Friday night out

This was a really busy week and I realize that I only posted three times. So I decided to go off schedule and post on Saturday. We usually get out to the bazaar for dinner on Wednesday or Thursday evening, but this week we didn't make it until Friday.

Dan had a squash match (which ended up not actually happening...) so I walked in by myself. I stopped to buy a couple of felt-tip pens and they were Rs. 2 each! (That is about 4 cents.) I hope they'll work long enough to make name tags at the Delhi event next week.

My Kindle has stopped working, so I stopped at the Tilak Memorial Library which I joined a couple of years ago. I paid up my dues since April (Rs. 125 -- just over $2.55 for the past five months). And I found a book -- good thing I had a flashlight, as the English bookcases (glass-fronted) are quite dark.

I went on up the Kulri hill to the Cambridge Book Shop, where I got another book that looked interesting. When I came out, Dan was standing on the street talking with Mr. Mishra, whom he had just met. Mr. Mishra is retired and spending his time working for the good of senior citizens in Uttarakhand. Dan had come in on the scooter as he got a late start. It made for a quick trip home after dinner.

There is a new restaurant next to the bookshop called Moti Mahal. It is part of a large chain in many Indian cities. (But not related to the original Moti Mahal in Daryaganj, Old Delhi, that we used to like to go to.) It was completely empty while we were there (7:00 to 8:30). Our food was obviously freshly cooked, as it took an hour. The inside wall of the entrance area is completely covered with stones.

 

There was a small TV showing a cricket match, so Dan was happy. I was glad I had my library book, which I was able to start right away while we waited. For starters we had paneer tikka, large cubes of Indian cottage cheese roasted in a tandoor, with pieces of onion, tomato and green pepper. Delicious, and there is some left for today.

Our main dishes were stuffed potatos and chicken karai. The potatoes were stuffed, cooked in the tandoor, and then sliced. You can see the pile of sauteed onions as well as some capsicum (green pepper).

The chicken karai had a nice gravy -- again, lots of onions, tomatoes and peppers. It went well with the tandoori roti. (We've grown to prefer the tandoori roti to naan, which is so heavy. The roti are whole-wheat chappatis, but cooked in the tandoor, so hot and light.)

 

The bill came with the usual tray of toothpicks, saunf (fennel seeds), and sugar. You take some saunf onto your palm, add some sugar, and chew it up. It is common for the sugar to be large crystals like these. The fennel really cleans out your mouth after an Indian meal.