Our Favorite Indian City

There I am...cooking chapati.
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On our way to Udaipur we drove through some beautiful mountainous countryside and stopped at a Jain Temple.  The temple was pretty but like everything in India, you had to pay to go see them so we looked at the outside.  And we protested because they have a big sign that says, "to preserve the sanctity of the temple, menstruating woman should not enter"  BULLSHIT!  "sanctity"  Christ.

There were lots of monkeys all throughout the countryside and if you slowed the car they chased after you because they are used to being fed.  Don't worry Jared, WE knew better than to feed them!  We made it to Udaipur and checked into a really fun hotel.  It was a 500 year old building and it hadn't changed a bit (except the plumbing and electricity of course)  It had lots of alcoves and spots for candles and the walls and ceiling were covered in murals.  It was lovely.  And it had HBO.  We started walking through town and saw some signs for cooking classes.  We "inquired within" and met Sushma.  She gave us a taste of what the morning class cooked and we were hooked.  We signed up for the next day.  We ate some dinner, took some pictures and headed home to watch some hbo.

Notice the elephant and cow wandering the streets.
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The next day, we got up and headed to our cooking class.  We took the class with a British couple (very serious couple).  We had a fun time learning how to make dara masala (spice mix), masala tea (my favorite), butter paneer masala (cheese in sauce), paneer (home made cheese), dal makhani (lentil dish), naan ( bread), chapati (different bread), stuffed chapati (bread stuffed with cheese and onions).  Then we ate it all!  We had some dessert they made for us and then we couldn't move we were so full.  We made a deal with Sushma to get her paneer tikka recipe we would come back later on and type up a few of her recipes for her (they aren't that quick on the computer) and then we could keep the recipes we typed up...and free masala tea!

Dance Show
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Her husband is an artist (miniature paintings).  We went down to his studio and he gave us a demonstration of his technique.  He is really gifted and his work was spectacular!  He made us an elephant.  We bought a piece, a painting of a rose on 200 year old paper.  WHAT?!  We had a great time.  Later I was accosted by another painter who insisted on painting my thumb to let everyone know I had been to his shop.  He painted a very cute elephant on my thumb nail and then, of course, I bought a 50 cent painting from him.

Water jug dance
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After a rest and some wandering, we headed back to their shop and typed up the recipes and more importantly, scored a bunch of Indian recipes :)  We had some tea and enjoyed some time with them.  We showed them some efficient ways to send email attachments, carrie swapped Italian recipes with Sushma and promised to send them some Oregano since its really difficult to get in India.  We had a lovely time, they were such sweet people.

We headed out to see the traditional Indian dance show at a famous haveli.  The show was fun and featured dancers, puppeteers and musicians.  All good fun.

We really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of Udaipur.  Coined the most romantic city in Rajastan.