We decided to take it easy today so Bryce did a bit of research about historical sights and we set off on foot for “Bryce’s Udaipur Tours”. Essentially, we walked down one branch of the lake, visited a couple of ghats (steps leading to the water’s edge), crossed over a footbridge and checked out the area opposite our hotel. There seem to be some up-market hotels and restaurants across the water from our hotel, at least they’d looked pretty flash from our hotel when they’re lit up with fairy lights at night.
We get invited into every shop we pass. Each shop owner has their own sales pitch to try to entice us inside. It becomes a bit of a game trying to walk by without being noticed.
Upaipur is referred to as the ‘Venice of the East’ and it’s certainly very picturesque – we’ve taken plenty of photos. It was a pretty warm day so it was nice just walking around checking out the sights.
We visited another Hindu temple which is just down the street from the Palace – much smaller than other’s we’ve visited but they’re all still interesting.
Our late lunch consisted of a Dosa which is a large thin, slightly crispy ‘crepe’ made from a fermented rice batter. In the middle is a small handful of mashed potato, mixed with spices. It comes from the south of India so we’re looking forward to travelling down south and hopefully finding more places that serve them. BJ tried a Uttapur, made from the same rice batter, it’s smaller and thicker, sort of like a savoury pancake, and was topped with diced onion before flipping it.
Jacob was still recovering from his dodgy stomach, so the boys decided to eat pizza for dinner at the hotel restaurant. Bryce, Toni, BJ and I booked into a cooking school that we’d seen the day before. It was with Shashi, a woman who had set up the cooking school to support herself and her two sons after her husband died 18 years ago. Both of her sons and one of her nephews, who was visiting for the holidays, helped with the food preparation. The kitchen is in her home which is above a jewellery store on one of the main shopping streets in Udaipur. She is an incredible kind, gracious woman and it felt like quite a privilege to be cooking in her home. We started with Masala Chai (tea) spiced up with cardamom, peppercorns and ginger. I’ve never been a huge fan of milky tea but this was next level and I loved it. We then made vegetable pakora (basically battered & deep fried vegetables) with coriander chutney and mango chutney. Next came the ‘magic sauce’ which is a basic curry sauce from which you can make just about any curry. Three curries, perfect rice and bread (chappati, potato parantha, sweet parantha and the most amazing cheese and tomato naan) and we sat down to eat what we’d made. The food was restaurant quality and I can’t wait to get home to try out the recipes. This has definitely been a highlight for me.
View across the lake back to our hotel
Dosa for lunch
Cooking School – yum!
