the journey continues…

We had a very quick trip to Chennai last week for processing visas. My husband was working in Chennai for almost 5 years and city is very much familiar to him. The highway between Chennai and Bangalore is very well maintained and it takes around 5 hours to reach in car .
This is was my first visit to Chennai and I told my friend about the travelling.My friend who is from north-india doesn’t like Chennai. She complains so much about Chennai weather, people, language, auto drivers…hmmmm. Not only her, most of the people in office discouraged me when I wanted to go for a job in Chennai.
But I decided to visit Chennai with open mind and to my husband’s surprise I liked Chennai.
After the visa interview, we went to Besant Nagar Beach. We spent a nice time watching sunset. Remembered Malpe Beach . I miss Beaches in Bangalore and that’s the main thing that keeps me dragging to my native place.
Night we went to Murugan Idly Shop.Murugan Idly Shop is a small restaurant which mainly sells idly, dosa, pongal etc. They will serve hot hot idlies with 4 different kinds of chutneys. Tomoato chutney,Pudina chutney,Coconut chutney,Dal chutney + sambar [unlimited !!!].I was surprised to see a huge crowd in front of the shop! Usually tamilians prepare same Idly and Dosa at home but still they come here to eat idlies !!.Murugan Idly Shop has a brand name for taste and quality in South India and basically it has been originated from Madurai.I liked the hygiene they are maintaining here is by serving food on banana leaves and water in disposable plastic glasses.
If you are going to Chennai you should definitely taste the idlies and roast [big dosas] here.
I wanted to do some shopping so we went to Chennai City Center which has been constructed in French Style. Though it has few shops, crowd was less here and collection was good.
My hubby took me to a Malaysian restaurant called Pelita which is in T.Nagar. The parota they served there was amazing. It was not stuffed like north style or the kerala parota but a puffy and very softy thing. I ate one parota and that’s all it filled my stomach!!.
Next day we visited the famous Kapaleeshwar Temple which is in Mylapore.I love to visit the old temples as people would not be very much money minded here and they maintain the old rituals and customs. They will do archana without seeing 10rs note in your hand and give prasadam also!.
Kapaleeshwar Temple has mainly Lord Shiva and Parvati [i.e. Karpakambal] but almost all the gods like ganesha, murugan, anjaneya, nava grahas all are there in and around the temple. There is also a big and clean water pond in front of the temple.
We also visited the Udupi Pejavar Mutt there. You can see Rayara Brindavan and Sode Bootharaja Temple maintained by the Mutt.
Compared to Bangalore, software crowd is less in Chennai. Whole day we were moving in and around the city and traffic is not a major problem here. People do follow traffic rules and driving here is an easy job.
Somehow I feel north Indian people have wrong thoughts about Chennai.Tamilians hate Hindi, they don’t speak Hindi and would not reply if you speak in Hindi, very unfriendly etc. I understand that language might be a problem but I don’t agree with this unfriendliness. See it depends on you dude how do you communicate with others. More over you would always face such problems when you come to a new place and you should not be making a fuss about it.
-Overall it was nice trip and we got visas to fly .

Chapatis are good for health and if you are on diet docs surely advise you to have chapatis instead of rice.Making soft chapatis requires time as well as patience.Preparing a soft dough is important while making chapatis.

Chapati

What you need is
Atta – 3-4 cups
Oil – 2 tbsp
Salt – 2tbsp
Sugar – 1/2 tbsp
warm Water – 3 cups

Mix the atta [ 2 cups] with 2 spoons of oil,salt and 1 spoon of sugar. Add sufficient amount of warm water.Knead it till it becomes soft and is not sticking to your fingers.Keep it aside for 1-2 hours.Make small round balls and roll it on the chapatti stone. Now add 1 spoon of oil on top of it and fold it in a triangle shape the way it has been shown in the pic.Again roll it and make a triangle chapatis. Bake it on a medium flame.

Chapati

flowers captured in Conservatory of flowers,Golden Gate Park.

In golden gate park,now its the cherry blossom time.Cherry trees are full with pink and white flowers.Japanese Tea Garden and Shakespeare garden are the good places to get a colorful view of these trees.
This is the web link for cherry blossom festival celebrated in the japanese town.