My last dinner with Lesley before my flight home

Bangalore - My flight back to Singapore was tomorrow and had a delicious dinner at the hotel with Lesley.  The weather was chilly and windy. 

Curry

Nann

Mutton Biryani

Tandori chicken

Barbeque Nation in Bangalore

Bangalore - We went to have some good BBQ food.   

main entrance to the BBQ restaurant

No sure what this was

I had one that was enough for me....\

cooked BBQ 

The meat and vegetables are already cooked for us in the kitchen, and just put on the hot coals to warm it up which is a very good ideal of waiting for the food to cook.

Lesley, Vikram, Puneet and myself 

Breakfast @ ITC Gardenia Bangalore

Bangalore - For the past days, I had good delicious Indian breakfast.  Freshly cooked and delicious.  Michelin wrote a beginner's guide to India bread.

Ragi Idli and Vada

I had Idli which is a savoury rice cake, popular breakfast in Southern India. The cakes are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils and rice.   Raji Idli is made from finger millet.

Masala Dosa

Poori 

Poori (also Puri) is made out of flour, salt and water.  The small portions of unleavened dough is rolled into small discs and deep fried in hot oil.  A perfectly made Puri puffs as soon as it hits the hot oil.

Uttapam 

Uttapam is a dosa-like pancake from South India. It is made from the same dosa batter of urad dal and rice. Uttapam traditionally contains toppings like tomatoes, capsicum, chilies, onion and cabbage mix among others. It is generally eaten with coconut chutney.

Lunch - in-room dinning at ITC Gardenia

 Bangalore - Just arrived to Bangalore and decided to just order room service.  ITC Gardenia has a touch screen near the bedside has everything at the touch of the button.   I ordered lamb shanks and it was one of the best lamb shanks I have eaten ever, so tender and soft.

Lamb shanks

Garlic nann

and 2 pieces of garlic nann and it was very good lunch.  

Flew on Vistara Airlines

Bangalore - Took an early flight from New Dehli to Bangalore on Vistara. Vistara is a joint venture of Tata Sons Private Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA), wherein Tata Sons holds 51% stake in partnership and Singapore Airlines owns 49% stake. The company is registered as TATA SIA Airlines Limited.

A full serviced airline with meals on board for a 2 and half hours flight.  Seats are comfortable and the ride to Bangalore was smooth.

Dakshin - South India fine dinning restaurant

New Dehli - We went to Dakshin for our dinner at the same hotel we are staying in - Sheraton New Dehli.  Dakshin has been around for more than 30 years, and specialises in the cuisine of the six states of South India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. Meals are served traditionally on banana leaves, and silver tiffin plates and pots.

Waiter serving 4 types of condiments

Types of crackers

Take cracker and dip into the 4 condiments served by the waiter - appetiser before the main course.

Fish curry

The fish was succulent and smooth mixed with the delicious curry.

Mutton slices

Small portions but the meat is so tender and not spicy to taste.  

Appam made fresh

3 selections of Indian wines

Desert ice cream

Pumkin

Dhaba restaurant

 New Dehli - Met Vikram and we had dinner together at this restaurant. Dhaba is a casual restaurant that delivers what it is known for, great food in traditional Punjabi surroundings.  

Dahi ke Kabab

Dahi kabab translates to yogurt kababs where “Dahi” is a Hindi word for “Curd” (Indian yogurt) and “Kabab” here means a “Patty”. Also known as Dahi ke kabab, these are vegetarian patties made with curd as the primary ingredient.  It tasted really good. 

Galouti Kebab

Galouti Kebab are minced mutton meat is marinated in a host of spices and grilled or pan-fried.  The taste was over powering with lots of spice and was not really to my liking. 

Mutton Seekh Kebab

Mutton kebabs made from minced mutton meat, marinated in a bowl of spices and grilled to perfection. Sheek means cooked on the skewer over the fire or in the Tandoor Oven (sausage shaped).   Also not to my liking, I think the spices just overpower the taste of the meat.

Chaas Tadka

Chaas Tadka is a spicy tempered buttermilk - I took one small sip and could not finish the whole cup. 

Masala Papad

The crispy papad is topped with a spicy and tangy mixture of onions, tomatoes, green chilies, cilantro (coriander leaves), salt, chaat masala powder, red chili powder, and lime juice.  This starter has a crispy, spicy, and tangy, all roll into one taste.  A very  good starter dish.

Jeera Dhania Pulao

Jeera rice is a flavored Indian rice dish made by cooking basmati rice with ghee, cumin & other fragrant spices cooked with Dhania (coriander).   A very delicious and fragrant rice dish.

Chicken Pulao

First time having Pulao and wondered what's the difference between Pulao and Biryani.  While pulao is typically served as a side-dish or a part meal alongside gravy-based vegetables or dals, a biryani is a whole meal on its own, generally served with 'chutney'.

Also the cooking style is different.  Biryani is made using the draining method of cooking, whereas pulao is made through the absorption method. The spices used in biryani is different as compared to pulao. Biryani has more texture and aroma, while pulao is less flavourful and spicy.

You eat the chicken pulao with Boondi Raita. Boondi raita is a North Indian raita variety made with curd (yogurt) and melt-in-the-mouth boondi (fried gram flour balls) together with a few ground spices and herbs.

Very happy with this delicious and savoury chicken dish.

Raj Ghat

 New Dehli - The weather was unbearable hot and humid and this would be our last place of interest then head back to hotel.  

Raj Ghat is a memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi, India.  

Mathatma Gandhi memorial

In order to get down to the memorial you need to take off your shoes, we decided not to and walk and upper platform surrounding the memorial.   

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as Mahatma Gandhi, was assassinated on 30th January 1948 and the following day, his body was cremated at a spot near the Yamuna. Raj Ghat marks the exact location where Gandhi was consigned to flames and his last rites were performed. A simple memorial was built at this place in keeping with Gandhi’s philosophy and practice of living a modest life.

Agrasen Ki Baoli

 New Dehli -  Agrasen Ki Baoli is a step well and one of the old age water reservoir that was used to quench the thirst of many.   This water reservoir is almost 103 stone steps tall above the ground and happens to be hidden in the middle of the top corporates and business towers of Delhi in recent times. 

There were many people just sitting around the steps of the well.  The steps are steep with sharp edges so have to be careful going down the steps to the well.  There is a lose barrier with thick rope across warning people not to cross over.

Backdrop of Agrasen Ki Baoli

This place is now protected under the Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. 

The Agrasen ki Baoli is located inside a structure, which is 15 meters in width and 60 meters in length. As per the beliefs, the Agrasen Ki Baoli dates back to the age of Mahabharata and it was a part of the ancient civilization that flourished here.

Pindi Restaurant

 New Dehli - We were taken to this restaurant by our driver whom claimed to be good.  We had the safe choice of India food.  

Butter chicken

Garlic Nan

Lesley and myself having lunch

It was a satisfying lunch about USD 17 for the both of us.  

Humayun Tomb - UNESCO Heritage Site - New Dehli

 New Dehli - This tomb, built in 1570, is of particular cultural significance as it was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent. It inspired several major architectural innovations, culminating in the construction of the Taj Mahal.

Entrance to the Humayun's Tomb

Isa Khan's Tomb roof

Isa Khan's Tomb

Isa Khan was a noble and this enclosure includes his tomb and mosque, both built during his lifetime.  

Bu-Halimah's tomb

Arab Sarai Gateway

This 14 meter high gateway led to the walled enclosure which housed the Persian craftsmen who came here for the building of the Humayun Tomb.

Humayun's Tomb

External wall of Humayun's Tomb

Humayun's Tomb

Humayun’s garden-tomb is also called the ‘dormitory of the Mughals’ as in the cells are buried over 150 Mughal family members.

Lesley and me

Sweating in the heat

It was so hot and humid in Dehli walking around the Humayun Tomb area of 27.04 ha took us about 1 1/2hrs.  So, it is time for lunch.