Back from India trip

Hello friends. Hope you have all had a good start to the new year. Wish you a very happy 2009. I came back from Mumbai a couple of weeks back, but just could not get myself to post anything since...I'll blame it on jetlag. Our trip was very relaxed this time, though it was marred by the events of Nov. 26 - 28. We hung out with family mostly. A highlight of the trip was our visit to Dapoli in Konkan. We were about 20 - 25 people, including extended family members. We rented a huge bus and drove there. Its about 6 hrs from Mumbai. We stayed at the Aryawarta resort in Dapoli (a fantastic place, highly recommended) and visited the beaches and temples around. I was visiting Konkan after a very long gap and was once again struck by its natural beauty - pristine beaches, rolling hills, greenery.

On the last day of our trip, after visiting the Keshavraj temple in Asood village, we stopped by Mrs. Vaishali Phatak's home-style eatery. My MIL, on her friend's recommendation, had informed Mrs. Phatak the previous day of our lunch plans and requested her to prepare a meal with Ukadiche Modaks as the star dish. And what a wonderful meal it was! Delicious modaks, dalimbyanchi usal, vangi-batata rassa...yummy...just writing about it makes my mouth water again. We all sat in her huge yard for the meal. She had a slew of family members and staff helping her cook & serve. The whole ambience was so good, I think it doubled our appetites. For me, something about the beautiful village setting and the Konkan soil and water made this meal a memorable one.


With her permission, I took this picture after our meal and am posting it here.

Now that I have gotten back into my routine here, I will start cooking and posting again soon.