We flew into Delhi, where we had less than 24 hours before heading north to Ladakh and the Himalayas.
However, you don't go all that way and miss out on the chance of a good look round.
Fortunately, we were recommended a walking tour of Old Delhi, by our friends at Creative Cookware in Edinburgh. Update: Creative Cookware has now closed, but you can still buy Netherton cookware in Edinburgh - head to Marchmont Hardware
And what a recommendation!!
If you ever get the chance to visit Delhi, book a tour with Dhruv http://www.masterjikeehaveli.com/, who took us on a walking tour of Old Delhi, up on rooftops, to the very best street food vendors, the back rooms of shops and finally back to his own home, an old style Delhi haweli, where his wife and daughter prepared us a fabulous dinner. This was a view of the city we would not otherwise have seen, accompanied by a local resident passionate about his home city, its past and its future.
We also got to meet a jeweller and visited his workshops - we always like to meet other people who are making things, and who share our passion for raw materials and craftsmanship......... in this case the raw materials were Sri Lankan sapphires!
He makes a beautiful diamond ring for a jeweller in London, who sells them exclusively and whilst we could see the ring we were not allowed to know the name of the jeweller, nor the store it is sold in. All we did know was that the mark up between Delhi and London is x 30!!
After the blistering heat of Delhi 36ºC, we transferred to relatively temperate climate of Leh in the Ladakh region. Another assault on all the senses and a challenge to one's views on poverty, affluence, happiness........
Life here is so very different from our own and it certainly takes an open mind to appreciate everything that is thrown at you.
This is principally a Buddhist region, with beautiful gompas (monasteries) scattered around the countryside and the Buddhist philosophies certainly appear to be imbued in every day life, without being thrust upon you.
As you can imagine the food was wonderful and I bought a local cook book
I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, there is always that worry that it will taste nothing like it should do when you try and recreate it in an English kitchen.
One thing I will not be trying is the local homebrew beer - we did try some, but it is certainly an "acquired taste"
The whole point of the trip was to go trekking - with OH and the kids also tackling Stok Kangri a 6000m Himalayan peak. Here they are on the top - check out their personal icicles!
Our meal were served in a dining tent, with a tablecloth and, on one occasion, a paper napkin carefully cut to create a doyley!
We had the most delicious cooked breakfasts and 3 course dinners.
We were also treated to "bed tea" - woken every morning at around 6:30am with a cup of tea brought to our tents!
Whilst the other 3 tackled their mountain, I returned to Leh and stayed in a family run guest house, with the most beautiful garden.
The return home was via Delhi and we couldn't leave without scheduling a visit to the Taj Mahal; it seemed criminal to travel so far and not make the effort to add a detour to see one of the Wonders of the World.
Nothing prepares you for the astonishing beauty of this place - we have all seen so many photos and TV images, but the reality is jaw dropping. And, after the brown and grey hues of the Ladakhi traditional dress, the vibrant colours of the clothes, worn by the Indian visitors were equally stunning.
The return to Delhi from Agra was by train - an interesting experience. We stood in the blistering heat on the paltform at Agra station, pestered by beggars and watching the rats running between the rails and wondered what the 2 hour journey would be like.
First impressions were not promising. The carriage was old and shabby, but at least the air conditioning was working. Then we were give a bottle of ice cold water, a meal of vegetable curry, dahl, rice and paratha, followed by ice cream and helped ourselves to a serving of paan. Several notches up from the infamous "British rail" sandwich and to be honest, considerably better than a lot of airline catering!
There was also a glossy magazine, Railbhandu - and if you look closely you will see that I have been naughty,as it specifically asks you not to remove it from the train.
The reason I kept it was the article on cooking eggs, which has given me the inspiration to create the following recipe.
So, with apologies to Indian Railways, here is my version of Bagara Egg Masala
1 large onion
12 root ginger, peeled
3 cloves garlic, peeled
100ml water
2 dessertspoons ground cumin seeds
1 dessertspoon ground fenugreek seeds
2 teaspoon tamarind, soaked in 450ml boiling water
2 tblsp dessicated coconut
1 tblsp sesame seeds
2 tsp turmeric
4 hard boiled eggs
10 runner beans
1 tsp salt
2 tsp brown sugar
Put half the onion, peeled and roughly chopped in a blender with the ginger, garlic and water.
Blend to a smooth paste
Put your cast iron casserole on a medium heat and add 2 tblsp oil.
Slice the other half of the onion and add to the dish. Fry until just turning brown, then add the onion paste.
Fry for 3 minutes.
Add the cumin, fenugreek and turmeric and fry for a further 2 minutes.
In a separate pan - one of our frying pans is ideal - dry fry the coconut, and sesame seeds, until the coconut starts to turn colour.
Stir thoroughly.
Add the hard boiled eggs and sliced green beans. Stir well to coat with the spice mix.
Strain the tamarind water and add to the pan, with the salt and sugar.
Simmer for 40 minutes and serve with rice.
This is the same sauce with paneer in place of the eggs for a friend, who can't/won't eat eggs.
© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015
