A Visit to a Temple

I had the opportunity to attend a festival at my landlords' temple a few weeks back. They are active members at the local Sri Ramakrishna Vivekananda temple, where Mrs. Roybardhan tutors under-privileged children in an after-school program.

The festival was a celebration of the birth of Sri Sharada Devi, the wife of the founder of their organization, Sri Ramakrishna.

In the main temple, the statue of Sri Ramakrishna and a photo of Sri Sharada Devi were decked out for the occasion.

Sri Sarada Devi has her own temple in the complex.

The sari she is wearing was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Roybardhan.

Here one of the temple swamis performs a vedic ritual.

He frequently consulted his notebook to make sure he was following each step correctly.

He offered various fruits, greenery, flowers, and also yoghurt to the fire.

Making offerings to the fire.

The ritual itself lasted for about an hour, with prayers before and after. 

After the ritual, everyone shared in a communal meal, and then the women went to Sri Sharada Devi's temple to sing devotional songs.

Several world religions are represented in the temple (not pictured here- symbols of the Sikh, Jewish, Christian, and Buddhist traditions).

The temple has six beehives; they sell their honey locally for a little extra revenue.

One swami at the temple is particularly fond of gardening. Here are some of the fruits (flowers?) of his labor.

Food Part 1

I know this post is very very late for Thanksgiving, but I finally was able to upload the photos so I thought I'd post it anyway. I'm still figuring out how to take photos of food with my new camera, and have enjoyed photographing some delicious meals.

For Thanksgiving I went up to Mussoorie for one last visit with my friends at the Landour Language School before they all dispersed to their various research locations. A family from Tennessee who are here volunteering at one of the Mussoorie hospitals hosted a lovely Thanksgiving potluck. I thought I'd take advantage of the opportunity and make some applesauce. 

(I didn't actually pressure cook the sauce, just used the pot)

The lovely Victoria made some delicious green beans

Here is a shot of the amaaaaazing spread! Sima, on the right, was our host.

Included in this photo: cranberry sauce, two kinds of chicken (deep fried and grilled), two kinds of green beans, spicy-sweet carrots, apple sauce, two kinds of mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, swedish meatballs, deviled eggs, corn pone, pasta, and apple crisp!

It was really good.

There were even pies! The apple was still in the oven at this point, but here are the four different kinds of pumpkin:

Here are all the students together.

we played a fun game

It was a fun, if different, thanksgiving!

Here in India it is very important that you clean your ingredients before cooking them.

I call this one "Dog with Chilis and Chickpeas"

The two ways of sanitizing your food here in India seem to be 1) Cooking them to oblivion so that nothing harmful can survive (incidentally, this makes them mushy and practically devoid of nutrients) or 2) Soaking them in some kind of sanitizing solution. 

Soaking veggies in a potassium permanganate solution seems to be a popular choice around here, and has worked well for me so far. 

The first time I made the solution I accidentally got some undiluted Potassium Permanganate on my hand. 

Kids: do NOT try this at home! Exposure to undiluted potassium permanganate can cause burns. I flushed my hand for fifteen minutes and luckily I was fine (the brown oxidization mark was gone by the next day).

I'll show more photos of beverages in the next food post, but for now, I'd like to introduce you all to my personal favorite, Appy Fizz!

Appy Fizz is sparkling apple juice, and it is far more delicious than any plain apple juice could hope to be. 

Although I haven't travelled to South India yet, there are a few restaurants in the area that serve a decent Dosa. So far I haven't had anything that could stand up to the first Paper Dosa I ever had (in Maryland, when I was about eleven), but I am sure that our trip to the South in a few weeks will satisfy my Dosa-love. For now, these dosas are quite yummy and a lot of fun to eat!

Pictured here: dosa (fried crispy crepe) stuffed with potatoes and onions, served with a side of sambar (a mild lentil and vegetable soup.

I am pleased to report that I have found some really fantastic Tibetan food here in Dehradun! Momos (steamed dumplings) are probably the most popular Tibetan food in India- many roadside stands now serve momos along with the usual samosas and other snack foods.

Pictured here: Meat momos and chili sauce.

The Chinese food, while not necessarily "traditional" in taste, is pretty good in its own right.

My landlady, Mrs. Roybardhan, sends dinner up to me several times a week, and each time it seems to be more delicious than the last! Here are a few lovely meals she has sent up in the past few weeks:

Here is paneer (a delicious mild cheese curd), broccoli, and dahi (plain yogurt). (Note: Broccoli, usually my go-to vegetable at home, is extremely rare here -- rare to the point that I have actually dreamt of broccoli since arriving here). Cauliflower is abundant, but I just don't have the same love for it that I have for broccoli, so this was a real treat! I'm pleased to report that dairy products *are abundant here- mostly in the form of yogurt and cheese curd. You don't see so much of the hard cheeses we are used to in the states, but these two dairy products are very good, and appear everywhere.

Pictured here: Veggie wrap, sweet baked dairy-and-fruit pudding, ketchup and spicy green sauce, salad (and the Tibetan biography I am reading!).

Finally, here are two fried chickpea and vegetable pancakes with a side of mild chili sauce, channa masala (spicy chickpeas- one of my favorites), and a sweet carrot and raisin slaw.

I'll keep trying to remember to photograph my food, and create another food-centric post soon! This post is especially dedicated to Jed and Erin, two friends who have repeatedly asked for photos of great Indian food, creators of the great Charlottesvile Food Blog "Mas to Millers" (http://mastomillers.com/), and newly announced parents-to-be!

a hike, a holiday, and some monkeys

Hi Everyone! The past few weeks have been full of activity. Here are a few photos to show where I have been and what I've been doing.

I arrived in Dehradun a few weeks ago, and have secured myself a lovely little efficiency apartment above the home of some very kind Doonites in the suburb of Rajpur. Here is the view from my balcony

I have been warned to give the monkeys a wide berth, and I quote one of my most adamantly animal-loving vegetarian friends in reference to monkeys: "Monkeys are pure evil. Give no quarter." I guess I haven't been here long enough to stop thinking they are very cute.

Diwali, also known as the festival of lights, one of the most-loved holidays on the Indian calendar, was a few weeks ago. Houses were strung with elaborate light displays and people were shooting fireworks, at all hours of the day and night, for several days. I went up to Mussoorie to celebrate Diwali with some other westerners. We watched the 365 degree display of fireworks from the roof and set off a few of our own. They were difficult to capture in on film, but here are some of the houses done up in Diwali lights.

Mussoorie is quite beautiful, here are a few views from around town:

I was excited to meet a fellow cobbler. He was very pleased to learn that I also used to make shoes. Here is the Indian version of Fourth Ave. Birkenstock

This past weekend we hiked to Yamunotri, the temple at the source of the Yamuna river. The temple itself was closed for the season, but the weather was beautiful and the hike was a lot of fun. The temple at Yamunotri was closed for the season, but we saw a few Shiva temples and beautiful views of the valley. Note the snow-capped glacier that is the source of the river!

The intrepid hikers

Our conveyance to the trailhead (some 6 hours from Mussoorie), the classic Indian car, the Ambassador.

Okay, this post is quite long enough. Love to you all!