Loaded in Bangalore

Father Seahorse hates the term “Foodie” but really, is “gastronomist” or “food snob” any better? We is what we is, which is mildly obsessed with food! I discovered last week that Bangalore has it’s own Food Lovers magazine, whoot! This month was top 50 Foodie Picks and wouldn’t you know that F. Seahorse was devouring the magazine, talking ‘bout all the places we HAVE to eat and ‘shouldn’t we make a schedule?’ We thought we were really hot stuff when we could claim having already eaten at several of the top 50. It only makes sense to take advantage of the fact that we’re loaded when it comes to affording fine dining in Bangalore.

So this whole weekend was devoted to food. We cooked recipes from my new south Indian cookbooks (as fun as the Ladies Club was, all I really need is a good recipe and time to tinker in the kitchen). Coconut Fish Curry was an undocumented success and Egg Curry with Idly is featured below.

We also tried out some new restaurants around town and explored Russell Market, one of the oldest markets in Bangalore which has been described as “oozing old world charm”. It was oozing . . . mud between my toes. There was a pretty classic moment where I’m holding a soggy grocery list, barely beating off the torrential rains with a hot pink umbrella, listing out loud the items needed; “Cocum, fish, tomatoes . . .” and Mike says: “chicken feet?” Sure enough I look down and there’s a stray chicken foot lying in the muddy road. This was THAT kind of market!

Oh, and we made a stop at the “metal shop” to get an idly maker (for making those fermented, steamed rice flying saucers you see above)! Here is where I’ll admit that I’m a container nerd. Tiffin containers (those stackable metal lunch boxes) are irresistible as monkeys and mangosteens. Here’s a little Tiffin fantasy photo:

Random Tiffin Fact: 200,000 people daily in the city of Mumbai are delivered lunches in Tiffin carriers by the dabbawallahs of India!

. . . so ya, we got some metal containers for spice storage and fantasy picnics.

Taking advantage of being loaded, we used foodie weekend to score some fine silk Kashmir rugs! As you can see they are fine enough to rub your cheeks upon. There are some proverbial snakes in the grass when it comes to rug buying. But I think we can rest assured that our rugs are hand knotted with pure silk and will outlast us in years.

Yes, rugZZZ, I got suckered into the second one, it hypnotized me with it’s complexity. Can you imagine keeping the pattern for seven rugs in your head at once?!! That’s like knitting 7 different cable sweaters at the same time!

To counterbalance the weekend of lavishness I will spend next weekend doing dhamma service at the Vipassana center outside Bangalore. Then I will join Mike a 5 star hotel in Delhi. For real! Navigating the seas of international travel is complex! I will be without laptop for several weeks . . . experiencing more, talking less.

- S. Mangosteen