice know as Mace.Nutmeg is used in cakes, confections, eggs, cheese, meat dishes, sausages, sauces, vegetables, and in eggnog and several cocktails and punches.
Think Spice is the brainchild of Sunita @ Sunita’s World & was one of the first blog events I began contributing to. Of late, I have missed a couple of months, but am happy to be back here. Only point was, hmmmmmmmm…nutmeg? I’ve used nutmeg in a lot of curries but it never has an overpowering nutmeggy taste, if you know what I mean. Had already posted it in a rice pudding / Indian kheer, which it lent a beautiful flavour to. Turned to the ever reliable Internet & it did throw up some interesting choices…eggnog nutmeg cake, vanilla nutmeg cake, Armenian nutmeg cake ( made it eons ago;nice nutty cake-recipe here). I had on hand a cup of sugar & 3/4 cup butter, which I had already creamed for cookies, & then had suffered a drastic change of mind! The Internet being the ever dependable resource, came to my rescue. Ooooh, what did we have here? A NUTMEG POUND CAKE from Ace Recipes. Absolutely brilliant because it matched my creamed proportions of butter & sugar perfectly!!
Thinking cap on…I was thinking ‘NUTMEG CAKE’

This was a fun cake to make, but I did have a minor disaster. The ever enthusiastic baker in me didn’t read ‘wellbuttered’, which occurred somewhere in the middle of the written recipe (not my fault is it???), & I just normally buttered the bundt pan as for a pound cake (not thoroughly). I should have slathered the butter on, making sure no area was left uncovered.
CRUMBS…that disappeared in next to no time!

I paid the price as the cake hung on to the pan in the 2 places I missed & cracked the beautiful cake. Otherwise…the cake had an outstanding flavour. Spicy in the sweet sense; pleasing in every which way, with a mocha heart within! Delicious & a light crumb too. I think this will bake well in a well line normal 9″ round cake tin, or a spring form too. Will bake it again to enjoy the beauty of the cake. Thanks to you, Aparna, I tried a new flavour…the nutmeg didn’t disappoint!! Was a hit with everyone, kids included!
NUTMEG POUND CAKE

This spicy pound cake has a mocha center that just naturally occurs when you pour the cocoa portion of the cake mixture over the light batter. For a more attractive presentation, use a fancy tube-type pan with an 8 to 10 cup capacity.

The recipe as adapted from Ace Recipes
Ingredients:
Dark cocoa – 3 tbsp
Instant coffee powder – 1 tsp
Baking soda – 1/8 tsp
Hot water – 3 tbsp (or just enough to make a thick paste; add a tsp at a time)
Butter – 3/4 cup ; at room temperature (or margarine)
Castor sugar – 1 cup (granular should be fine too; I used powdered coz my batter was originally meant for sugar cookies)
Eggs – 3
All-purpose flour – 2 cups
Baking powder – 2 tsp
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Ground nutmeg – 1 1/2 tsp ( I grated about 3/4th of a fresh nutmeg; the aroma was divine)
Cinnamon powder – 1 tsp
Milk – 1/2 cup; at room temperature
Method:

  • In small bowl mix cocoa, coffee powder, baking soda and hot water to make a thick paste. Set side.
  • In large mixing bowl, cream butter with sugar until smooth.
  • Beat in eggs until fluffy.
  • TIP: Butter and eggs must be at room temperature or creamed mixture will not turn out light and fluffy. If mixture is cold and curdled in appearance, place bowl over warm water for a few minutes, then proceed beating until fluffy.
  • Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg cinnamon.
  • Add to creamed mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat until smooth.
  • Take 1/4 of the batter in a bowl & stir reserved cocoa mixture. Keep aside.
  • Pour 1/2 of the remaining white batter into a wellbuttered, tube-type pan of 8 to 10 cups capacity. Smooth it out.
  • Pour the cocoa-coffee batter over this; smooth it out (can even marble or swirl at this point if desired).
  • Cover this with remaining white batter, smooth out & bake at 180 degrees C for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Leave in pan for 10-15 minutes turn out gently & leave on rack. The cake has a beautiful crumb, & is wonderful warm.

Extremely light & moist, the mocha heart gives the cake a whole new dimension!

Before I end this post, I have one more thing to add…BIG THANKS to Foodbuzz for the wonderful eco-tote & mini moo cards they mailed me. The cards came to me ages ago, & I received the bag a couple of days ago, with a personalised badge included. Take a look. Thank you…I am very touched & love the bag!

What the buzz about…Foodbuzz is the first-ever community site devoted exclusively to food and dining content—an unparalleled resource for searching, surfing and sharing with fellow foodies everywhere. From the professional chef to the casual diner and everyone in between, the online community is a one-stop shop for food lovers…do check it out!

This post featured on

  • WLWT.com Cincinnati, Ohio
  • KCTV5.com Kansas City
Posted by Deeba @ PAB

SCREAMING FOR PEACH MANGO ICE-CREAM…

“An apple is an excellent thing — until you have tried a peach.”
George du Maurier

Here’s an ice-cream that left us screaming for more…literally!! Helped the daughter make this a couple of weeks ago coz she wanted to make peach ‘something’…peach anything actually !! Peaches have flooded our market this year & tempt me endlessly. Quite insanely, I can hear them calling to me from their shelves in the local bazaar. All summer fruits are far too irresistible, so I always come back home with bagfuls – plums, apricots, peaches, mango, cherries…! The heat notwithstanding, I can spend happy hours browsing through racks / baskets of these sweet nothings, picking out perfect, unblemished fruit.

Peaches galore…

To please the daughter, I went & got some yum looking juicy peaches & thought we’d make peach ice-cream in the same way that I make my creamy mango ice-cream. Somewhere along the way, I thought it lacked a certain intensity in flavour, probably because the peaches weren’t fully ripe & juicy. So, we quickly pureed some mangoes & threw them in too for good measure. Ooooooooooh la la…what a wonderful creation was born. Peach Mango Ice-cream…just right for Mike’s event You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream for Frozen Desserts! Mike @ Mike’s table is big fan of ice cream. In his words “I was happily the odd one out there making ice creams in the dead of winter. But now with the heat of summer finally bearing down on many of us, there won’t be quite so many raised eye brows over ice cream. So I’m calling on you, fellow food bloggers, to put your creativity towards cooling off with something sweet this summer.” Make sure you check out the frozen treasure trove at his site…it’s COOL!! Watermelon sorbets, mint julep, apricot ripple…

Topped with apricots in syrup…sitting pretty on a beautiful runner that Arundati from Escapades sent to me as a gift; there was loads of exciting stuff in the bag!!! Thank you dear girl!!

This recipe made a handsome amount & the daughter proudly served it over meringue, with apricots in syrup, a drizzle of cream & thickened apricot/mint syrup when my BIL/SIL were visiting for dinner. They loved it too…& BIL went in for 3rds too! YUM!!

Ingredients:
Fresh cream – 500ml
Condensed milk – 1 can (14oz)
Mangoes – 2-3 / pureed (I used kesari)
Peaches – 7-8 (700gms), blanched, peeled,pitted, stewed & pureed

Method:

  • Beat the cream & condensed milk well. Add the mango puree & peach puree. (Taste & adjust sugar if required).
  • Put into a plastic bowl with a tight fitting lid & put into the freezer.
  • Whisk the ice-cream every hour to break the crystals that form from the edge inwards, at least 5-6 times (whinge-whinge), & then leave to set for 6-8 hours or overnight.
  • It’s absolutely delicious on its own … serves 8-10.
  • We also served scoops over almond meringues, topped with apricots chilled in syrup, a drizzle of unsweetened cream & thickened apricot/mint syrup….& of course, a sprig of mint! Very refreshing & satisfying!!

Let’s scream for ice-cream!!!

Found about this neat event at Ivy’s; it’s called ‘Original Recipes’ @ Culinarty with Lore. She says, “Concoctions born out of despair when trying to fix something we thought to be ruined, others that come up as a way of playing in the kitchen or just ideas that you put into practice hoping to make your kids or better half eat a bit more of this or a bit more of that…they all bring us great satisfaction when a success!”…It’s never easy to put thoughts into words, & she did it brilliantly!! This recipe is one of my favourite concoctions, & is en route to Lores’.

This post featured on

  • WPXI.com Pittsburgh
  • Reuters UK
Posted by Deeba @ PAB

Chocolate Cinnamon Mousse … Life is certainly a bowl of cherries, Chocolate Makes it Better!

“I just clipped 2 articles from a current magazine. One is a diet guaranteed to drop 5 pounds off my body in a weekend. The other is a recipe for a 6 minute pecan pie.”
Erma Bombeck
Sweet bowl of cherries…
…& Cherries atop a Chocolate-Cinnamon Mousse. Can it get any better?

Coincidentally, my dessert’s set out in Red, White & Blue!! Have a great 4th of July to all of you in the U.S.!!

When summer came round the corner, the first flood of fruit hit us. Amongst them were cherries, a fruit I have always connected with an immensely funny book, ‘If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?’ by Erma Bombeck, an American humorist who achieved great popularity for a newspaper column that depicted suburban home life in the second half of the 20th century. Oft referred to the ‘enchanting lady of laughter’, Erma pens a hilarious account of the domestic dilemmas of life; this book taking swipes at husbands, honeymoon, marriage, tennis elbow, lettuce…”Marriage has no guarantees. If that’s what you’re looking for, go live with a car battery.” LOL!! … Back to the cherry of the matter then…

Luscious, sublime, decadent, luxurious, silken…

…a Gastronomical Treat!

A while ago I was exploring Food Blogga ( a delicious pass time ) & I tripped on this precious recipe….A Quick Chocolate Cinnamon Mousse with Cherries. One look & I was sold! It had everything I was looking for…primarily cherries that I wanted to use in a dessert; was quick, had chocolate & cinnamon too! Susan @ Food Blogga is one of my fave bloggers, & the number of fruity summer sensations stepping out of there are beckoning the ‘Envy Police’…in Ann’s words!! I’m scared of going there because I’m terrified of adding to my already bursting bookmarked folder. Having said that, am just back from there again, with the folder even bigger & my taste-buds happily tantalized. Check out her blog (if you haven’t already…it’s nirvana!!)

Quick Chocolate-Cinnamon Mousse with Cherries
Adapted from Dave Lieberman’s recipe from the June 2007 issue of Bon Appetit.

Cherries:
Fresh cherries – 350 gms, pitted
1/3 cup – Black cherry conserves ( or other cherry preserves)
1/3 cup – cherry juice (or ruby Port ) … I used a squeeze of lime as I had neither
Almond Essence – 1 tsp ( I added this coz I think it enhances the flavour of cherries)
Mousse:
Chilled heavy whipping cream – 2 cups / divided
Ground cinnamon – 2 tsp (generous)
Dark chocolate – 200gms / choppedFor cherries:

  • Combine cherries, cherry preserves, and juice in heavy small saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat.
  • Reduce heat to medium and boil until juices thicken to syrup consistency, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes.
  • Remove from heat. Transfer to small bowl and chill until cold, about 3 hours. ( Can be made 1 day ahead.) Cover and keep chilled. IMG 2829

For mousse:

  • Combine 1/2 cup cream and cinnamon in small saucepan; bring to boil. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth.
  • Transfer chocolate mixture to large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat remaining cup cream in medium bowl until soft peaks form. Fold 1/2 of whipped cream into lukewarm chocolate mixture. Fold remaining whipped cream into chocolate mixture in 3 additions just until incorporated.
  • Divide mousse among 8 glasses or bowls. Chill until set, about 4 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead.)
  • Cover; keep chilled.
  • Spoon cherries with syrup atop mousse and serve. Garnish with chocolate flakes & a sprig of mint. I also added a couple of cherries dipped in melted chocolate on top (which I set earlier on baking parchment).

C’est Magnifique !!

Was busy browsing & found a ‘berry’ event… Waiter, There’s Something in My… the popular monthly foodie event hosted in rotation by Johanna, Andrew and Jeanne. Jeanne @ Cook Sister is hosting it this month, & her theme is ‘Berried Treasure’ – “absolutely any recipe in which berries take centre stage”. Off to Jeanne this ‘berried treasure’ goes!!

This post featured on

Posted by Deeba @ PAB

SOUTHWARD BOUND & BACK…Captivated in Chennai!

“On vacations: We hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies, and the sand out of our belongings.”
Erma Bombeck

Are back from Chennai down in the South of India, where it was baking hot…& yet we had a great time. For me, obviously anything to do with baking had to be good!!! Thanks to great leads from Arundathi @ My Food Blog, Rachel @ Tangerines Kitchen & Divya @ Easy Cooking, all wonderful Chennai bloggers, I knew just where to head. Arundathi has pre-warned me that kids in Chennai for 1 week was asking for trouble! Spot on…but we managed pretty well. The hotel was beautiful…Raintree, South India’s First ECOTEL Ò Hotel, which importantly had a lovely rooftop pool – which was the perfect answer for bored kids!

Famous Shore Temple, Mahabalipuram/Mamallapuram

Right on top of the must-do’s was a visit to the ancient port city of Mahabalipuram, a classified UNESCO World Heritage site, an hour’s drive from Chennai. We left Chennai at 5 in the morning coz we wanted to catch sun-rise on the beach. Unfortunately, it was slightly cloudy so we missed the sun-rise, but the waters & the beach were absolutely glorious.

We descended on a sleepy village called Kovalam in time to catch the sun, & were enthralled by fishermen setting off in fishing boats, star fish & coral brought in by the tide, crabs scuttling along the beach & roosters giving wake-up calls. The village was far removed from reality…rural to the core, with people who looked like they’d walked out of last century, laid-back & in slow-motion. Wonderfully surreal!!

The downside (much to the kids horror), was open air loos, but it was the fishing village & their land. We quietly watched dawn, collected a couple of shells, starfish & corals that an old man helped us pick off the beach…

…& then set off to see the cave temples on the beach at Mahabalipuram!

Pancha Rathas (Five Chariots)

Mahabalipuram was highly recommended by one & all, most of all by sis # 1 in Dallas, & it was STUNNING, well worth the trip. Took our breath away…the feeling was unbelievable. To be amidst ruins & rocks from the 7th century was like finding ourselves in another era altogether. The ambience, the peace, the rocks, the architecture, the sculptures…a world in itself!

Mahishasuramarthini cave temple

Bas-relief carving at the Varaha cave

Mahabalipuram was a 7th century port city of the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas around 60 km south from the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. It is believed to have been named after the Pallava king Mamalla. It has various historic monuments built largely between the 7th and the 9th century, and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The monuments are mostly rock-cut and monolithic, and constitute the early stages of Dravidian architecture wherein Buddhist elements of design are prominently visible. They are constituted by cave temples, monolithic rathas (chariots), sculpted reliefs and structural temples. The pillars are of the Dravidian order. The sculptures are excellent examples of Pallava art.
An old bungalow below the hotel window…kept the boy intrigued for hours!
Visiting Chennai was a sense of deja vu for me…but not in the true sense. This was my 3rd visit; the first when I was about 11 years old, the next in the early 1990’s…& again, now! Things have changed drastically, as expected, but there was a sense of odd familiarity…a city that held us by its charm. A right blend of simplicity, patience & culture. DH & me loved it; so much so that DH had us in splits trying to conquer the local language, Tamil, going a step further & trying it on the locals. They were perplexed, & then very amused. I tried to brush up the few phrases our housekeeper in Bangalore had taught us many moons ago…but obviously being kids, we learnt all the wrong stuff then…roughly translated into ‘don’t want food, go away, what’s your name, & counting 1-10!! Of very little use now but enough to charm my way!! We tried plenty of local authentic cuisine…got our happy fill of dosas, uttapams, idlis. Chettinad cuisine is quite spicy & though we enjoyed it, the kids couldn’t stomach too much of it. Met Arundathi at a beautiful bungalow, Amethyst, (pictured above) converted into a Coffee Shop, boutique & gallery. It’s preserved as a heritage property & has a wonderful ambience about it. Chennai is very cosmopolitan, so the kids found their fair share of pizzas, burgers, subways etc which kept them satiated!
A shopping we will go…
Impossible to resist local shopping, off I went armed with a list of things I had long dreamt of & handy hot tips from sis # 2 from Houston. FUN FUN FUN!!

You can buy lovely cotton weaves in brilliant colours, handwoven sarees (that incidentally make beautiful drapes too), stainless steel in every possible avatar from one of Asia’s biggest stores, Tanjore paintings. I went nuts about spices etc…stone-flower, cardamom, mustard, garlic powder, garlic-chili powder, cocoa, local coffee, chocolate chips…a dream come true. Mahabalipuram had fabulous stoneware…got lovely pestle & mortar sets there, in granite & marble! Found some coral in a tiny shop too!! Fresh fruit lines streets everywhere in the city…delicious mangosteens, rambutams, mangoes, gooseberries, sapodillas, papayas, jackfruit, plums…

Mesmerised by fruit at a local vender…we had a great time!

This post featured on

Posted by Deeba @ PAB
Please wait...

Subscribe to my newsletter

Want to be notified when the article is published? Do enter your email address and name below to be the first to know.
SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTER NOW
Exit mobile version