While at Bal Samand Palace, I opted for the mint tea to go with my meal. I was surprised when the waiter brought out the teapot and poured me a cup of almost perfectly clear liquid – with a couple small pieces of green leaf floating in it. Expecting a sip of boring, flavorless hot water, I tried the tea with serious reservations. It was fantastic!
Spearmint tea brewed looseleaf style is cooling and soothing, and slightly sweet. It is not nearly as strong a flavor as the super pepperminty tea. Now I want to get some at home. Does anyone know a brand they like? I may just get taster/sampler packs from a few different brands… updates after taste tests 🙂
All posts by teaforchandra
Why did the chicken cross the road?
To get to the other side!
On this trip, we’ve seen plenty of chickens crossing the road, and much bigger animals as well. Matt got this great shot of a cow walking on the streets inside the Golden Fort, Jaisalmer.
There was a whole herd of cattle being driven down the street in a town we drove through near the Tamil Nadu/Kerala border. (The street was also decorated for a festival!)
And of course, while in the Thar Desert, we saw camels crossing the road (also shaggy goats and donkeys)
Jali: Beauty with a Purpose
If you do some traveling in North India, you are bound to see jali on historic buildings. Jali (also spelled jaali), is latticed stonework. Some of my favorite examples were at the Amber Fort near Jaipur, where the jali was used to provide ventilation and privacy for the ladies of the palace.
Walking through the interior hallways, I was impressed by how much the breeze came through and how well we were protected from being baked by the sun.
Many of the places we visited had a vast array of jali designs.
Jali works like blinds as well – it is much easier to see out than to see in!
Happy Holi!
Here’s wishing everyone a happy Holi!
We are eating gujiya, a sweet filled with khoya. It tastes like cardamom, rasins, coconut, and goodness 🙂
The Beauty of Nature at Bal Samand
At the Bal Samand Garden Retreat, you can see a man-made lake from the 12th century- and if you are out at dusk, watch the bats swoop for insects! This photo was taken near the palace.
The baby gray langur was fun to watch!
The palace has a peacock fountain, modeled after the huge tail feathers of a peacock, and there are many pea fowl roaming the grounds.
Breakfast in Tamil Nadu
There are a few very common choices for breakfast in Tamil Nadu. Here’s what I ate one morning:
Sambar is a soup made with vegetables and lentils and spices. It is very popular here, and everyone makes it a little differently. For this breakfast, I ate it poured over idly, which are very soft, fluffy, porus cakes made with rice flour. They are slightly tangy and soak up the sambar like a sponge.
If you like, you can pour sambar over the vada, which is in the shape of a donut but is savory, with minced vegetables and spices mixed in. Vada has a very crisp outer shell.
The coconut chutney is as ubiquitous as the sambar here, but be warned that it is sometimes spicy!
The rava kesari is sweet, with cashews or rasins mixed in sometimes. I think it is a nice way to end the meal.
Traditional Singaporean Breakfast
It’s no surprise that there is some food that I want to bring home with me from every place we go. In Singapore, one of my favorite foods was Kaya Jam – a breakfast spread made of coconut milk or cream, eggs, and lots of sugar. It tastes almost like a crystalline version of a rich coconut custard! If you want to be traditional, eat it spread on toast with coffee. Surprisingly, the fat and sugar keep me fueled for a while (but it is probably good that I don’t know where to buy it, because the sugar isn’t that healthy!)
The version below was colored and flavored with pandan leaves, which is why it’s green. Mostly I just tasted coconut.
Spend a while with a crocodile
There is an amazing place to go and see lots and lots of Crocodiles in Tamil Nadu, India. We saw crocodilian species from all over the world. Below is a Gharial and a bask of Muggers, both species native to India.
No sleep in Singapore
This title is an exaggeration, Â but Singapore certainly has a lot going on every night after the sun sets. The photo is of the supertrees at the Gardens by the Bay, which have a music and light show every night.
Sweet Shredded Coconut Cakes
Yesterday morning, we started our walking tour of Chinatown by going to the Maxwell Food Center, a building filled with the stalls of food vendors. The place was still quiet – but we were here on a mission to try some sweets from Xing Xing Tapioca Cake.
My verdict is that this is worth a try. The tapioca cake was soft, and only a bit chewy, and sweet. It was perfect with the strong flavor of the fresh shredded coconut!
5 pieces for $2
the mint tea drinkers society 