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AY
13
19 August / Keylong
After a rather difficult start to the Leh trip, we decided to start this day with some good luck. It is believed that travellers who visit Leh make
stupas
(piles of stones) en route at a popular spot meant for good luck and to receive blessings and prayers for a safe journey. Believe me, things actually changed after the
stupa
ritual; the day turned sunny and the landscapes became breathtaking. Have you ever seen five different colours in one go from the sky above to the ground below? The scenes were so unreal as if God had painted his own canvas. My eyes won’t tire staring out of the window as the sky was so perfectly blue. After a long day and one of the best scenic and picturesque journeys of my life, we finally made it to Leh. All thanks to the good-luck
stupa.
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AY
14
20 August / Leh
After a very long journey we did finally reach Leh; it was a very tiring trip and the oxygen levels here were not the greatest, so it took a while to adapt. Leh being a spiritual land, I needed some peace and calm after being 15 days on the road without any break. So the first place we decided to visit was Thiksey Monastery. The monks in the monastery had a certain sparkle in their eyes that seeped in the beholder’s gaze and was attractive. The air here was different, with a peaceful wind blowing, there was always a smile on people’s faces, bright eyes sparkled and there was melody in their voice. I wondered why? I reasoned that it could have a lot to do with what they ate. So, I decided to explore their food culture?
Upon taking a general tour of the streets, Leh as a town seemed very similar to Manali, perhaps a bit more untouched. I found a lot of dried yak cheese, red chillies, sun-dried tomatoes (yes, you have them in India too) and even apricots being sold on the streets in bulk. Then there was the fresh vegetable and fruit market that had some weird and interesting vegetables that I’d never encountered before, like pink radish, baby carrots and a certain branch of turnips. It made me realise that the local organic food culture was very strong here. After some scouting we chanced upon a bistro called the Open Hand Bistro and Espresso Bar. It had its own organic farm and the interesting bit was that the head chef Jack was an American. His six feet one-inch frame was a bit lanky and he wore a bandana all the time and loved living in Leh.
On being asked about the menu in the café, Chef Jack explained, ‘I designed it to cater to a lot of Indian tourists who come here so we have things like
thali
(a set meal at an Indian restaurant) and
khichdi
(primarily made of rice and lentils) on the menu. We also offer
dal
every now and then. Leh also has a huge influx of Western tourist now so I have got to keep European salads as well, so we have varieties of Greek and Spanish salads. My absolute favourite on the menu is the healthy salad as everything in it is fresh from our own farms.’
Later, Jack was happy enough to give me a walk through his farms, taught me how to pick vegetables of choice and then we cooked for each other. It was an absolute delight to be cooking with vegetables that were smiling back at you. Tomatoes were so juicy that I felt like biting into them while they were still uncooked. As Chef Jack made the healthy salad for me, I made
Lettuce Wraps
for him. My dish was wholeheartedly approved by Chef Jack; it was a happy moment, trust me, so I unapologetically dug in to that soulful spiritual salad that Chef Jack had prepared. Well, I sort of understood the new world food culture here but traditional food was still a big question mark to me. Coming back to lettuce wraps, here’s the recipe:
L
ETTUCE
W
RAPS
(Freshly tossed salad served in lettuce cups.)
Ingredients
Method
1. Rinse the lettuce and then soak it in ice water.
2. Cook mushrooms, onions, and water chestnuts in a large pan over high heat for two minutes in olive oil.
3. Then add ginger-garlic, soya sauce, Hoisin sauce, red wine vinegar and chilli sauce. Cook until the mushroom just starts to sweat. Add the tofu or cottage cheese, radish and pine nuts or walnuts. Cook for about one minute more.
4. Stir in salt, pepper and sesame oil. Arrange lettuce leaves with their hollow side facing up (trim the leaf to make it look like a neat cup). Spoon the mushroom mixture in the centre, chill for five minutes and then eat it like a taco.
∼
There are different types of confluences, be it people coming together, of food, music and others. An interesting one in Leh is the confluence of the Indus and Zanskar rivers. The confluence point is located on the National Highway 1 from Leh to Srinagar. Watching the muddy Zanskar water mix with the blue-green Indus is breathtaking. Sitting at this junction you’re living in the moment, there is no past or future.
I was patiently waiting here for my friend Neema whom I’d never met but known for a long while. He ran a water sport training company and used to train a very close friend of mine in kayaking; I had heard great stories of Neema being a kayaking champion several times. After 10 minutes Neema shouted from afar, ‘Julle!’ It was a crazy moment to finally meet a person you’d known for so long but never met. He is a gem of a guy and does adventure sports for a living. Neema insisted that now that we were in Leh we had to visit his home for a traditional and special Ladakhi feast. Who could say no to that?
As we reached his house, which was a beautiful cottage in the hills, the aromas emanating from the kitchen made me head straight to it. It was quite a sight to visit a traditional Ladakhi kitchen. My first reaction was, ‘Wow! It is flamboyant and very ethnic.’ Most of it was made with brass and copper. Even the equipment being used was traditional. Neema’s grandmother, who was cooking in the kitchen, was an octogenarian and looked extremely cute in her traditional Ladakhi dress. She was generous in giving her 50-year-old
Thukpa
recipe to us.
While I helped her blend and crush spices in a mortar and pestle (not in a mixer), she explained, ‘You must be getting a different aroma from this vessel that we are cooking in; this
handi
(an earthenware or metal pot) is made of brass. You will not only get a different taste but when we cook in this, the food doesn’t get spoilt easily.’ She was very active for her age and deftly made very thin and fine
paape,
which were like torn lasagna sheets made from wheat flour. She almost made 100
paapes
in a minute! The
thukpa,
by now, was cooked and I had the company of Neema, his family and other friends who had joined us to make that dinner memorable. In Ladakh, before eating, they always remember the Lord. So, we thanked God for this lovely meal, played some music, and made some great memories.
T
HUKPA
(Spicy soup with hand-rolled noodles.)
Ingredients
Method
1. In a heavy pan, or preferably a copper pot, heat lots of mustard oil until hot and smoky.
2. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent. Then add the chopped tomatoes and cook for three to four minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and mushy. Now add cumin powder, garam masala and pepper.
3. Add the chopped spinach and radish and sauté for two minutes. Top it up with four cups of water and bring to boil. Immediately lower the heat and let it simmer. Meanwhile, prepare the pasta-like
paape.
4. Mix flour with egg and half cup water. Add water in parts while kneading to ensure there isn’t too much of it. When it is nicely kneaded, roll out the dough like a
roti
and then, just like Neema’s grandmother, try to make 100
paapes
in a minute (and fail miserably like I did). Keep adding these irregular bite-sized dough strips into the simmering broth, as you tear them. Add about 30 pieces. Cook for another 10 minutes.
5. Neema’s grandmother mentioned how they add less salt in food so they can taste the ingredient as it is supposed to be. So finally, add a little salt, garnish with coriander and spring onion leaves and have it hot.
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15
21 August / Ladakh
If you’re a food traveller, you must always try figuring out the basic foundation of a cuisine, like what kind of spices and herbs are used, what’s the vegetation like, what kind of meats or seafoods are popular. A lot of the food that people eat also depends on the climate, soil and water of the region. Ladakhi cuisine, as we tasted, is not high on spices; it relies more on the fresh herbs and produce available to them. A few traditional Ladakhi dishes like
thukpa, gud-gud chai
(butter tea) and
thenthuk
(soup made with handmade noodles) are found easily in the city and people are willing to share their
thukpa
stories and family recipes if you ask, like Neema’s grandmother did.
The Leh journey was almost coming to an end and there was one life lesson yet to be learnt. I came to Leh in search of good food but this city had given me more than that. Apart from people there was this deep sense of spirituality that was omnipresent here. There was one such example of spirituality in Leh, which was recognised as ‘Mahabodhi.’ This was a school/institution where students were taught spirituality and even special courses were designed for common people interested in it as a subject. So today was all about spending time with the students in the kitchen, learning a thing or two from them and teaching them a thing or two about cooking. It was a fun exercise to see 12-year-olds cook as well, it made me nostalgic and reminded me of my cooking days when I was a kid.
Guru Bhikkhu Sanhasena, who founded Mahabodhi, was present there when we visited, so I did not want to leave without his blessings. The spot he chose to meet me at was so spectacular that time stood still. I was sitting next to the prayer flags on a small plateau above Mahabodhi which was overlooking the sun. People travel all over the world for beautiful sunsets and I’ve had my fair share of travel too, but I can tell you this, I had never seen a sunset like this before.
As Guru
ji
arrived he sat down right next to me with his legs folded. Before I could say anything, Guruji spoke, ‘Saransh, we are very happy to know that you are headed on this journey, discovering different parts of our country and we are also very happy to have you in Ladakh, on top of the world. You know Ladakh is also called the Land of Three Ms: mountains, monasteries and monks. We as human beings need spirituality; we need meditation, prayer to keep our mind, heart and soul healthy. So, I believe it is the spiritual values, which bring beauty, fragrance and colour to life.’ These words were still sinking in when I touched his feet and asked for his blessings to complete this dream journey and he prompted, ‘Your whole life is a journey. I wish and pray to the Lord, and give blessings to all of you. May you have all the strength and skills needed to continue the journey and overcome the difficulties you face. There will be ups and downs but it makes you stronger. So I think all parts of your journey will be successful.’
I am not sure if this trip to Leh made me spiritual, but yes, I could sense some calmness within me. It was now time to head to Kargil.
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AY
16
22 August / Kargil
The first episode of our journey, documented for TV, got telecast all across India today. Five years back, no one would have thought, not even my family, that one day I would be on national TV talking about food. Three years of struggle, perseverance, and endless jibes from various people finally paid off. But this was not going to be easy. It was just the beginning and I had already started getting calls from the channel and creative head that I hadn’t delivered up to their expectations. They said that my connect with the audience was low, I seemed under-confident and definitely camera conscious. Trying to imagine the camera as a friend was perhaps one of the biggest hurdles that any good TV presenter, or actor, had to cross. Living and learning through an experience was a much easier thing to do in comparison to sharing it with people through videos and words. As these thoughts weighed heavy on my head, we started our day in Kargil after a late night drive to this district.
The road from Leh to Kargil is indeed one of the most fascinating drives as it is a series of high passes and fragile mountainsides. Not only is there a dramatic scenic change but also a cultural one; there’s a shift from a Buddhist region to a Muslim dominated one. Kargil, at 2740 metres above sea level, had been an important trading post many years back and a subject of debate and war between India and Pakistan. So, to pay homage to our soldiers, I had set out for my first destination, Kargil.