The Novice Housewife

Our companion on our trip.

If you have been following my facebook or instagram page, you must have seen a picture or two of my trip to Kasauli recently. Since I have not entered the kitchen to make anything Indian in the longest time, I thought I will just share my experience and pictures from that recent day trip I made with my family and family friends.

Kasauli is a small town located in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Its a hill station about two hours drive from Chandigarh (where I am presently staying). Our family friends were planning to spend two nights in Kasauli and asked my parents to come along as well. Since I was free (kind of) for a day I tagged along.

Instead of staying in a resort or a hotel in Kasauli, my friend had looked up homes that people rent out to tourists in Kasauli. He found a great place to stay quite close to mall road. Its a house located on the Dak bungalow road and is owned by a woman who rents out the house to tourists during season. The house has two rooms one on the top floor and the other on the ground floor with a living area and kitchen. Each room has an attached bathroom. For an additional charge you can hire a cook who will come and cook meals for you during your stay. You can also choose to cook your own meals if you like.

This was my second trip to Kasauli. The last one being a few months back with my brother. My brother, his wife and two of our childhood friends went to Kasauli to have breakfast at Ros Common and after eating a great tasting meal drove back. The perfect weather made our trip even more pleasant- it had rained a bit and had bought the temperatures down in Chandigarh and of course the hills. We had this aloo (potato) curry and I would highly recommend it if you pay Ros common a visit.

This time though we ate home cooked food and that’s what I liked best about staying at the place where we stayed. It was cosy and it was just us. It was as if we were at a home away from our home and not in a hotel or resort. Wish we could have stayed more than a night but I had an order to complete and we needed to get back the next day, but it was still a nice break from what life has been presently.

The Novice Housewife

Starting the trip with a chilled glass of beer

We started our holiday with glasses of beer and chips and lots of laughter. Its always nice to catch up with old friends and the people who we went with are like a second family to me.

The cook at the Dak Bungalow cottage was very good and each dish of his was cooked to perfection. He made us chicken curry, dal and gobhi aloo (a cauliflower and potato dish) for lunch. Dessert was something that I had brought along- layers of cake and strawberry filling in a casserole dish.

Homemade dal | The Novice Housewife

Homemade dal for lunch

Gobhi Aloo | The Novice Housewife

Gobhi Aloo for lunch

Chicken Curry | The Novice Housewife

Chicken Curry for lunch

Hot rotis | The Novice Housewife

Hot rotis for lunch

For dinner we had mutton curry and rice. There was also gajjar-mattar (a carrot and peas dish), but if you have read my about me section you know cooked carrot and I are not friends. Dessert was chocolate cupcakes that I had baked and got along. I don’t know if it was the company or the cold or the delicious food that was made, but all of us ate more than we generally eat.

Next day after having a hearty breakfast of parantha with ande ki bhurji (masala scrambled eggs) and dry roasted potatoes, my parents and I left so that I could complete and deliver an order for my new cake business.

Masala scrambled eggs/ande ki bhurji | The Novice Hosuewife

Masala scrambled eggs/ande ki bhurji for breakfast

Before leaving for Kasauli a quick search on Food Talk India made me want to try the bun samosa recommended by members of the group. And it is worth the steep walk from the place where we were staying to the Heritage market. A samosa stuffed inside a burger bun with a spicy channa filling. Yup, it is as great as it sounds.

Made famous by an article by Khushwant Singh, Tannu Halwai in Heritage Market is the place to go for the famed bun samosa. There is a copy of the article written by Khushwant Singh hung at the entrance of the shop where he praises the innovative dish. Although Khushwant Singh goes on to say that he did not want to try their bun gulab jamun, I would highly recommend it. It tastes like a Shahi Tukda, an indian sweet dish which I really like.

Bun Samosa from Tannu Halwai, Kasauli | The Novice Housewife

Bun Samosa from Tannu Halwai, Kasaul

I would also recommend you to buy the chicken pickle from this shop Daily Needs which is close to Hotel Alasia. We bought a jar of the chicken pickle there and finished almost half of it in half a day. Hotel Alasia apparently serves a very nice chicken pie and bread pudding. I haven’t tried it but saw people recommending on Food Talk India. I have something to try the next time I am there.

That’s it from my side today. Hopefully will be here with a recipe to share soon.

 

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