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Blogging Marathon Meet #25 Day 2
Welcome to Day 2 at Ahmadabad !!
The day 2 at Ahmadabad began very early for Padma and I (we were roommates) decided we wanted to be ready before Vaishali came early in the morning for our trip to the Sabarmati River. The development on the riverside is new and yes very beautiful and if it was awe inspiring in the afternoon I could imagine its beauty early in the morning.
The dress code for day 2 was white in the morning but so early we were generally not in white. Vaishali came fully dressed but we were still dressing up. Come on with meeting PJ and Siddhu baby, having a luxurious tea and bath does take time!!
Anyway we left the Nest at 7.30 am. The sun was just rising and was casting its golden glace around the world. Even he was amazed at the sight of 8 beautiful ladies and 2 babies. 8 because Nandini could not come as baby Choo felt that his Mom was taking him for granted.
Kamalika was in full swing getting us to pose and clicking away to glory. Trying all kinds of settings on her camera and with willing models. Lot of local were also around taking their morning walks and they looked at us curiously and quietened. You can imagine the racket we were making.:)
Finally we piled back in the cars and drove back. Have I mentioned the drivers name was Hiten and he gave us a brief about the landmarks in the city.
We passed through the market and wow what delicious vegetables and fruits. So very fresh! As we were driving we passed food stalls too and you can imagine how we went gaga. I am sure Hiten thought we were crazy!!The other car which Vaishali was driving stopped at the market and they went shopping. I had fresh fennel so deliciously green and tasty. Tamarind boiled amla. Drooling as I am imagining the taste.
A change in the dress code of white we were ready for our Gujarati feast of breakfast!
If you are on diet then this portion please read at your own risk for it’s a gastronomically an explosion of tastes !!
We had for breakfast with an appetizer of Jalebi, Fafda with kadhi and papita chutney, then there was the baby food, the famous Kichidi. If that was not enough there were trays of Khaman, Khandvi, Sev khamani and Sandwich dhokla.
Sev Khamani is made with the crumbles of Khaman Dhokla some pomegranate topped with sev. Now isn't that a combination to die for? Chaas, tea as you want! Breakfast and you have not lifted a finger making it!!! Bliss!!
Care to join us?
Now it was time for Chocolate session. Princy was very strict we were to attend it with our aprons! O have I mentioned in the gifts that Vaishali had given us we had a beautiful personalised (or is it called monogrammed) apron. Yes Vaishali had painted a beautiful word on it!
You guessed right BM#25! You must have seen some of the pictures on FB! Take a look at one of them.
I was quite self conscious wearing it but then finally I was thankful I was wearing it as white and chocolate do not go together to well do they! Thanks Vaishali you really had put in a lot of thought in the gifts you had chosen.
Where was I? Chocolate session!!! Heaven!! And Chocolate rain!! Let me explain!!
Chocolate making was to be conducted by Ruchi, Vaishali’s friend she is a professional Chocolate maker and does a great job at it. She discussed and showed us how tempering is done. Unfortunately I have lost the handouts she had so painstakingly made. She made tempering sound so very simple. Then she proceeded to make Dark Chocolate stuffed with Nutella and unfortunately we got to taste only one! So in Ahmadabad and want to some homemade, professional chocolates please get in touch with Ruchi!
I think we were decent foodies throughout the session I mean you have foodies and chocolate is being made not one of us wanted to taste. Mostly it must have been thinking what will this friend of Vaishali’s think not to mention the huge huge breakfast we had had. Actually Ruchi, you do realize the name means good taste, was amused at the number of camera busily at work and did give a chance to click and repeating her action if we missed at the first go.
You have heard of chocolate facials right but heard or seen Chocolate rain?
I know the picture is not clear but this will give you an idea.
My God I was so so shocked when Ruchi filled in the moulds and she titled it without warning! You could hear indrawn breaths and shocked noises and Oooooooooooooo! My thought were,”o what a waste of dark chocolate! “not realizing the purpose of the butter papers laid down under the bowl of melted chocolate! We wanted a repeated performance and she gladly obliged.
Finally the truffles set, painted and the other moulds with icing and strawberry were done. Ruchi had to say will you not taste it and they disappeared. She had a huge bag full of the filling left out, which was so aptly used later in the night. Had Kamalika had her way it would have been milkshake. Not a bad idea actually. I have some of the stuffing in the fridge.
Then it was photo session! Next 30-40 minutes of fun trying to find the best place for us to click. Kamalika was by now our Official Photographer! She set the timer and clicked a few snaps then we decided to ask Ruchi to click us, Kamalika handed over her camera and forgot all about the timer. What followed next was us trying to tell Ruchi to remove the timer in mimes and these were the pictures it resulted in. I must say the other guest in the hotel must have thought we were from asylum!! I do not think the front desk had any work done when we were in the restaurant.
Still giggling over the eventful photo shoot, we all rushed out to Cream n Crunch owned by Mr. Shimul Mehta was kind enough to share his busy workshop, and showed us an interesting art form. Cake decorating!! The best part is its all egg less!!
I am sorry to say that in my excitement I forgot to ask the name of the person, the artist who showed us icing, frosting and chocolate fans, Cigars, a cake elephant yes this elephant is made from cake and egg less cake at that! He was fast and we had to request him to slow down for the pictures. Again the staff was so amused at our excitement!
Do you see the huge vessel of chocolate ganache here?
It’s made from 10 kilos of chocolate!! Now after buying a lot of different stuff like pizza chips, kulcha etc. We left for Lunch appointment for an authentic Gujju Thali at Sarbhara, Karnavati Club. Yes we had lunch!! And no we did full justice to the meal that followed.
By the time we rushed in, it was pretty late and almost many of the tables were getting cleared. This is where the fun started. Almost all of them stopped doing whatever they were doing and just stared at us! When I asked Kamalika to help me to take pictures of the thalis stacked on the counters we were asked by some other guests who we were, we were representing any News channel! Now the reason as to Why are people staring at us was crystal clear!
The table was laid and food was served with a lot of ceremony one by one! If the staff expected us to start off on what was served then they were disappointed! We waited for all the food items to be served. In fact most of the welcome drinks were also preserved, photographed and then consumed with a relish that only foodies will understand!
Our tables were set and each item was served one by one. They were hoping we would gobble up as soon as they serve, sorry guess they didn't realize we were Food bloggers and wouldn't even think of touching the food before clicking the food. Kamalika was already trying to do a whole thali!
We had so many dishes and so many names to remember it is impossible there Handvo, Undhiyu, Kadhi, a side dish with Channa, salad with apple and grapes, a pumpkin gravy, rotis and puris, ghujiya with a lovely green toor and peas stuffing served with a delicious green chutney, khaman with a pickle masala mixed in it and Shrikhand. Yes we ate it all. Then we rolled out.
All too soon it was time for dinner and we were to dress up traditionally with all accessories.
It was like a wedding, not any wedding but a family wedding everyone so beautifully made up. Even the kids were decked up. As usual we were late Vaishali was hurrying us up as the place might deny our table if we were ended up late! So we all rushed out!! I was in Vaishlis car and Valli and she were talking about her daughter's marriage and so many tales from her family. I was so engrossed in what they were saying that when Valli asked if the place was out of the city I looked around!! Vaishali promised us that she would be taking us to see her place on Sunday! Next we were driving down a lonely stretch of road. The restaurant was beautifully done up with lamps. There was no signboard, no cars parked. I wanted to ask Vaishali if there was a valet parking and what was the name of the place and tried to rush ahead and catch up with her presumably to check on our tables. That is the time when I heard a cry and someone said Vaishali this is your home!!!
I was stunned!!!
Her entire family right from Barkha to Brakha’s MIL, Vaishali’s Co-sister, MIL, and Yvonne had got together to arrange this special dinner for us!!
They got the huge tandoor from the hotel and got the entire Barbecue at home. As Vaishali was with us the whole day, her husband and daughter made sure they got the entire arrangements done. All of us were simply speechless at their hospitality and kindness!!!
The spread was amazing and of course delicious! There was Tandoori Paneer, Aloo, and Cauliflower. The dips were so delicious, Barkha, Vaishali's daughter had made a very tasty dip with curd and sev and it was amazing! She did share the recipe there and then but being too full I doubt if I remembered it well. So when I make it Vaishali is getting a call!! By this time I did not want dinner!! Will wonder ever cease!!
So we went around the house that is so beautifully designed and kept! Systematic and organized! Of course we went around having a look and we made a nuisance of ourselves to the rest of the family members!! Not that they gave an impression of us being a nuisance. They were so happy to meet us and entertain.
Then it was time for another photo shoot with gajaras.
Siddhu was playing and Baby Choo’s had his favorite pass time was getting the shoes and had a beautiful football match with his Mom. Finally Mom was in the goal and Baby Choo almost had the footwear.
Then Baby Choo and I had a conversation which I quote here, “Such beautiful footwear. All you Aunties are sadists,” he said,” I mean what is the point of having such an amazing collection of footwear and not allowing someone to taste it. I do not stop you from eating all the food you eat do I.” He has a point Nandani. Please address it soon...
Finally it was dinner Vaishali said she decided only for just dal, biryani and rotis, it was still too much. I also wanted to save space for what she said the best for later.
And the best were her famous Carrot Terrine with Gulab Jamun, Cassata Ice-cream not to mention the orange ice-cream and the sweet lime ice cream.
My god the amount of organizing and what all she had done for us!!
The final touch up for the meal was of course the Chocolate pan! The Truffle filling that Ruchi made in the morning, with fresh fennel seeds were put to good use. I was willing to just die when I taste the pan!! For I am a pan fan and was thrilled.
This I thought was the beautiful end to a beautiful event packed day!!
We thought we had wrapped up the nay but there was another demo for us. She had asked her help to show us how to make Rotla by hands.
We went to the lady’s house at 11.45 pm, walking out in that chilly night to the next door to see how Rotla was being made over a Chula, a traditional bread made in traditional way over a stove fired by wood. The lady and her family, who showed us, were so happy and excited!! Rajani had some of it packed and said it tasted great!
We were too tired to even think, we somehow managed to say bye and drag myself back to our rooms. Where Padma and I chatted till quite late in the night and you guessed right we were discussing the generosity of the family we had just visited. They did so much for Vaishali as it was important for her!!!
This is day 2! Come back for more tomorrow for day 3!
Some picture are mine but most of them are from others, mostly Kamalika our Official Photographer and Valli straight off her blog!
Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!.
Gayathri Kumar says
Very interesting to read the second day details Archana. Looking forward for the third day...
themadscientistskitchen says
Thanks Gayatri. We had a lovely time
Love2cook Malaysia says
Wow...what a joyful event!!! Envy you ladies...haha.
I'm sure all of you had a happening meet!!!
themadscientistskitchen says
Join us next time. We will love some demos from you.
vinicooksveg says
Looks like you enjoyed a lot! That was lot of good food! I loved even the look of it.
themadscientistskitchen says
Yes we did Vini.It was amazing time
foodiliciousnan says
I think you've captured day 2 beautifully. Just laughed when I remembered the little moments like the gajra pic and the photo goof up with the self timer in the morning! Btw the early morning group pics are all looking fantastic.And the conversation with Baby Choo is hilarious!...You know I keep having such talks with him all the time and he must be wondering why adults are such nut cases!!!
themadscientistskitchen says
I ma glad u liked it Nandini. I enjoyed the post. 🙂
Rajani says
I thought I left a comment here!! I really enjoyed reading out all your posts and lived all those moments once again :). We had a mast time, did we not :)?
sandhyaramakrishnans says
Love all your pictures! Thoroughly enjoyed your day 2 write up 🙂
themadscientistskitchen says
Thanks Sandhya
Srivalli says
hahah...trust you to put that picture..I purposely wanted to leave that off..and now I see it here!..imagine the shock your readers will have Archana..:)..so well captured with all details, loved reading it..
Kitchen Queen says
looking at your clicks i miss my city, yes i am from ahmedabad and your clicks bring back so many memories. thanks for amazing clicks.
themadscientistskitchen says
You are welcome. The city is amazing.