Bendakaaya gojju/Okra sweet curry

Bhendi or Ladiesfinger is a great veggie, one that is good for the brain. Bendakaaya gojju is a popular Karnataka recipe.

Preparation time: 10-15 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Okra (Bhendi/bendakaaya) 1/4th kilo
Refined cooking oil 2 tbsp
Black gram (Urad dal/uddipappu) ½ tbsp
Cumin seeds (Jeera/jeelakarra) 1 tbsp
Grated dry coconut 1 tsp
Red chilli powder (lalmirchi/karam) 1 tsp
Tamarind 1 blob
Jaggery 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Red Chillies 2
Curry leaves 4-5
Pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste

Method:

Soak the tamarind for around 10 mins. If using tamarind paste, this is not necessary.

Dry roast half a spoon of black gram and a fully heaped spoon of cumin seeds and set aside to cool.

Cut the okra to half a finger long pieces.

Heat oil, add mustard seeds and red chillies and as they pop, add the curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida. Add the okra and cook until soft on medium heat. This should take around 5-8 mins.

In the meanwhile, blend to a fine paste: the roasted black gram, cumin seeds, dry copra, a tsp of red chilli powder, jaggery and soaked tamarind/tamarind paste.

Add the above paste, salt to taste to the cooked okra and stir to a thick gravy.

Bendakaaya gojju is a great rice and Indian bread supplement. Will leave you asking for more.

Saarsotlu/Otthu shavige/Rice sevai

Rathna mummy, our grandma, prepared this recipe regularly. A freshly made and spiced rice noodle, the process is quite laborious but exciting to know.

First, she would boil a cup of water and add 1 cup of rice flour (biyyampindi/akki hittu) to it and mix to a lump. As it cooled, the mix was made into oval-shaped balls and steam cooked for around 10 mins. Once it cooled, each ball was put through the ‘saarsotlu peeta’ or a machine, which is of knee-height and is pressed from the top rolling out thin rice noodles below. These fresh noodles are the saarsotlu or otthu shaavige as Rathna mummy called them, and rice sevai as they are known today. These fresh noodles were then spiced, sweetened to different flavors and relished. Who said noodles belong to the Chinese alone? Our grandma made them too.

Coming to today, neither do we own a saarsotlu peeta nor do have the time and patience. However, the rice sevai packs are available just like the two-minute noodle packs in most of the Indian stores. Though they don’t have the aura of the freshly made ones, they taste great and are a quick breakfast/snack option. Here is one of the original ways in which Rathna mummy used to spice the saarsotlu:

Preparation time: 5-10 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Rice sevai pack 200 g
Lemon 1
Refined cooking oil 2 tsp
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Black gram 1 tsp
Bengal gram 1 tsp
Green chillies 2
Curry leaves 4-5
Fresh and chopped coriander 2 tsp
Grated ginger 1 tsp
Pinch of turmeric
Pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste
Fresh and grated coconut for garnish.

Method:

The instructions on the rice sevai pack mention that hot water should be poured over a bowl of rice sevai. We however prefer doing it the opposite way, for one, we can’t handle hot water and secondly, the rice sevai soaks better and turns softer.

Heat water in a cooking pot/vessel. When the water reaches boiling point, turn off the heat and add the rice sevai. Leave for around five mins for the sevai to turn soft and cooked.

Drain off all the water and set aside the dry and soft rice sevai.

Heat oil in a pan and add green chillies, a tsp of grated ginger, mustard seeds and as they pop, cumin seeds, black gram, Bengal gram, curry leaves, coriander and a pinch each of turmeric and asafoetida. (Rathna mummy never added peanuts, as she felt the peanuts left their flavor over the sevai’s. We continue not to use them for the same reason.)

Add to the rice sevai, the above seasoning, salt to taste and mix well to spice the sevai evenly.

Sprinkle lemon juice and garnish with fresh coconut just before serving.

Saarsotlu or rice sevai is an instant recipe and has to be had hot and soon. With lemon and coconut, it is not a good option for tiffin boxes and is ideally had as an evening snack or early morning breakfast.

Thanks to Rathna mummy, this is how we originally enjoyed the saarsotlu or otthu shaavige, hope you like it too.

Sesame - Tomato gojju

Sesame and tomatoes complement each other. While the sesame creates heat in the body and is more a winter spice, the tomatoes are great coolants and typically summer veggies. Sesame - tomato gojju is therefore, a great spring recipe.

Preparation time: 10-15 mins

Serves: 2



Ingredients:

Tomatoes 4
Sesame seeds (nuvvulu/til) 1 tsp
Cumin seeds (jeera/jeelakarra) 1 tsp
Coriander seeds (dhaniyalu/dhania seeds) ½ tsp
Fenugreek seeds (menthulu/methi seeds) ½ tsp
Grated dry copra 1 tsp
Refined cooking oil 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds (aavalu/rai) 1 tsp
Red chilli 1
Curry leaves 4-5
Jaggery (bellam/jaggery) 1½ tbsp
Red chilli powder (karam/lal mirch) 1 tsp
Pinch of asafoetida (inguva/hing)
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash and chop the tomatoes.

Dry roast in a few drops of oil, a tsp each of sesame seeds, cumin seeds, ½ tsp each of coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds. Add the grated dry coconut and blend to a fine powder.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. As they pop, add the cumin seeds, red chilli, curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida.

To the seasoning, add the tomatoes and sauté, cover and cook until soft . This should take around 5-8 mins on simmer.

Add the above ground powder, salt to taste, jaggery and around a tsp of red chilli. Add water as required and leave the gojju to thicken, takes around 2-3 mins. (Generally when covered and cooked, the tomatoes turn saucy and water is not required, but add water if necessary.)

Sesame - Tomato gojju is done. Serve with plain rice or flavored rice or any Indian bread. For the tomato lover, it is indeed a delicacy, so Pavan says.

Baby corn majjiga pulusu/Baby corn majjige huli/Baby corn Khadi

Baby corns are one of those Chinese vegetables that have become a regular in Indian homes. Baby corn majjiga pulusu is the south Indian way of relishing it with a creamy yoghurt base.

Preparation time: 30-45 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Baby corns 12
Bengal gram (senagabedalu/Chana dal) 2 tbsp
Green chilly 1
Coriander 2 strands
Ginger 1 tsp
Grated coconut 2 tsp
Buttermilk 1 ladle
Refined cooking oil 2 tsp
Mustard seeds (Aavalu/Rai) 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds (Menthulu/Methi) seeds 1/4th tsp
Red chilli 1
Curry leaves 4-5
Pinch of Asafoetida (Inguva/Hing)
Pinch of turmeric (Pasupu/Haldi)
Salt to taste

Method:

Cut the baby corns into half a finger length pieces.

Soak the Bengal gram for around half an hour.

Grind the Bengal gram, green chilly, coriander, ginger, pinch of asafoetida, pinch of turmeric, pinch of salt and grated coconut into a paste.

Add salt to taste to the baby corns, water as required and pressure-cook up to 3-4 whistles.

Pour the cooked baby corns along with water if any into a cooking pot/vessel. Add water to around ½ to 3/4th the cooking pot/vessel. Add a pinch of salt and leave to boil.

When the water boils, add the Bengal gram paste previously prepared and stir. Keep stirring to one boil.

Add buttermilk and stir. Leave for 2 mins and switch the stove off. If using thick yoghurt, beat well and add.

Heat oil in a kadai/pan and add the red chilli and mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves and fenugreek seeds. Season the majjiga pulusu with this tempering.

Baby corn majjiga pulusu is a rice supplement but if boiled and cooked to thick gravy, it can make a good Indian bread supplement too. Carrot dal and baby corn majjiga pulusu make a great combo.

A yummy way to cool the system this summer.

Boorelu

A very Happy Ugadi to all our blog readers.

Boorelu or Boore is a crispy Andhra sweet, a favorite of many and a regular in most festival menus. What better to write on the Telugu New Year day…

Ingredients:

Bengal gram (senagabedalu/chana dal) 1 cup (100 gms)
Black gram (minapappu/uraddal) 1 cup (100 gms)
Jaggery (bellam/gud) 1 cup (100 gms)
Cardamom (yellakayi/elaichi) 4-5
Refined cooking oil 1 cup

Method:

Soak the black gram for 2 hours. Grind to a fine batter of dosa batter consistency. For a crisp Boore, 1 tsp of rice flour (biyyam bindi) can be added to the batter. Add a pinch of salt (optional) and set aside.

Powder the cardamoms.

Boil or pressure-cook the Bengal gram and mash until soft and fine.

In a cooking pot/vessel/pan, add around 50 ml of water to the 100 gms jaggery and stir to a stringy-syrup. As the syrup thickens, add the mashed Bengal gram, powdered cardamom and mix to a dry lump.

Make average sized balls of the jaggery-bengal gram mix and dip into the batter. Deep fry in pre-heated oil and remove onto a tissue to drain off excess oil.

Boore or Boorelu are done. Crisp and sweet, Boorelu are a part of every traditional festival meal. A must at weddings. And when we are full after a sumptuous ugadi lunch, the Boorelu, the leftover pulihara and some hot filter coffee make a great evening snack. Enjoy the Boorelu, Ugadi and a great New Year.

Mooli moong dal/Mullangi pesara pappu/Radish split green gram dal

Mooli moong dal as the name suggests is a dal recipe. Specially, good for those suffering from gas troubles or acidity. While radish is known to be a good home remedy for gas trouble, the split green gram is a soother that also provides proteins.

Preparation time: 20-25 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Radish (Mooli/Mullangi) 1
Split green gram (Moongdal/Pesara pappu) 1 cup (150 gms)
Refined cooking oil 2 tsp
Mustard seeds (Rai/Aavalu) 1 tsp
Cumin seeds (Jeera/Jeelakarra) 1 tsp
Black gram (Urad dal/Uddipappu) 1 tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Red chillies 2
Grated ginger 1 tsp
Chopped coriander 2 tsp
Pinch of Asafoetida (Hing/Inguva)
Pinch of Turmeric (Haldi/Pasupu)
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash, peel and cut the radish into slices. Add the split green gram, pinch of turmeric and pressure-cook to 3 whistles.

In a pan/kadai (bandli/mukudu), heat oil. Add the red chillies (optional) and mustard seeds. As they pop, add the cumin seeds, black gram, curry leaves, grated ginger (optional) and a pinch of asafoetida.

To this seasoning, add the cooked radish-split green gram mix, water as required (around half a cup) and salt to taste. Add fresh and chopped coriander and stir. Leave to cook for around 5 mins.

Mooli moong dal is done. Serve with rice or hot phulkas/Indian bread.

With today’s lifestyle, most of us suffer from gas and acidity troubles more because of irregular eating patterns. Though it is important to eat right at regular times, sometimes skipping a meal is inevitable for many reasons. On all such occasions, mooli-moong dal is the ideal inclusion into the meal after the skipped one, filling and soothing.

Food Crossword - 1

A food crossword to compliment your weekend leisure. Enjoy while the Indians and Pakistanis are on a break with a cup of hot chai.

(Click to enlarge)

Solution here.

Drumstick Rasam

Sachin Tendulkar, Pranab Mukherjee and the drumstick rasam filled this Friday for us. Drumsticks are rich in iron and drumstick rasam is the special weekend rasam that is a must inclusion in most of our weekend menus.

Preparation time: 15-20 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Long drumstick (munnakaada) 1
Tamarind/tamarind paste (chintapandu/imli) 1 blob
Cooked Pigeon peas (kandipappu/toordal) 1/2 cup
Rasam powder 1 tbsp
Ghee 1 tsp
Mustard seeds (aavalu/rai) 1 tsp
Cumin seeds (jeelakarra/jeera) 1 tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste
Fresh and chopped coriander for garnish


Method:

Wash and cut the drumstick into finger length pieces removing the fiber as well. We further slit the pieces to make munching them easier (optional).

In a cooking pot/vessel, add the drumstick pieces, tamarind/tamarind paste as available, salt to taste and water up to 3/4ths of the vessel. Leave to boil on medium heat.

Pressure-cook the pigeon peas and set aside.

When the drumsticks are well cooked and the water level is ½ the vessel (this takes around 8 mins), add the cooked pigeon peas, curry leaves and cook for 5 mins. (The longer the rasam boils, the more the drumstick flavor, so add the pigeon peas when the drumstick turns really soft and is completely cooked).

Add the rasam powder and cook for another 2 mins.

Heat ghee in a pan and add mustard seeds. As they pop add cumin seeds, a pinch of asafoetida and a red chilli (optional).

Season the rasam with the above tempering and garnish with fresh and chopped coriander.

Serve hot with ghee topped rice on a weekend afternoon for a leisured lunch where there is enough time available to munch the drumsticks and savor them too.

Vankaya tomato pachadi/Brinjal tomato chutney

Another of our favourite brinjal recipes, brinjal tomato chuntey is a spicy and quick one.

Preparation time: 10-15 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Brinjals (any but preferably small round ones) 1/4th kilo
Medium sized tomatoes 1
Green chillies 5
Curry leaves 4-5
Refined cooking oil 2 tbsp
Black gram 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Red chilli 1
Salt to taste

Method:

Slit the green chillies and cut the brinjals into cubes/pieces.

In around half a tbsp of oil, cook the brinjals until soft. Set aside and in the remaining oil shallow fry the green chillies. Remove and add the whole tomato and cook until the skin wrinkles and peels off.

To the blender jar/mixie, add the brinjals, tomatoes, green chillies and salt to taste. Blend to a fine and soft paste.

In a pan/kadai, heat a tbsp of oil and add the mustard seeds. As they pop, add a red chilli, black gram and curry leaves.

Once the seasoning is done, add the brinjal tomato paste and cook for a few mins until the mix is seasoned.

Vankaya tomato chutney is an Andhra recipe and a popular rice supplement. It tastes great with dosas and buttered phulkas too. It’s brinjal and has to taste the best anyway.

Kaptivating Kenya

2.30 a.m. and we are at the Dubai International Airport terminal 1, ready to fly to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Nairobi. The Kenyan Airways flight was quite a discomfort. The seats are stiff, there is no vegetarian food and the flight resembles a flying bar! After the rather tiring journey, we land at 6.30 am at the JKIA. After the on arrival visa formalities and immigration, we come out only to realize we have lost the bag that we checked in! After an hour of running around the airport we finally locate the bag and barged out of the airport to an eagerly waiting Mr. Timothy (our guide and driver). His cheerful smile is a welcome respite. After the terrible flight, what kind of a holiday could one imagine? I for sure am disgusted and my holiday has just gone for a toss!

As Timo (as he is referred to by his friends) drove us in his 8 seater van (one that he is evidently proud of) to our hotel Boulevard, we get stuck for an hour in the traffic jam. I am completely frustrated and fatigued now. Was this the holiday I was dreaming of?? I hear Timo complaining in a rather matter of fact tone about the horrible traffic jams on the Nairobi roads and how it takes hours to drive through them. This just dampened my mood. Then Timo asks us if we would like to go to the David Sheldrick wildlife trust. I give him a meek look and nod. He suggests we fresh up quickly as the trust is open only between 10.30 and 12 in the morning, when the baby elephants are fed. Baby elephants?? My ears broaden and I give him an elephantish nod.

After a quick shower and feeling fresh from the irritating beginning, we set out to the wildlife trust and reach at sharp 10.30. There are many tourists who flocked the place already. We are all queued in a line and lead into a narrow muddy pathway to a smiling lady who is selling entry tickets. It costs 7 dollars per head and we are all lead inside to a playground like arena fenced with a few ropes and all of us gather around the fence. There are long bottles placed at a few places inside the roped area. After around 10 mins, we see a mahout clad in green followed by these muddy brown little things and within the wink of an eye, they rush towards the bottles. The mahouts patiently lift the bottles and squeeze the nipples into the mouths of, yes the Baby Elephants. Brown and my height, with big ears and a cute tail that wags as they walk, these little fellows were having a brunch: Milk! After being fed, they are now in this playful mood and kick up the red mud onto themselves and onto our cameras and us too! That was naughty indeed! The mahout pours water over them and they continue kicking mud and playing football with of course, a muddy ball! The main mahout explained to us the history of the place while we continued clicking these fellows. They bid us a goodbye as their elder siblings entered to repeat what we had seen until now, but in a more rigorous way. We started walking back when we spotted a large creature in a wooden cage like area. A peek inside and I see the Black rhino, one of the famous African big 5 standing all alone and glaring at us. After a few clicks and a heavy heart, we leave the place to land at the Rothschild Giraffe Center. The entrance fees are 10 dollars per head and we are lead to the left where there are three giraffes: a tall one and two medium sized ones being fed pallets by people. The Rothschild giraffe is a species found only in the Lake Nakuru Area we are told. Tall and spotted they just look magnificent and hungry! After patting them and clicking, we realize we are also hungry (we hadn’t eaten for the past 16 hours!).


We reach the Chowpatty restaurant for a good Indian thali. After the yummy lunch, we exchanged dollars for the local Kenyan Shillings (we really had a tough time without them). We reach the Catalyst office where we are briefed by Prachi about out trip and gifted a cute jewelry case! Thank you Prachi. We drive back to our hotel for a short nap.

It is around 5 in the evening and is raining in Nairobi. Our happy Timo calls it just a drizzle. We drive to the Westgate mall, where I buy some Kenyan coffee beans and powder for family back home. We drive to Chowpatty for an early dinner (buttered phulkas and delicious methi and bhendi curries) and head back to retire for the long and tiring day. We are stuck in the traffic for a good 45 mins before that.

Day 2 begins on a fruity breakfast for me and some tea for Pavan. We check out and leave for Nakuru exactly at half past 8. A beautiful morning drive through the city of Nairobi and an hour later we are in the green rift valley. The Valley is spread 9600 km from the red sea in North Africa to the South Africa. High and low we keep driving, as the mist from the clouds that cover the hills of the valley spreads. What a serene sight! We drive further down to Nakor and then reach Nakuru national park at 11.30.

As Timo drove us in through the park, we see loads of birds and animals on both our sides. For the first time in our lives, we see a live zebra, not the picture in our alphabet books. Wowww!! Timo speeds through the park and suddenly stops telling us to look to our left. And what do we see?? A Lion relaxing on top of a tree! Stunning! But he is neither disturbed nor bothered. It seems only the lions at Nakuru know to climb a tree, a feat indeed it is for them. We drive down to the Lion hill lodge for some yummy dal and rice and check in to a short siesta. Timo wakes us up to tell us we are at the wrong lodge and we check out in 10 mins for the first game drive of our vacation.

We kept glancing left and right as Timo spotted and named the birds- solo ones, a flock of them, a couple of them and so on... From Pelicans to the common sandpiper, we saw around 40 different species of birds of the 469 that reside in this place. Lake Nakuru is also called the pink lake for the millions of Flamingos it houses. However, this is not the season, reason being the rains result in fewer algae in the lake for the flamingos to feed on. So we drove all around the lake to the other corner to find a flock of them in a long pink line. In light pink bordered with black streaks, they just look like a Malkalmur saree that my mom has. Just beautiful. There are a few veggie flamingos as well who do not feed on fish etc in the water. Interesting I thought.


Coming to the animals, we first spotted the Impalas followed by Waterbucks, a few baboons (yes they are here too), Zebras and Wildbeests, another of the African Big 5. The Wildbeests are wild buffaloes and the most dangerous of the big 5 it is said. This is because they have sharp horns and a single wildbeest can easily kill even a lion. That is the kind of strength they possess. Timo warned us from even going close to a single or injured wildbeest. It is more dangerous than a dozen lions put together it seems. After the Wildbeest I spotted this single large grey animal sitting all by itself in between the grass and shouted “Rhino”. Timo was amazed with my keen eye and explained to us the difference between the wildbeest and a rhino. It is simple - the wildbeest has two horns while the rhino has a single horn. Yes, this guy is the White rhino, not as ferocious as the black counterpart and very human friendly. We drove further down to find a baby rhino grazing with his mom. When chased the White rhino babies run in front of their moms and the black rhino babies run behind their moms. This is because of their vision it seems.

A little about the Big 5: The African Big 5 are five of the most dangerous animals found there. Animals those are hard to bring down and ferocious. These are the Rhinos, Wildbeests, Elephants, Lions and Leopards.

Excited to have seen 3 of the big 5 we reached the lake Nakuru Lodge, the correct one this time and checked in to a room in the midst of the jungle. We are warned to keep the windows and doors shut, you never know when a wildbeest could enter! Gosh!!

We then head for an early dinner only to find no vegetarian food. We have a few carrots and zucchini dipped in yoghurt and hit the bed early, we have to be up and out by 7 am tomorrow.

Day 3 and I get an early morning SMS from Dad and mom wishing us a very Happy wedding anniversary. Thank you Amma and Nana (Btw, dad kept a trail of SMSes with us knowing what we did every day. This just added to our excitement). We have early breakfast, checkout and leave by 7 am. We drive for around 2 hours to reach Nakor with Timo filing fuel at regular intervals. On the way, we drive past the Elementita Lake and Lake Naivasha. Lake Nakuru, Naivasha, Elementita and Lake Baringo together are the four lakes of the Great Rift Valley in this region, with Elementita being the smallest of them. We have seen three of them. En route after Lake Naivasha we get to see a dormant volcano, one that is said to have erupted many years ago. The crater is still clearly seen and large. We drive through a few cabbage and maize fields to take a right at Nakor and drive straight into Masai Mara.

Masai is a big region (1500 sq kms) and the actual reserve is around 100 km further. The road is a nightmare. Muddy and stoned, it is a feat to drive on this road. The fuel costs in Masai Mara are very high and that is the reason for the regular refills we are told. We have a bumpy 2 hour ride to finally reach the entrance of the Masai Mara reserve. While Timo is busy at the entrance with the tickets and other formalities, I have a few local Masais as the villagers are referred to knocking on my window to sell some of their popular crafts. I put my bargaining skills to test and successfully buy some authentic African dolls and wall hangings for my bommala koluvu. As usual, I buy for Neeharika as well.

We enter the reserve at around 1.30 pm to bumpy drive further for another 20 km to reach the Keekorok Lodge where we are to put up for the next day and a half. We receive an SMS from my in laws and Varun wishing us. Keekorok and Sarova camp are the only two lodges inside the reserve and this is an added advantage while going for the safari.

We are welcomed to a yummy lunch with Baingan Masala, Dal Tadka, Rice, Rotis and Yoghurt. What more can one ask for a wedding anniversary lunch. With the dinner we had skipped, we were famished and ate stomach full to relax for an hour before our great game drive through the Masai Mara.

At 4 pm sharp, we set on the game drive to first spot a few Grand Gazelles, followed by Coxbeests at a distance. We keep driving through the long grass and suddenly there are a few giant creatures in front of our van. Yes the African Elephants. Big with large ears and a tiny tail, they are busy grazing the dried grass. No wonder they are called Jumbos. Each elephant weighs around 7000 kilos and drinks around 200 litres of water every day! Now that is some real appetite, I should say. By the way, the fourth of the African Big 5 is done.

We drive further down and suddenly see loads of similar vans heading in the same direction. We were worried, thinking something was wrong only to realise that they and we are seeing the famous African lions, the cubs all seated around a small bush. As the cameras go on a clicking spree, these guys are their lazy self, undeterred and continue their evening relaxation. They give us this occasional glance filled with gait and pride, one that we kept waiting to click standing tucked inside a van, the door that I had locked to feel strong and safe.

Suddenly there is something said on the walkie-talkie radio Timo is holding and all the vans sped across, ours too. We now see a pride of lions (around 5 to 6 of them) feasting on a wildbeest they conquered around an hour ago. Roaring and plunging their teeth into the wildbeest it was a rather difficult sight for me to click, so I told Pavan to click and looked away. It was an interesting sight on the other side, a few silver-butt jackals and hyenas waited eagerly for the lions to finish their dinner so that they could feast on the leftovers and clean the place. What a moment. Just looked like a page out of the Panchatantra book. The female lions hunt while the male lion is the first to feast on prey. The cubs are always left with the female lions, as the male lion is king of the jungle. In addition, the male lions are said to indulge in infanticide or kill the male cubs with a fear of competition and threat to their position. This is one of the major reasons for the decline in the number of male lions. Another reason is the erstwhile Masai culture where in a young man had to kill at least one male lion to get married. Else, he wouldn’t be allowed to the knot. However, over the years, the custom has changed and now the man has to take a cow and live in the grasslands for three months bringing the cow back safely. Then he can get married.

As the clicking continued, the light dimmed and it started drizzling. We realized that we had to drive around 80 plus km back to the lodge. How did we end up so deep into the grasslands I pondered as Timo sped through to reach Keekorok just before the rain turned heavier.

We are greeted at the entrance by one of the Lodge staff saying, “Jumbo”. I give him an excited look and say,”yes we saw them” assuming he was inquiring about the Elephants or may the big 5. He gives me a confused look and leads us to a hippo-filled pond. Flabby and brown, opening its big mouth once in a while they did seem quite noble. When I heard they are herbivorous and normally don't go beyond 12 kms scouting grass, I was evidently surprised. Most of them were submerged in the water while a couple of them dragged themselves out for a few minutes, a baby hippo being one. We clicked a few pics and returned to the lodge for an early dinner.

This time it was some real good Aloo mutter and mixed dal. We also got to have the customary curd rice and Lime pickle, every South Indian's crave and that too amidst these grasslands in Kenya. Woww I thought. We retired early for we had an early morning game drive the following day. With the grunting hippos, chirping birds, creaking crickets providing background music and a baboon sitting outside our room for company, we just tucked ourselves into the soft bed. What a wedding anniversary it has been! Among grazing elephants, feasting lions we ourselves feast on curd rice and lime pickle. A memorable one indeed.


Day 4 started early at 6 am. We drove out with a couple of vans following us on the early morning game drive. Surprisingly we saw a few Zebras. It is said that the Zebras migrate here from the Serengeti only during the great migration and are otherwise not seen in Masai Mara. These seemed resident Zebras. We then drove past the Keekorok Airstrip, one that has daily flights from Nairobi for a reasonable 100 dollars per head and it takes just 45 mins we are told. As we tried to drive through the rain wet, muddy paths the inevitable happened. Our van got stuck in the black mud. For another half an hour 2 other van drivers helped Timo in pulling us out of the mess while Pavan happily clicked the sunrise and I went through a brochure of the Keekorok lodge to realise that 'Jambo' in the local Swahili language meant hello or Namaste. I laughed to myself recalling the confused look on the guy's face the previous evening.

Out of the mess and the white van turned brown, we drove into the grasslands to spot another hyena. A few kms ahead we see long necked animals feeding on tall trees, the Giraffes. These are the Masai Giraffes and are differentiated by the spots they have on their limbs too. We are told that we have entered Serengeti and Tanzania. I am a little perplexed and excited to have seen two countries on one visa. We go a few kms further to find another pride of lions, now in their early morning lazy mood. The golden grass that surrounded them and the golden sunrays that fell on them just enhanced the golden color of these lions. Marvel, I must say.

As we drove back to keekorok for breakfast, Pavan suddenly screamed in an excited tone, “Pumba”. Yes, he spotted the Warthog or Pumba from Lion King. We clicked a few pics humming 'Hakuna Matata' and returned to the lodge to relax for the rest of the afternoon.

Late noon at around three, we set of on our final game drive. This time we got a close view of the Okapi, a long distance view of elephants and a few ostriches that hopped past. Of course, not to forget around 500 wildbeest grazing together. When we saw the wildbeest, it just implied the lions were somewhere around. As expected, we find a pride of them resting under a bush with a keen eye on the wildbeest.

There is a sudden commotion again and Timo speeds through the grass and comes to a screeching halt before a tree. I look up to find a lepoard climbing down as hundreds of cameras try to capture him. He silently but swiftly climbs down and walks through the long grass, evidently camouflaging himself into the bushes. The leopards are a rare sight it said as they are nocturnal for one, always on treetops for the second and can disappear in between a wink for the third. An interesting tidbit that Timo shared was that the leopard cubs are warned by their moms not to climb down the tree until they complete at least 12 months. These leopard cubs are a great prey for the lions and hyenas and they wait under the tree for months together trying to grab them it seems. We successfully finish the African Big 5 as Timo again speeds through the grasses followed by a few more vans.

This time we see two fully-grown male lions sitting amidst the tall brown grass and stringently observing the wildbeest that are grazing at a distance. Timo claims one of these wildbeest is going to be their prey this evening. The blacker the mane, the older the lion and lions live for around 25-27 years. These ones had a brown mane with a few black streaks (Wonder what they must be saying, ouch I'm blacking!:P)

We then drive back to the bushes where we started the evening game drive and where the lions were posing for a group photo. A typical 'vote of thanks' scene. After the photography session and bidding good-bye to the hospitable lions, we drove back to the lodge for another filling dinner and good sleep. The slight drizzle just kept the night cool and soothing.

Day 5 and we were ready by 7 sharp. Had a heavy breakfast and bid a heavy bye to Keekorok and Masai Mara to drive back the back breaking 100 kms and another 160 kms through the cool and pleasant rift valley to Nairobi. En route, we drive past Lake Victoria, Barak Obama's native and coffee and tea plantations. The country seems to be enjoying a relaxed Sunday with most of the people coming out dressed around forenoon to visit the church.

We reach Nairobi around noon and head straight to the National museum where we learn a lot about the History of Kenya and the evolution of animals, birds and humans. A knowledge-inspiring visit I must say. We then drive to the Swaminarayan Mandir for some divine blessings. Thanks to the large population of Indians in Nairobi, temples are a common sight.

We have a Gujarati thali with some sweet and slurp shrikhand and lassi at Aashiana before driving around the city centre of Nairobi. Timo showed us the memorial of Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta beside the Kenyan Parliament. Further, down the street we saw the office of the Prime minister, President, The supreme court of Kenya, the tallest tower and few other classic old administrative buildings. We drove over the old railway station, one that the British had constructed and for which the Indians were brought to Kenya. They later settled down here.

We reached the JKIA at 3 pm and after thanking, wishing and bidding a good bye to the ever-smiling and enthusiastic Timo, we checked in and waited for our 7.20 pm scheduled Dubai flight. A bumpy flight but this time, we were surprised with the Asian vegetarian meal that we had opted for. As usual like all flights that land at T1 of DXB, this flight too hovered around the Burj Khalifa for a good 20 mins before landing. Anyone traveling to Dubai on a non-emirates flight is sure to get good clicks of the Burj Khalifa even before you land.

We reached home at 4 am in the morning, a good 22 hours of travel to hit the bed. A great vacation coming to a close. One of our superb vacations, a different wedding anniversary and most of all, a once in a lifetime experience.

Thank you Nityanand mama for the initial lead, Catalyst travels, Prachi, Timo and of course Amma, Dad, Mamaigaru and Pavan for the constant support. I really had immeasurable fun on this one.

Orange Ginger juice

It’s Holi and a day when everyone gets drenched in colors and water. It is also the time when most of us catch cold and fever after a long day of celebrations. Orange and ginger juice is a preventive from this cold while allowing you to have fun and food this festival.

Preparation time: 10-15 mins

Ingredients:

Oranges 2
Grated ginger (Adrak) 1½tsp
Chopped coriander 1tsp
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

Method:

Peel and de-seed the oranges. Add to the juicer and extract the juice. Alternatively add to the blender along with the chopped coriander and blend to a pulpy juice.

To around half a cup of water add the grated ginger and boil for around 5 mins.

Cool the ginger water for 2 mins and add the orange-coriander juice or orange extract. Adjust salt, sugar to taste and stir well.

Serve as is or cooled, Orange ginger juice is a perfect Holi welcome drink. While the orange adds flavor, ginger prevents cold and cough.

(Note: Please do not use bottled orange juice as it contains preservatives that might react when added to warm ginger water).

Enjoy a colorful and Happy Holi.