Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Indian High Tea and Dinner with a Local

Well it was our last day in New Delhi, and we still had a few days of Mumbai ahead of us, so today we were trying to take it easy. It was another scorcher out so that also made the decision to stay indoors a lot easier.


I often saw Indian newspapers with these giant front page ads. I thought that was notable.




We popped into the very swanky The Imperial New Delhi for some afternoon tea. The staff all bowed with their hands together and said "namaste" when you passed by.






Both this place and the Sri Lankan place seemed to have the same problem. They insisted on pouring you the tea and not leaving the pot. Then they'd hardly ever come over to pour more. Kind of a scam if you ask me. How am I supposed to wash down all these jammed up scones people?


 It's called tea not tiny empty cup. I'm Taj Mathirsty up in here.


Against our own good judgement we tried to hit an interesting-sounding tourist site but just got melted. They stamped our tickets right? Well it was so humid that the ink on it wouldn't dry and I ended up getting it on my hands and face. This place is called Jantar Mantar which is like the Indian equivalent of "abracadabra!" It dates back to 1724 and is a series of astronomical instruments. Wikipedia: "The Misra Yantra was designed as a tool to determine the shortest and longest days of the year. It could also be used to indicate the exact moment of noon in various cities and locations regardless of their distance from Delhi." I'm impressed.




We ducked into a nearby bar called Teddy Boy's to escape the punishing heat. Had some beers, smoked a hookah, you know the drill.


They had a cricket game projected on the wall that was amusing. I had no idea what was happening but what the heck.




Lydia's nana had a contact in New Delhi and we jumped at the chance to have dinner with a local.




We had a very slow start. Anwesha told us to meet her at this particular sandwich place next to a particular subway station. We stood in and around the place for about an hour with no effect. We wandered across the street looking for wi-fi and had a bite at the amusingly named Burger Singh. They had a network but even after purchasing something they wouldn't give us the damn password. Real cool. Well we gave up and were on our way back home when we noticed another Wenger's location around the corner. Right in front stood Anwesha. We hit it off right away though and went on a mini food tour of New Delhi.


We had some super spicy food. It was hot even for me, so Lydia barely wanted to eat it at all.


They did have the best candy coated seeds at the end that I saw the whole trip though, so I think that evened it all out.


Things got real when it was dessert time. We went to a dedicated sweet shop and we tried so many things that I can't even tell you what any of it was.




I do know that these little guys were kaju katli. It's cashew nut paste mixed with milk and sugar and spices then coated with edible silver leaf. The shape and the silvery side reminded me of a little fish. I recall the taste being nice but subdued.


We had really interesting conversations about every topic from the traffic to politics to the difference in culture between the various regions of India. You can't beat meeting a real live local!

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