Udaipur Delights

Our next destination in Rajasthan was the lovely city of Udaipur. Udaipur , otherwise known as 'the Venice of the east' is most famous for its short role in the James Bond movie 'Octpussy' but also boasts another famous lake, Lake Picchola.

Here is the view across the lake, with the City Palace behind. Udaipur was prettier to look a than Pushkar and is said to be a very romantic city with all its palaces, temples and roof top restaurants.








As we had also done in Pushkar, we enjoyed people watching and perusing all the shops.

A Rajasthani Snake charmer doing his thing.

Admittedly though, the snake was not all that charmed and didn't really get its dancing shoes on or hips swinging as much as we had hoped.

A decorated Indian Elephant.

From Udaipur, we made our way by rickshaw to the top of a distant mountain, in time to see the sunset from the Monsoon Palace (a neglected 19th century Palace).

Here is a shot of some of the palace to show the Rajasthani style architecture.

Another great thing which we did whilst in Udaipur was attend our very own private cooking class. This also meant that we got to select the menu and then of course, to eat it!!

The class began with a schpiel about Indian Spices used in everyday cooking which we found interesting and educational.... a delight for the senses.

Here is an Indian Spice box typically found in the home. Starting from the top in red and then heading clockwise we have... chilli powder, cumin, salt, black pepper, tumeric, garam masala and coriander seeds in the middle.

First up on our agenda was Vegetable Pakoras.

I have included the pics in a step by step process.... to get your mouth watering and to give a play by play in photo format.

Anyone wanting a recipe..... leave me a comment or better yet... wait til i get home and can give it to you then.

So... Step 1. Add ingredients into bowl.

Mix until a paste like consistency












(Missing a pic....) Make paste into small ball shaped pieces.

Deep fry in oil until golden brown

Drain and serve hot












Eat and enjoy!

And some more pics from the class........ ones we prepared earlier

Daal

Palak Paneer. Spinach with cheese.
MY FAVOURITE INDIAN DISH!!!!!!!!

Malai Kofta

So all in all, we had a great time in the class but felt completely stuffed by the end of it. We also made rice, an indian dessert that was super super sickly sweet as well as chapati and paratha breads.