A Blessed Trip to Shirdi & the Wonderful Sharda Inn

It is said that no one can go to Shirdi without Baba's calling. And we, 7 of us, inclusive of one child and an infant had the blessing to be there this August. The experience has changed all of us, the wonders of Shirdi had seeped into our souls, leaving us redefined...

I want to take this opportunity to share with you about Shirdi, how to get there, where to stay and other info, so if any of you intend to go, you are all prepared.

The sacred abode of Shri Sai Baba at Shirdi is easily accessible from all the corners of India and even from all the major cities of the world.  For us Malaysians, it is best to travel to Mumbai, and then via road, go to Shirdi. Shirdi is about 250km from Mumbai. We travelled by the Tempo which can accommodate 12 people. It was very, very comfortable, and the the 6 hours journey felt so smooth and not tiring at all.

Above are some of the beautiful scenery that we saw along our journey. It was a cool and serene ride to Shirdi, filled with anticipation on all 7 of us.

The best place to stay, by all means is Sharda Inn. This hotel was so divinely amazing with its peaceful atmosphere. It was very clean and rooms were very comfortable. Each room had a photo of Baba, and for me that was the icing on the cake. The hotel provides shuttle service 24X7 to the temple, so we did not have to worry about getting to the temple. The staff were ever so helpful and obliging. The food was great! We were blessed to book this hotel.

Finally about the temple, you can get VIP passes on weekdays for the darshan and aarti, but I don't think you can get aarti passes on weekends. VIP passes are to be obtained at the PRO office which is at Gate 1. You can ask the hotel and they will tell you how to get them.You will get darshan passes there and then, but for the aarti passes, you will need to follow the schedule. Simply produce your passport for the passes.

We took the general queue for the morning aarti on both Saturday and Sunday. Despite the long queue which took about three hours,  it was smooth sailing and definitely fruitful wait for each of us.

We had a miraculous time in Shirdi.....To those you wants to go to Shirdi, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would be most happy to guide you...

One more joyful event, my aunt celebrated her birthday in Shirdi, and I think she is definitely one in a million to get such an opportunity. Bless you Aunty Radha!!

More Exotic Cusine of Mumbai (Part 2 - Vits, Mumba & Shardha Inn, Shirdhi)

 Shirdi is a vegetarian city so you wont be able to find non-veg anywhere but the veg food is so delicious you wont miss it at all. The Rajbhog restaurant served the nicest meals fit for a king.This is the assorted bread basket that we had for lunch in Sharda Inn, in Shirdi, which was a full vegetarian restaurant.

The assortment of bread was simply exquisite with an ensemble of spicy, stiffed, mild and plain parothas and naan. We ordered 2 types of gravy to go with the bread which was, our ever so favourite paneer butter masala ( cottage cheese) and vegetable kurma.

 

Another dish that my son had ordered was the Creamy Baked Pasta. My personal advise, plse try only the Indian food, because that is where is expertise lies. 

Sharda Inn, is a beautiful and serene hotel, very much suited of visit purpose. Please read my other blog about Sharda Inn in Shirdi.

Now move on to the non vegetarian lunch that we had in the Vits, Mumbai after completion of our pilgrimage.

Some kind of Parotha with Bindi(ladyfinger) masala, Butter Paneer and Mixed Vege Kurma.

Above is the scrumptious Briyani we had at the Vits Mumbai. You can see that the rice was of the finest quality, and can be eaten without any accompanying gravy.

All in all, the food is Mumbai and Shirdi was EXCELENT!!

Buffet Breakfast in Bombay

Variety is the spice of life. In India breakfast  varies from region to region. We had a wonderful buffet breakfast at the Vits Hotel, Mumbai. Their buffet spread comprise of both vegetarian and non vegetarian choices.

THE VITS MUMBAI
 The below plate has Vade, Vegetable Pakoras, Uttapam with Sambar. A little definition of these delicacies:

Vada : Vada is a traditional South Indian food known from antiquity. They are made from dal and lentils. They are not sweet, but savoury, and is crispy on the outside, and soft in the inside. The Vegetable Pakoras are actually Vegetable Fritters, and were very crispy, especially when eaten hot.

 

Another Indian savoury breakfast menu was the fried vermicelli. The dish was fried with spices, curry leaves and some veges. It had no meat, but it was still very hearty and fulfilling.

On the western side (still vegetarian), we were served with potato wedges, pancakes and baked beans. Do take note, of the star shaped cheese on the top-left of the plate. The cheese was a delight to eat. Not too salty, but creamy enough, and the best part, it was sprinkled with a dash of chilli on the top. Was a delight to eat!!

As for the "carnivores", there were a choice of bacon, ham and eggs.

Another beautiful things was the fresh juice spread. You can really taste the fresh, undiluted fruits and vege juices. We had cucumber juice which so cool and refreshing, carrot and the strawberry yogurt. And on the second day, they serve beetroot juice, which had this intense colour, and cucumber yogurt. Here it shows the freshness of the Indian produce....

 

BREAKFAST AT SHARDA INN, SHIRDI

Sharda Inn serves only vegetarian cuisine, and as I said before, we never missed the meat at all as we were presented with a delightful choice of food here.

This was my plate of breakfast filled with gorgeous colours and definitely so fulfilling, accompanied with a glass of strawberry lassi.

One whole week of being vegetarian, and we never felt eat. Cheers to India!!

Exotic Cuisine of Mumbai (Part 1)

In a country where dialects change every few miles, cuisines are no different.Maharashtrian cuisine ranges from vegetarian and kosher meals to coastal and non-vegetarian varieties.  To top it all, its capital city - Mumbai - the most glamorous, vibrant and cosmopolitan city in India, adds to Maharashtrian cuisine.

This post is my attempt to introduce Maharashtrian vegetarian food, to those who have not been to Mumbai, and who may go there soon.

Mumbai Food comprises a wide range of exotic traditional cuisines and spicy fast food. The staple diet of the indigenous inhabitants of Mumbai includes cooked rice, curd rice, chapattis, curries, vegetables, pulses and homemade sweets.

Let me introduce you to the various delicacies we had to savour when  my family and I visited Mumbai.

A hot, and spicy cup of Masala Tea(aka Masal Chai in North India) that we had in the Vits Hotel, Mumbai. It literally means spiced tea, and is made by brewing tea with a mixture of aromatic Indian spices and herbs.

Another meal we had was our dinner at Sri Devi restaurant, which was a pure Indian Vegetarian Restaurant. To be honest with you, we did not miss meat at all, as we were showered with an array of vegetarian dishes all along our stay in India. In this restaurant, we had the Vegetarian Briyani, Assorted Bread(or roti) which were Cheese Parotha, Paneer (Indian Cheese) Parotha and Kulcha. They was served with Chick Pea Curry.

Paratha is one of the most popular unleavened flat-breads in Indian cuisine, Pakistani cuisine and Bengali cuisine and is made by pan frying whole-wheat dough on a tava.The paratha dough usually contains ghee or cooking oil which is also layered on the freshly prepared paratha.Parathas are usually stuffed with vegetables such as boiled potatoes, leaf vegetables, radishes or cauliflower and/or paneer (South Asian cheese).

Paneer Paratha is nothing but Indian bread stuffed with cottage cheese, green chillies and spices (as above). Although it was a little spicy, but it was exotically scrumptious to eat with the raita.We also had cheese Paratha, which was much milder (2nd photo).

  In North India Briyani is only served with raita, so we took the liberty to order Vegetable Kofta Curry(as above). The gravy was silky smooth, and you can feel the spices, but it was not overpowering. Eaten with both the Biryani, and bread, it was delicious.

Biryani was super good too, and you can see how long the rice grains are, which indicates it is of high quality of the Basmati, unlike the ones in Malaysia.

What can I say, maybe because of the fresh products available, or the cooking expertise, eating in India is far much more joyful, than eating Indian food in Malaysia !!

One Dish Meals

What are "one dish meals"? It is defined by me ,a complete meal, either lunch or dinner, with one dish & our ever so humble steam rice. I am in no mood to publish any recipes today, so i will write a bit about the different one dish meal that I had prepared. Just like Rachel  Ray's 30 min meals, these one dish meals are also easily prepared, and definitely 100%, under 30 mins.

Now introducing.....
1. Sweet Sour Chicken & Steam Rice

2. Fish Fillet with Spring Onions & Steam Rice

3. Dried Chilli Chicken with Steam Rice

4. Cashew Nut Prawns with Steam Rice

All hassle free, fuss free, easy, and of course ever so delicious. On top of that, it is nutritious, because it is 100% home made. 

Fish Molie- A Kerala Cusine

I was reading a cook book that I bought from the airport in Chennai. I have never tried any of these recipes, so I thought, why not-today. 

Fish Molee is a unique Kerala Fish Recipe which has coconut milk as the main ingredient. Unlike the traditional Kerala Style Fish curries, this recipe doesn’t use Tamarind and is not spicy. It goes very well with Appam, Bread or Roti. But, we being Malaysian, must have our rice. Serve steaming hot, with rice, it is sinfully delicious.

Recipe:
Fish
1 tablespoon Garlic,  1 pc Dried Chilly and 1 teaspoon tumeric ( Grind into a paste)
2 Onions
Curry Leaves
a knob of  Ginger
Tomatoes
Lemon Juice
11/2 cup thick coconut milk
2 cups 2nd extract coconut milk

As usual marinate your fish with a little tumeric and salt. This is to get rid of the fishiness. You can use any type of fish that you like (after all it is your kitchen!), such as pomfret, mackerel and etc. Fry the onions, ginger and curry leaves until fragrant. Then add the grind ingredient and fry them, until to get a sense of the aroma. Then it is time to add the 2nd extract of the coconut milk and the lemon juice Once the gravy comes to a boil, add on the fish. Allow the fish to cook for about 10 mins, or until it is cook, on low heat. Then proceed to include the thick coconut milk, and on top of it, the tomatoes. Bring the gravy to a boil, and then switch off your stove.

This dish has a unique taste,and it is not spicy at all. Make sure serve it steaming hot for a sinfully delicious dish.

Cream Cracker Steam Cake

It was yet another day, where my mind went rambling, and rambling on what new recipe to try. I ransacked my kitchen to see to see what I have, and I noticed a jar of cream crackers. Then I recalled reading a blog about a cake made of cream cracker. So, off into the internet to check out the recipe.

The results ....

  Recipe :
21 cream crackers
250gm butter
11/2 cups sugar
6 eggs

Beat butter and sugar until batter turn almost white. Then add in the eggs and beat. Grind the cream crackers and add them last and beat them too. I used the cake mixer to beat.
I divided my batter into two. The first batter I put into a cake tray and steam for 10 mins. As for the second batter, I added some milo into it. After 10 mins, check your cake is cooked or not, by inserting a fork, or skewer. If it is cooked, pour in the second batter , and also steam for another 10 mins. The cooking time varies, by your steamer, so feel free to always cake. I allowed my cake to steam for an extra 5 mins.

The cake turned out very delicious and yummy. The texture was quite spongy and to uor liking. Just remember, if you are using the buttery kind of cream cracker, then do reduce the amount of butter.

Chips

During school days, I love to  eat these chips daily. We had them made from tapioca, banana, sweet potato, potato, and also had the choice of spicy or even mild. I remember them to be much crispier and nicer than those available today.

Nowadays we have some new versions, sea-weed and even soya based ones. But sadly, they are so damn expensive.  A couple of days ago, I was walking around the IOI mall, and there was this booth selling tit-bits. I saw a packet of sea weed chips, being sold for RM20. Wow...

So I said let make my own. Off to TESCO, I got a few sweet potatoes..and here goes...