Greetings and Happy Festivus (according to mommy and papa, festivus is a made up holiday)! We know that we have been delinquent about our blog. It’s because we’ve had lots of homework (BASIS teachers – please note that we’ve been very busy with our homework and studying even over break!) and for Karsen, Fantasy Football and the rubik’s cube. We also know that we have a ginormous backlog of posts that we’ve been working on (we have several drafts of half-written posts). Nonetheless, we have just recently had the MOST amazing experience in India – so amazing that we are just going to jump the queue and write a quick post.
THIS IS THE AMAZING EXPERIENCE:
We spent part of our Christmas Break in a remote part of India called Bandhavgarh National Park – and we stayed at a spectacular resort called SYNA. Here is the link:
While we were there, we went on FIVE safaris – in search of the elusive tiger. On our 3rd safari, we were lucky enough to see a tigress and her two cubs. Most lucky safari-goers are able to catch a mere glimpse of one tiger. We were able to see three tigers for several minutes. We watched the tiger cubs frolicking in the sun and watched a protective tigress who growled at the “dangerous” looking jeeps. In fact, here are two pictures from our sighting.
After each safari, we returned to the most delicious, specially requested meals by Chef Kaushik Choudhary (he is not related to our uncle, Kaushik Pufaji even though they have the same first name and are both Bengali). We have taken a few pictures of his food. He is especially known for Indian condiments – chutneys and achars (it just so happens that chutneys are mommy’s favorite and Karsen cannot resist achar! For those of you who don’t know, chutney is a kind of sauce and achar is a pickle). In our opinion, Indian food is enhanced substantially with delicious condiments. Besides the achars and chutneys, we especially liked Chef Kaushik’s chawal kheer (rice pudding), dal makhani (lentil soup), and vegetable keema. Here are a few pictures of Chef Kaushik’s food.
Here is a picture of coriander mint chutney (Mommy’s favorite) that chef is famous for.
This is another chutney: green papaya, a new flavor that Karsen loved.
This is Mommy’s invention: Chutney and fresh yogurt (raita) on paratha. She’s nuts! We tried it though and it was SPICY!
On our last day, Bhuya requested for Chef to make us his delicious kheer (rice pudding). They’re normally served in tiny bowls, but (because we are awesome), we got HUGE bowls normally reserved for soup. 
Here is Chef Kaushik ensuring quality control of his food – smelling/tasting to make sure everything is delicious. After all, to be a successful chef, you have to get some reward!
We were also lucky enough to leave the resort with the most delicious Kati Rolls. Here’s a picture of us with Chef Kaushik and his wonderful staff. As a teaser – we want you to know that Chef Kaushik promised to send us a few recipes – which we will post here on this blog – so keep checking. Meanwhile, here are some last pictures of us with Chef Kaushik and his staff (who were wonderful servers!).
Special Thanks to Chef Kaushik for a wonderful experience. And of course, none of this would be possible without the hard organizing efforts of our Bhuya – Sujata! THANK YOU! And Happy Festivus (more posts to come later – please keep checking).
THANK YOU BHUYA!!! This was definitely a 5 smiley face experience. 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
Dear Karsen & Anyalee,
Thank you very much for this honor, as I promise here is my first recipe which you enjoyed here.
DAL MAKHANI
1 Whole urad dal 200 gm
2 Tomato puree fresh 500 gm
3 Ginger & garlic paste 40 gm
4 Deggi mirch 20 gm
5 Butter 50 gm
6 Fresh cream 100 ml
7 Cumin powder 15 gm
8 Kasoori methi 5 gm
9 Salt to taste
10 Garam masal powder 5 gm
11 Hing 2 gm
POTLI MASALA
12 Whole garam masala 10 gm
13 Coriander seeds 10 gm
14 Cumin seeds 10 gm
15 Ginger & garlic crushed 30 gm
METHOD
1 Wash and soak dal over night.
2 Boil dal with all potli masala tie in muslin cloth, reduce heat cook on slow heat till dal become soft.
3 Heat butter in a thick bottomed pan, add hing and ginger garlic paste.
4 Add tomato puree saute till oil separates.
5 Add kasoori methi, deggi mirch and cumin powder saute for a minute.
6 Add boiled dal and simmer it for half an hour.
7 When butter start separating add garam masala powder and finish with cream.
8 Serve hot with paratha, nan, roomali roti or according to your choice.
Wish you and your family MERRY CHRISTMAS
With lots of love
Chef Kaushik
Thank you Chef Kaushik! You are awesome and the honor is all ours. We will ask our parents to try out your recipe!!!!!!!!! We also invite our reader to try these recipes. And a very Merry Christmas to you too!
– the sophisti-kids
The safari experience sounds amazing! Getting to see tigers, especially cubs is pretty rare, i’ve heard. And the food sounds fantabulous too – I can’t wait to hear about the other chutneys you guys had. I have a half written blog post for you as well and it is my goal to finish it before you return. 🙂 Have a fabulous “rest of the trip”.
Hi Ms. Madhu!
We are enjoying our time in India – but this is the last day! We tried gooseberry chutney too – it was mommy’s favorite! And we should try making Chef Kaushik’s recipe together!
Say hi to Omkar and we are looking forward to seeing a “Branto’s review”
Happy Holidays,
-the sophisti-kids
You kids are so lucky!
Were you scared when you saw the tigers? Does seeing these tigers make you more likely to root for the Cincinnati Bengals?
We are lucky. The tigers, contrary to popular belief, were not at all intimidating. In fact, they were intimidated by us. The Cincinatti Bengals have already lost and, as you should know, our team is the Packers. The Bengals are just the same to me as any other team, despite our experiences.
-the sophisti-kids