Los Angeles

For most of us Los Angeles is what we see on television isn't it? NCIS, CSI and wailing LAPD sirens - it rings a bell, doesn't  it? Well, that is true for most cities in the US...

In our earlier holiday to the US a few years back, we had done the East Coast and come up to Las Vegas but we had left out the state of California and boy,  am I glad! It gave me a reason to come back again.

Some of you would have by now guessed that I have a soft corner for Europe since my last few holidays have all been to Europe. However we had to visit California and that we did finally.

In the past I had never updated my blog when we were travelling and invariably could not write as much as I wanted to on return , one can always find many excuses. This time, I decided to do the uncoventional and that is blog while we travelled. Postponing it meant that I will never get down to writing. As you read my updates and experiences you will get a lot of insights and tips that will help you plan your holiday. 

We almost missed our connecting Saudia flight from Jeddah due to a delay in our flight from Riyadh and just about made it when boarding commenced. The 16+ hour flight from Jeddah to LA was good. Comfortable seats, good legroom, quiet co-passengers and good service. Ordering a Hindu vegetarian meal really helped me, a fellow Indian passenger in the adjacent row had to be content with fruits, bread and some butter for the journey. No, I am not a vegetarian but prefer eating that especially when I am travelling. My family who don't enjoy flying, surprisingly had a seamless flight as well.

Arrival and Day ONE:

The Saudia flight landed 50 minutes earlier than its scheduled time.

The LAX airport immigration was a smooth process as we got fast tracked, had we been in the queue we would be there for at least an hour. We took a cab to the Hotel and paid around USD 65 to get to Hollywood Orchid Suites. If you are single or a couple than book a shuttle instead of a cab. Super Shuttles is a good service provider. 

The location of the hotel is brilliant, 2 minutes from the Metro, Hollywood Drive/Boulevard where you have the Dolby Theatre, Walk of Fame, Madam Tussauds et al. The room or rather the apartment
sized room had an open kitchen and a bedroom. Two king beds and two televisions! For me a hotel

has to be in a great location and also provide a laundromat. This one fitted my requirements.

Remaining connected is so important these days , the first thing I did after a quiet nap was that I walked down to the Verizon Shop @ Vine Street and picked up 2 mobiles with unlimited talk and text  plan for a month for USD 150. The monthly plan is for just USD 35 per phone and the rest was the instrument cost.  So folks, when you travel to the US choose a plan that suits you, like I did. Remember to get them to set up the phone for you and you are good to go. From your local mobile operator try to subscribe to a roaming internet package so that your regular mobile remains connected to the net as you go. I use google maps to help me get to any destination and having it alongside is a blessing. I also walked down past Madam Tussauds to Fresh and Easy Grocery, picked up some water and fresh fruits.

Our hotel is right next to the Hollywood Highland meal so we ended the first evening with a lovely
dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen. We ordered the following:

- White Corn Guacamole + Chips- Small Plate- Hughly recommended, just the right portions.

- Sedona Tortilla Soup which is made of vine ripened tomatoes with corn, mild chillies with tortilla

   garnish. Great way to start a good meal.

-  Thai Crunch salad - our all time favorite 

- Roasted Veggie salad- good for a change 

-  Chilled Platinum Margarita.

Great service, served with free country bread and spiced olive oil...We went there again...the CPK chain is visible across the state so don't miss eating there.

Day TWO:

Had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel. The lady managing the breakfast introduced me to toasted croissants, loved the melting butter and the preserves on it. I also took a liking for some raisin bran cereal. Post the breakfast got picked up for Starline Grand Tour of LA. This tour gives a 6 hour drive across all major sights including Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive etc. We ended paying a higher price since the hotel called to reserve this tour for us. So beware, book it yourself, the Starline office is a minute walk from the hotel. I paid dearly for the inertia. We had some interesting company for the tour.  The Hollywood Bowl is a amphitheater that we enjoyed visiting, can imagine how it would be 

when there was a concert. Wish we had such theaters in India. We had an Asian lunch at Farmers Market. We fell in love with this concept when we visited some of these in Europe. A treat to the eyes and off course the taste buds too. More about that in my next post. I am struggling with the formatting on the iPad and miss my laptop.

An Oil Free and Guilt Free Delight for this winter.

 

" Battle of the Bulge " lasted for exactly a year for the Germans,  for some people like me it has literally lasted a lifetime. It is a battle of the mind v/s the tastebuds where the tastebuds usually emerge victorious. Isn't it so easy to succumb in your moment of weakness to some delicious food? These 'moments of weakness' are often for blokes like me!

 

There is a unison of opinion that food is most tasty when it is deep fried or made with a generous helping of oil. The problem is that we end up eating more to our heart's content than our poor and hardworking stomach. We have recently seen a lot of people buying ' air fryers' so as to reduce or eliminate the oil content from the food.I have read varied opinions on how good it is and hence have yet to consider buying it. 

 

I have been fortunate to try some food at a friend's place which was cooked without oil recently, it almost tastes the same and one can eat it without any guilt of the inclement calories. While I have been taking a self imposed sabbatical from cooking for the last few months, I could feel the impact of eating out on myself. 

 

When I read a Roasted Sabudana Vada recipe in a Food Group that I am a member of , I decided to give it a go and also shake myself out of this laziness and was absolutely delighted with the outcome. So go ahead and try making these, it is simple and tasty ! Warm the cockles of your heart with this lovely delight! Enjoy it with a blast of green chutney or sauce.

 

Roasted Sabudana Vada

 

 

 

ROASTED SABUDANA VADA. (Recipe  courtesy: Roma Patil @ Sikandalous Cuisine)

Ingredients:
1. 2 cups soaked Sabudana.
2. 2 medium Potatoes boiled and mashed....
3. Red Chillie powder, Haldi, Salt, Sugar, according to taste.
4. 1 tsp grated Ginger.
5. 1 tsp Saboot Jeera.
6. Chopped green Chillies to taste and lots of chopped fresh Coriander.
7. 1/2 cup Roasted Peanuts ground fine.

Method:
1. Mix in all the above ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Ensure that the mixture is stiff.
3. If not, add some Sabudana flour, popped Amaranth flour, or roasted Rice flour.

     (I did not use any of the above as luckily the mixture was stiff and held together nicely.) 
4. Apply Oil to Palms and pat into FLAT round Vadas.

 

(I realised that is important that the vadas be as flat as possible so that the inner contents get well roasted. )

Sabudana vadas ready to be roasted!

 5. Roast on non stick pan till well done.


Being roasted in ZERO Oil on a Non Stick Pan