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To the land of STRAWBERRIES we went … Mahabaleshwar!

“No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.”
Elbert Hubbard
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Time to post the second part of what we did when we visited the Oxford of the East and the Queen of the Deccan, Pune. The trip that lasted just 4 days was packed with excitement. As usual there was so much to do, and not enough time, but a trip to  strawberry land was firmly in place. Mr PABs nephew took the day off work to drive us up into the hills to one of Maharashtras most popular hill stations, Mahabaleshwar.

I love to refer to this little city located about 3 hours drive from Pune as the strawberry capital of the Deccan. With one of the few evergreen forests of the world, Mahabaleshwar served as the summer capital of Bombay province during the British Raj. The climate of Mahabaleshwar is ideal for strawberries and mulberries, and one can visit strawberry farms to take in the real ambience as well as enjoy fresh flavours of this luscious berry. 

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A stop by at the charming little town centre, called Malcolm Peth after the then British Governor of Bombay, Sir John Malcolm, offered a deluge of strawberries and mulberries. Ats far as the eye could see, there were hawkers sitting with painstakingly decorated baskets packed with luscious red strawberries. The locals carried on with their daily chores, undeterred and seemingly uninterested in all the hype this luscious fruit carried for us. We had never seen so many in our lives. 
The variety that is sold there is the popular one called ‘Sweet Charlie‘ which is as sweet as the name. The berries available at a ridiculously happy price of Rs 40-50 a kilo ($1=Rs42) had me getting boxes packed in no time. 10 kilos later, for family, friends and us, I was a happy bunny, and the hub and nephew kindly lugged my booty back to the car! We then sat back and enjoyed tall glasses of strawberries, fresh cream and ice-cream which is typically on offer at Mahabaleshwar at this time of the year. Later in the season, I believe you can also find ‘Mulberries and Cream’!

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Enroute we stopped at a little strawberry farm where we got a chance to see how the strawberries were grown, and saw lines of local women sitting on dhurries sorting out mountains of freshly picked strawberries. We had chilled glasses of fresh strawberry juice which was refreshingly delicious, and also ate mulberries that we plucked off trees. The lad had a field day colouring his tiny hands purple and pink plucking this rather delicicate berry from trees laden with the fruit.

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There is not much to do in this little town but we still managed a lot. Shopping for strawberries out of the way, we took the kids down to do a little boating at the Boat Club to Venna Lake. The Venna lake is one of the major tourist attractions of Mahabaleshwar. The lake is surrounded by trees on all sides. A late winter evening boat ride through the slight fog is well appreciated. Tourists can enjoy a boat ride over the lake or a horse ride next to the lake. Make sure you insist that they give everyone life jackets. I had to literally fight for ours, and then found the boat ride a little frightening; was glad to be back on terra firma!
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It was time to drive back to Pune, but not without a very interesting stop-over at another popular and scenic hill resort in close vicinity, Panchgani. It bears the Raj stamp all over it,  and is famous for its boarding schools, its Parsee bungalows, and some excellent views of the flat surroundings or the ‘Table-Land‘ phenomenon which is breath-taking. We went to Sydney Point which is situated on a small hillock facing the Krishna Valley.  Situated around 60 mts high, this flat large expanse of laterite rock is the second longest mountain plateau in asia.
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I shall soon begin be posting more about what I made with my stash of strawberries, beginning with this above.
♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥ 


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About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

23 Comments

  • La Table De Nana

    Deeba what glorious shots..you..family..landscapes..I have never seen strawberries so beautifully displayed..~ So artistic.

  • Sarah, Maison Cupcake

    Deeba, when I went strawberry picking as a kid with my grandparents, my grandma used to say if I ate too many I would turn into one. Thought I better give you the heads up as you have had total strawberry obsession lately…!

    Gorgeous post, I really like the ragged effect around the edge of your pictures and I am stumped how you get them to fit perfectly in your template no matter whether they are portrait or landscape and how many in a row there are. Being a bit of a geek here…

  • Lazaro Cooks!

    Fantastic blog post. Great photos…well written. We are in the peak of strawberry season where I live so my kitchen is full of them. Cheers!

  • Adele @ WillworkforBiltong

    Oh my goodness! How wonderful! I'm sorry now I didn't buy that punnet of strawberries yesterday. Thanks for the beautiful post, Deeba.

  • Jamie

    I love looking at your family pics. Beautiful! And wow the berries! Thank heavens we are starting to get luscious strawberries here or I'd be even more jealous than I am seeing this. Can't wait to see more of your recipes. I'm ready!

  • MeetaK

    just in time deeba! i bought a whole kilo of organic strawberries today! these pictures look so awesome and i have never tried indian strawberries ever! sending you lots of hugs!

  • Bellini Valli

    I love how they have displayed the strawberries so artistically..it makes for stunning photos. So glad you enjoyed your holidays!!

  • Asha @ FSK

    OMG! I am soo envious of you.. those strawberry stacks looks soo fantastic!!!

    (hehe.. I like the balsamic bottle in the pic ;-))

  • Trissa

    Lucky you to be able buy strawberries that look that good for such a bargain! Can't wait to see what other goodies you come up with!

  • Arwen from Hoglet K

    What a marvellous place for a holiday! 10kg of strawberries is quite a stash.

  • pegasuslegend

    Fantastic blog post. Great photos…well written.You have a lovely family and blog…

  • crumbsoflove

    Beautiful berries!!! Strawberries and balsamic vinegar are one of my favorite combos- great over vanilla ice cream…

  • crumbsoflove

    Beautiful berries!!! Strawberries and balsamic vinegar are one of my favorite combos- great over vanilla ice cream…

  • Barbara Bakes

    It all sounds so exotic and beautiful and delicious. How nice to spend time together as a family!

  • Avanika [YumsiliciousBakes]

    Ohh Mahableshwar!! I've been craving the strawberries and cream by the lake since soo long. And now you come with this post. I think I have to plan to go there, soon!!

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