Monday, September 30, 2013

Day Two of Agra Trip ----- Taj Mahal

I got up late this morning and did some laundry.  I planned to have lunch with Eli's co-worker Saurabh Saxena...pronounced Sar ob Sax seena.  While Eli is gone, Saurbh will be my back up.  I will call him if I need someone to say something in Hindi language for me.

Driver will pick me up at 11:30 am and then pick up Eli and Saurbh. We went to Dana Choga...a moderately priced Indian Restaurant that served Indian and Chinese Cuisine.  The driver waited outside while we ate.  We ordered Dal Makhani...lentils in cream sauce, Rogan Josh..mutton with tomato sauce, Murg Makhani..chicken with cream sauce, steamed basmati rice, and 3 orders of naan bread.  I ordered sweet carbonated lime juice with no salt in it. (Eli has tried a few times to order the same drink and got it with salt in it...the way Indians drink it)  Eli drank soda,  Saurabh had mango lassi...yoghurt drink.  Saurabh told the waiter not to make my food spicy or we would return it back to the kitchen.  The cook succeeded in making my dish not spicey!!  Sometimes the cook overrides customer wishes.  Now I know some dishes to order in an Indian Restaurant that would not be too spicey for me.

Saurabh was surprised to learn that I had taken a tuk tuk to the Metro station by myself.  Most workers have a driver, so even Eli has never done that.

After lunch Eli and Saurabh went back to work and I got a ride back home.  I did a load of laundry, took a nap and then went grocery shopping at the shopping mall next door for lamb, green beans, apples, pears, a grapefruit, fruit wash, and Q tips.  I looked for Oreo Cookies...not there.  Eli wanted ground lamb, but it was all gone.  So I got a leg of lamb and had the butcher debone and grind it.   I got two red apples and two green apples.  The Red Delicious apples were about 50 rupies each, while the green apples were only 15 rupies each.  Grapefruit was 150 rupies.  Q tips were 350 rupies! Whole bill was about 1500 rupies. 

I cooked Hamburger Helper Stroganoff with ground lamb.  It turned out pretty nice. After dinner I worked on this blog and went to sleep.