Kid’s school is closed for 10 days and we wanted to runaway somewhere. But where? The route is fixed like – Mysore – Ooty – Thiruvananthapuram – Kodaikanal – Mysore. Why Ooty and Kodaikanal? Because I love hill stations and I always love to go there. Ok. everything is decided, our baggage is ready and we started from home without any definite time to come back. We decided to munch something before we hit the highway and had a piping hot breakfast instead,  from Om Shanti restaurant to give a perfect start to our week long vacation.

Ooty is just about 134 Kms from Mysore and this could be covered in just 3 hours if everything goes fine. Everything was pleasant when we started but immediately after we entered the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, it started drizzling and the size of the drizzle developed into rain when we started ascending the hairpin curves. The route we opted to drive was via Masinagudi. This route doesn’t allow the traffic of trucks, bus, and other heavy vehicles. Masinagudi has many resorts and home stays and very popular among trekking fans. Few kilometers after Masinagudi comes my favourite Ghat section with 36 sharp hairpin curves.

Yet again rain decided to spoil our Ooty trip but for me it was a dream comes true experience. I nestled up against the seat and relished the marvelous sight of  rain on the green Ghats. There was a steady flow of vehicles passing through that narrow Ghat road with their headlights on and most often our car wiper disrupted my mood and brought back to my senses. The feelings weren’t all the same with my fellow travelers. My kid got bored of the rain, forced herself to sleep and my hubby dear was well glued behind the wheels and smoothly maneuvered our latest 3000 cc beast through the bends and hairpin curves. We refreshed ourselves in between with homemade tea which I carried along.

We reached Ooty around 12 noon and we desperately wanted to eat something very hot. We didn’t plan an overnight stay in Ooty, but rain forced us to do so. In fact, he was not in a mood to drive through the Ghats again in rain. So checked in to the NAHAR group of hotels. There are two vegetarian restaurants housed in the hotel premises, Chandan restaurant which caters Indian and Chinese cuisine and Garden restaurant with South & North Indian, and Continental dishes. We opted for Garden restaurant and gorged on hot and spicy vegetable cutlets and tea. The restaurant is very famous for its “Mallige” idly. Mallige means jasmine flower and literally they meant it. It is very whitishin colour  and its texture is very soft. You don’t need to chew but it melts in your mouth. I dropped the idea of having Idly since we had plans to have a non-veg lunch from a near by Malabar hotel – Blue Hills. The lunch was fabulous and the price was very reasonable. After lunch, we went out and did a small shopping. Homemade chocolates is one of the best purchases we did from Ooty. The rain was in its enormous form throughout the night.

We continued our drive the next day morning after having a delicious, Mallige idly, breakfast from the Garden restaurant and we headed to Mettupalayam via Coonoor. The route we opted had a heavy traffic and at some places traffic got blocked due to landslide, not so heavy, due to rain. I tried to ignore the scenic beauty of the Ghat stretch since headlights of the approaching vehicles, the mist, clouds and of course rain blocked my vision and brought the feeling of an approaching evening in the early hours of morning. We left the ghat section around 11 am and reached Thiruvananthapuram Via Avinashi – Dharapuram – Dindugul – Madurai – Nagercoil around 9 PM. We spent there on week days and started our return journey again on a weekend.

Return drive we decided to start after watching the spectacular sunrise at Kanyakumari. So we left home around 4 am and reached the place in time. We spent some time there for taking few snaps after witnessing the Sun rising in its enduring glory. We didn’t have enough time at disposal in Kanyakumari since our next scheduled destination was Kodaikanal. Usually all our long drives start before 6 am to avoid the traffic and this time also the same.

NH 44 at Kanyakumari

We decided to have breakfast before hitting NH 44 (previously NH7). NH 44 is the major National Highway in India connecting Kanyakumari at the South and Varanasi at the North. NH 44 runs through Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.  You are supposed to pay toll charges before entering important cities. We travelled from Kanyakumari and took a turn for Kodaikanal before reaching Dindugul. It was a pleasant journey, since there was no sign of rain, through the Palani hills to Kodaikanal.

We came across many waterfalls of different sizes with or without the cascading effect. Importantly, the Silver Cascade and a waterfalls at Dumdum Rock. The Dumdum rock view was possible only from distance still it was more relaxing to see the water flowing over the rocks with all its majesty. At Silver Cascade, people were crowded to take photos with the waterfalls as the backdrop. Needless to say, I was also tempted to get wet and feel the power of Silver cascade but nothing happened like that. I heard someone saying that this waterfall is an extension of the Kodaikanal lake. Now just 8 kms more to the Kodai city. Near the waterfall, you can do small shopping as well as refreshment since small shacks are setup to serve hot hot tea, coffee, pakodas, omelet, etc..Not only that, regionally available tropical fruits are displayed for sale like Anona, butter fruit, avacado, orange, jackfruit, Indian gooseberry, etc.

A scenic view from Dumdum Rock 

Kodai Gate, Ugarte Nagar, Kodaikanal

Weather was pleasant when we checked in to Kodai Gate, one of the home stays in Kodaikanal. Got refreshed and went out for lunch and sight-seeing. There are so many places to visit in Kodaikanal but we opted to do cycling and see Shola Bear falls after lunch. Bi-cycles are available on rent, Rs. 30/- and cycled around the lack until I was breathless. After this, we headed to watch the waterfalls but to our bad luck,  suddenly the weather changed, started drizzling and it turned out as a heavy rain in few minutes. We stayed in the car for more than an hour waiting for the rain to stop and watch the falls but rain was in no mood to compromise with us and we returned with a heavy heart.

a still from the Palani foothills, near Palani Temple

The very next day, after having the breakfast, we headed to the Kodai city to do a small shopping. I got some of my favourite Kodai special items from The Coco bean like Rose Gulkhand, Kodai homemade chocolates, variety of tea, candied ginger, amla, etc. The Coco bean is exclusively dealing with Kodai products and they are ready to courier their products ones you give the order. After shopping we felt little tired and thought of having brunch from Astoria, one of the best vegetarian restaurants in the heart of the Kodai city and it is just opposite to the Kodai bus stand. We started descending Palani hills around 11.30 am and we reached the foot of the hill by 1 pm.  Again the same route – Dharapuram – Avinashi – Sathyamangalam – Bannari – Hassanur – Chamarajnagar – Mysore.

NH 209 which runs through the Dhimbam Ghat section. This road is also known as Sathy Road ( runs between Sathyamangalam and Coimbatore). This is the easiest route to reach Bangalore and Mysore from Coimbatore without touching Salem. This highway touches NH 44 at Vedasanthur (Dindugul). It got 27 hairpin bends and the road is in its excellent condition. It is not advisable to stop in between and enjoy the scenic beauty on the stretch since it is a heavy traffic road with volvo buses, trucks, etc..

We wanted to get out of the heavy traffic oriented Dhimbam before the sunset and reach home before 8 pm so we rushed without wasting any time on the way. We reached Mysore by 7:45 pm, had dinner from Om Shanti and reached home by 9:30 pm.

In fact, our week long odyssey was very pleasant and I am waiting for my kid’s next vacation to set out for the next long drive.

It is becoming a fashion in south Indian restaurants to serve north Indian food.  Paneer butter masala is one of the important dishes which came to Kerala all the way from North. Paneer Butter Masala is usually prepared in red or yellow gravy.  It is a very easy to prepare dish even though the ingredients list is too lengthy.  Believe me it is really a tasty recipe. Paneer (cottage cheese) can be either prepared at home or get it from outside.

Ingredients:

• Paneer – 1/4 kg/20 cubes
• Ghee – 1/2 cup (just enough to fry paneer cubes)
• Curd – 1 cup
• Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp
• Cumin powder – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste

For gravy:

• Onion – 3(big)
• Tomato – 1/2 kg
• Ginger-garlic paste – 11/2 tbsp
• Butter – 75 gms
• Chilly powder – 1 tsp
• Kashmiri chilly powder – 1 tsp(or 1/8 tsp of red food colour)
• Coriander powder – 1 tsp
• Cumin powder – 1 tsp
• Pepper – 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Fenugreek/mint leaves – 1 tsp(optional)

Whole spices:

• Green cardamom – 4
• Clove – 4
• Cinnamon stick – 2" piece

For garnishing:

• Freshly chopped coriander leaves – 1 tbsp

Method of Preparation:

• Heat ghee in a skillet and fry paneer cubes till golden brown on moderate heat
• Dip the fried cubes immediately in hot water for 2 mins so that the cubes will be soft
• Add the cubes(drained) to a mixture of curd, turmeric powder, cumin powder and salt to taste and keep aside for 30 mins
• Prepare Tomato puree. For that, boil water with little salt, add tomatoes cover and cook till it starts peel off  and immediately put these tomatoes in cold water and remove its skin and grind to a fine paste
• Grate onion and keep aside
• Melt butter in a kadhai and fry whole spices till it fragrant
• Add ginger-garlic paste and fry till its raw smell disappears
• Add ground paste and fry on medium heat till the fat separates
• Add chilly-coriander-pepper-turmeric-cumin powder and fry for two mins
• Stir in fenugreek/mint leaves(optional)
• Add paneer cubes with the curd mixture and cook over low heat(if you want more gravy, add only boiled water) till you get the required consistency
• Remove from fire and garnish it with chopped fresh coriander leaves
• Serve it with chapatti/naan

Note: I added 2 tbsp of cooked green peas along with this 

Mall of Mysore is arranging a number of music and cultural events to welcome this years festive season, Dassara and Diwali. There were  Fashion Show on the 19th and Afro Drummers interactive event on the 20th October and sadly I missed both of it but managed to get there for Yakshagana without any fail. The forthcoming events include Rajasthani Puppet show  on the 10th and 11th November and Sky Lanterns on the 13 November. It was organized on the ground floor of the Mall of Mysore.

Yakshagana is rather a theatre form than typical dance form. It has some resemblance to Kathakali and Ottanthullal. Yakshagana combines a unique style of dance, dialogue, and music. Very few instruments  like Maddalam, Chenda and finger bells are used for the background music. Before the actors get on the stage, music is played for sometime. Mostly males are playing the female roles (Stree Vesha) and all the females wear same type of costume with a small headwear but male roles have two different headwear (Kireedam or Pagade). Yakshagana has different variations and the one which was performed on the night was Badagutittu (Badagu is North and tittu is style) which is normally adopted in Udupi to Kundapura and Northern Karnataka districts. The difference in styles can be easily made out from the  headwear, musical instruments used, the style of spins, etc.

A Yakshagana performance is usually based on a story either from Puranas or poems. This time, Yakshagana troupe depicted the story – Swayamvaram of Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika. It was very interesting. The actors gave dialogues in Kannada and it wasn’t that difficult to follow since I was very familiar with its story line. The artists’ costumes were very rich looking and attractive. different mirror work is done in armlets, variety of wooden beads are used in belts, face is painted differently, etc.

If you observe the picture given below, you will find that different characters have different headwear, chest cover, armlets, and belts.

It was a visual treat to my kid . I was prepared enough to answer her umpteen questions about Yakshagana since  it was her first experience. 

Chakka Varatty (Chakka Varatti/Jackfruit Jam/Jackfruit Halwa) is one of the highly demanded jackfruit products among Keralites and it is one of my favourite dessert items. Usually I prepare this at home since my hubby is a great fan of this sweet delicacy. This is for the first time I am seeing a ready-to-eat Chakka Varatty in a packet. It is from Double Horse, a very familiar name among South Indians especially Keralites. Double Horse eased our lot of housework by providing rice flour in packets which is necessary for preparing breakfast or dinner items like Puttu, Idiyappam, pathiri, Palappam, easy to cook Palappam, etc…

Preparing Chakka Varatti  is time consuming as well as strenuous.These packets reduces lot of effort required in its preparation and each packet contains 300 gms and it is available at a reasonable price of Rs. 55/- It can be used directly as a dessert or can be used for preparing Chakka Payasam, Kumbilappam, or Jackfruit ada. It has a life of 12 months from its manufacturing date.

Ingredients used for its preparation is slightly different from its normal preparation. Sugar is used to sweeten the halwa instead of the normally used Jaggery and an additional item is coconut milk. These ingredients make this chakka varatty more calorie oriented and those who are diabetic keep your hands off.

It is an ideal side dish for Upuma, Puttu, and of course a good spread for the chapatti.

Karan Johar, who has given many greatest hits earlier like Kal Ho Na Ho, Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Ghum, and My Name is Khan, has disappointed the audience with his new release Student Of The Year. Even though it is a great flop, KJo has taken the risk of casting newcomers in the lead as well as in supporting roles. Student Of The Year (SOTY) introduces Varun Dhawan, Siddharth Malhotra, and Alia Bhatt in the lead roles and Kayoze Irani (son of Boman Irani) and Sana Saeed ( who played cutie Anjali in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) in the supporting roles along with Kajol, Boman Irani, Choreographers Farah Khan and Vaibhavi Merchant in guest appearance.

SOTY movie is based on a competition held in St Teresa High school in Dehradun to choose the Student of the year. The concept of competition is so silly and school atmosphere is totally unrealistic. The life the students live here seem more suited to college than school. The SOTY strongly echoes many other bollywood movies like Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na, Kal Ho Na Ho, Dostana, Dil Chahta Hai, etc.

The lead characters are purely repetition from KJo’s earlier movies. The role played by Siddharth Malhotra as Abhimanyu Singh reminded me of Shahrukh Khan in Kal Ho Na Ho in every inche, whether it is his costume including his black sandals, poise, etc.. and his introduction reminded me of Hrithik Roshan in KKKG, his beach sequences reminds you of John Abraham from Dostana, etc.. In fact, KJo found a perfect replacement for Shahrukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan in his forthcoming movies. Alia Bhatt’s Shanaya is very much like Poo from KKKG but without Kareena’s killer attitude. Shanaya is designer conscious and most of the time she managed to carry Hermes bags without any fail. Sana Saeed’s Tanya reminds you of Tina Malhotra played by Rani Mukherjee in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. At some points if Varun resembles Saif Ali Khan in his style and physique, it is purely a coincidence.

To make the movie little humorous KJo has used his clichéd subject of homosexuality. It was very unacceptable when the wonderful Rishi Kapoor was given the role of the school’s gay dean and he is after his sports coach, the very macho Ronit Roy. In fact, there is a remark – coach coach hota hai – by the principal from a rival school. KJo knows that it is difficult to keep the audience for more than 2 hrs, so he brilliantly managed to insert songs in every 10 mins. Usually we get connected to the characters created by KJo onscreen but that will not happen in SOTY. They are too far from us. 

If you are a KJo fan and have a lot of patience, then nothing wrong in watching the movie otherwise don’t risk your money and time.

Chana is called kadala or  chundal in Malayalam,  konda kadalai  in  Tamil.  It is also  known  as  kabuli  chana(kabuli channa)..  whatever  be  the  name, it serves its purpose. I don’t know the source of this recipe but after trying and serving for several occasions, it became one of my favourites.

Ingredients:

• Kabuli chana – 1 cup
• Onion – 1 medium(finely chopped)
• Kashmiri chilly powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
• Chaat masala – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste

Seasoning:

• Oil – 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds – 1 pinch
• Dried red chilies – 3 halved
• Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Garnishing:

• onion – 1 medium(finely chopped)
• lemon – 1 (sliced)
• sugar – 1 pinch
• coriander leaves – 1 tbsp(optional)

Method of Preparation:

• Soak chana for 8-10 hrs or overnight
• Pressure cook with little water, salt to taste and a pinch of turmeric powder(2 whistles)
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds
• Add halved red chilies when mustard finish crackling
• Add finely chopped onion and saute for 2 mins
• Add cooked chana without water, mix well with the seasoning
• Stir in chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste
• Stir in Chaat masala, remove from fire after 2-3 mins
• Serve it garnished with chapatti, paratha, or even with rice

Serving:

• Put sugar and finely chopped onion together and rub well
• First sprinkle coriander leaves, then onion-sugar mixture
• Squeeze lime juice on the top and serve.

Chicken Xacuti should be pronounced as ‘Shakuti’ and it is one of the Goan delicacies. The regular Goan Chicken Xacuti is red in colour but mine is yellowish since I didn’t roast the coconut along with the rest of the ingredients. Try this, you will definitely fall in love with this chicken item.

Ingredients:

• Chicken – 1 kg(cut into required size)
• Ghee/butter – 2 tbsp
• Onions – 3medium (chopped)
• Garlic – 6 flakes (crushed)
• Tomatoes – 4 medium(cut into quarters)
• Coconut – 1 cup(freshly grated)

Ingredients for the marinade:

• Salt to taste             
• Garlic – 10 flakes
• Ginger – 2" piece
• Coriander leaves – 50gms
• Green chillies – 4
• Tumeric powder – 1 tsp

Ingredients for the masala:

• Onions – 3 medium(sliced)
• Oil – 1 tsp
• Kashmiri chillies – 8(1tbsp chilly powder)
• Cinnamon – 2"
• Cardamom Green – 4(seeds only)
• Nutmeg – 1/4 (Jathikka)
• Coriander seeds – 2 tbsp(2 tsp coriander powder)
• Fennel/aniseeds – 1/2 tsp (Perumjeerakam)
• Poppy seeds – 1 tsp
• peppercorns – 2 tsp
• Cloves – 4nos

Method of Preparation:

• Wash and drain chicken and keep aside
• Make a fine paste of the ingredients given under marinade
• Grind coconut with enough water to a smooth paste
• Add salt and the marinade to the chicken pieces and marinate for 20 mins
• Roast the items given for masala and grind to a coarse paste
• Heat ghee/butter in a large pan, fry chopped onions and garlic till the oil separates
• Add chicken, mix well with the onion and garlic, cover and cook until the pieces become tender
• Add ground coconut and masala paste to chicken, mix well and cook on low flame for 5 mins
• Add quartered tomatoes and cook for another 5 mins on low flame
• When the gravy thickens, remove from the fire and serve hot with chapatti, paratha or rice of your choice

Serve it with lemon slices

Note: Roast the ingredients for masala till it turns slightly brownish other wise the colour as well as the taste of the gravy will be different.

I traveled from Maldives to Bangalore today. Had my lunch at Dome Cafe which is at the Departure area. Dome Coffees is a brand from Australia, established about 20 years back. You can get good breakfasts, snacks, sweets, etc. At the airport, I guess this shop is opened always when there is a flight.

Good seating area

Order your food and pay

There are some good dishes in the menu

Calamari and Mango Shake

Crispy Squid and some finger chips

Was good – You should try this  place if you have not.

One of the important preparations to welcome Dasara festival is the illumination work. It includes the illumination of the Mysore Palace as well as the city including the roads leading the Jumbo Savari from the palace to the Bannimantap. For the illumination work, the government has released a pretty sum to make the city more brighter. Along with the government, private institutions as well as individual businessmen are contributing their share to make the place more brighter.

See some of the pictures I clicked last night:

Mysore Palace is brightly illuminated with thousands of lights. Illumination is adding more beauty and majesty to the already beautiful palace. Throughout Dussehra, the palace will be illuminated from 7 pm to 9 pm

Brightly illuminated East gate of the Mysore Palace. Kote Anjaneyaswamy temple and Sri Ganapathy temple located along with the East gate are also decorated with thousands to lights

K R circle

brightly lit up Sayyaji road, near the Devaraja Market

Palace Circle

Just go for a ride around 7 pm and enjoy the Dasara lights if you are in and around Mysore. Have a great Dasara!!!!

Amitabh Bachchan has an official Facebook page. He is very active on social networking sites like Twitter and has been writing consistently on his blog. He had started blogging on 18th April 2008 and still writes often. The first post was done yesterday and surprisingly, he has over 3million fans. I know he has much more in the real world. People were waiting for him to be on Facebook and finally he has done it. 

Facebook is the most used social networking site in the world and now in India too. You can like his page to get his updates and share your thoughts with him. Even at the age of 70 (recently celebrated his 70th birthday), he is very active in his life, doing movies, TV shows, dances to keep his fans smiling. He has done a lot to the Indian Film industry.