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  Darjeeling, West Bengal, India
Tuesday, December 30, 2008

I would like to claim that I haven't enough time to post a long, witty and legible blog but that's just not true today - I just can't really be bothered because lunch beckons. Oh alright...we'll talk about the food, I guess I can manage to fill in a little bit of space with that...

I've got just two words for you - MOMO-MAKING.
Momo's are delicious little parcels of joy, filled with either veg, meat or fish. They aren't much different to Chinese dumplings to tell the truth, and seem to be a Nepalese and Tibetan speciality as well. Darjeeling is known for it's many hole-in-the-wall momo kitchens, and they are also served at most of the travellers stops too. I enjoy the dumplings here, but I have to say that I feel that after working so close to Chinatown I've experienced some damn fine dumplings, so I'm venturing into other food styles as well - unlike some other travellers who seem to spend all their downtime raving about the momos in Nepal. But while here I wandered on down to the Hot Stimulating Cafe (you try asking an Indian male tourist for directions to THAT) and had a momo-making class with Lily, the owner's wife. The class went for a couple of hours and was punctuated by glasses of chai and mammoth momo-eating breaks. Lily was well-impressed with my pleating style and insisted I continue on and roll up all the momo's for her while she sat back and had a couple of tea. I think I have found my calling here! The cooking class has to be rated as one of the top 5 things I have done here in India (and yes, second third fourth and fifth may possibly be eating as well. Please don't listen to those people who say that travellers lose weight in India - send them to me and I will give them a list of restaurants where they can very decisively learn how easy it is to gain weight while here).

I've had a couple of meals at the delightful Tibetan restaurant Kunga. Here they do all sorts of Tibetan soups - Thungka, and either fried or steamed momo's. I went there for breakfast this morning and had the most incredible Tibetan bread (either a crispy puffed bread made with flour and oil or - like at Kunga's - the most divine sweet damper-like round of just-cooked dough) dipped in curd. I had the Tibetan noodle soup there a couple of nights back and couldn't believe noodles could taste so good. A group of travellers from my hotel and mysefl also ate there for dinner one night and we were all agreed it rated as one of the best restaurants around.

Oh but I can't say Kunga has the best food! I just remembered my divine meal of dahl makhani and aloo paratha at Lunar yesterday...This meal was the best Indian food I have had throughout my time here. The dhal was...I'm not going to say it was better than Sabatri's (okay, maybe this wasn't the best meal I've had in India, I'd forgotten about Sabatri's dinners), but it was ridiculously delicious. Lunar also had a great atmosphere, and excellent friendy service - I even had friends to eat with (it's a novelty at the moment, that's all!)

Aliment Hotel does decent food too - no wait! They do better than decent pancakes! They are more like thin crepes, and are served rolled up with jam and butter. But one is never enough. How many pancakes does everyone think constitutes a meal? I think two is decent, three makes you very happy indeed but one is just not satisfying enough. You can get lovely banana pancakes here too, or tibetan breaf (the greasy type) with jam and butter. There's an extensive chinese and japanese-style menu, and good Nepalese thali (dhal bhat). Thali is a full meal that consists of rice, dhal, veg curry, curd, pickle and papad. But no dessert? Last night I had 'chocolate pudding on fire', which was just sloppy pudding with lit alcohol. I think I'll stick to the mishti from now on.

Yes, mishti. I can't believe how unhealthily obssessed I am becoming with mishti. It's all made with tons of ghee, cream and sugar and I just throw it down like it ain't no thang. Here in Darjeeling they have a little store called 'Unique Sweets' where they do wild experiments with the usual fare. My favourite is pineapple barfi (say borfi or people will laugh at you), saffron and coconut borfi, carrot mishti, and a whole heap of others that I only know by sight. The men in this shop know me well now (I've only been here 5 days - it's a little embarrassing) and I think I've tried most of their products. They give it to you in a little box and I take it all back to my room and have a little mishti ceremony as I watch TV. It's so good...

Darjeeling also does tea well, surprise surprise! But there are surprisingly few tea shops - cafe's dedicated only to the pursuit of tea - but it's a growth area and I think people are clueing on to it. You can have a cup of Darjeeling tea in most eateries, but only Goodricke's and Nathmull's seem to do the specialised thing (there may be others that I haven't found). I've become very attached to Nathmull's I go there mid-morning or mid-afternoon and try a cup of whatever they recommend. Tea here is always served with biscuits (and when they are not looking I dip my biscuits into my tea).
So just for the tea tragics out there -
First flush (Spring) is the first picking of tea leaves and it is light coloured and flavoured, with mild astringency. It should not be stewed for too long.
Second flush has coppery tones and is stronger and more flavoury (their term).
Autumn teas are even more full bodied and coppery, with full liquor flavours.

I love second flush, but Autumn teas I also find very nice. I splash out a little (story of my trip really) and send some tea back home. Ha...I mean, I send a whole lot of tea back home. Tea here retails for anything from r95 for 100g to rs1000 for 100g. In the cafe's you can pay from rs20 to rs150 a cup (but that includes two biscuits, don't forget!) You will also get tea advice for free!

It's hard to keep up your water intake here in Darjeeling. It's so so cold. Drinking tea is then a noble pursuit and not a waste of stomach-space at all. I have picked up a thick jacket and a huge shawl from a very tourist shop which helps me a little, but not really. I need a balaclava.

I have so much more to say, but it's 2.30pm which means that it's very necessary to go down to Devekas and see what is on their menu. I'm considering wating some fried momo's, or more Tibetan noodle soup, or even more bread if it looks good, or anything spicy and hot so that my blood starts warming up again. If it isn't raining I'm planning on walking to the shrubbery and watching the cultural show there, before coming back to the hotel and hopefully going some of the travellers in the restaurant here for dinner. The spring roll here at Aliment is supposed to be delicious!
More tomorrow!

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