Most of you are probably familiar with my mom's own Mexican bean recipe (I've made it at school quite a few times.) The beans are similar to refried beans, but completely healthy (not fried, but steamed) with vegetables and literally no added fat. Did you know kidney beans are an EXCELLENT source of protein?
The first time I made beans at school [sophomore year]
Anyway, I love Mexican food but it seems like the craze is American. So today I attempted to make the beans with canned kidney beans since I didn't bring my wonderful pressure cooker across the pond.
Mushing them was difficult and the beans turned out quite dry. However, I found some excellent Mexican cheese at Sainsbury's and REAL salsa as well.
The point of this blog entry is that I have new found appreciation for the difference between "from scratch" and "not from scratch." Can't wait to make more beans when I return to school. :)
Today Kamna and I went to Southall. Kamna and I met by chance on a CAPA-led walking tour and are now sharing in our brown-ness!
The train out west of Central London was an easy ride and we got there in less than 20 minutes. Once there, we visited the largest Gurdwara outside of India. It was very large and beautiful. There was a wedding going on, so we couldn't stay long. However, we did not leave without taking prasad, which was absolutely delicious. Mom says there is nothing like Gurdwara prasad, and I would have to agree. Afterwards, we walked along the main street which was lined with all Indian stores. The street looked just like some of the streets in India. I had really wanted mendhi and to my luck, it was Karva Chauth so lots of vendors were doing it. Kamna and I got it done and we kept walking. People were looking at our hands, and I wonder if they thought we were married since it was Karva Chauth.
We wanted to hit up the pub "Glassy Junction" and the "Himalaya Cinema," but Glassy was closed for renovation and the cinema as well. Just a tidbit, Glassy Junction apparently accepts rupees as payment!
We passed a mandhir and went in for darshan, which always leaves me with a good feeling. We also stopped at an enormous Indian grocery store where I finally found my Khatta Meetha. I also got some Frooti juice boxes. On the way out, it just so happened that they were giving out free 1 kg samples of basmati rice! (It was a good thing I didn't buy any.) As we continued to walk along, we passed legit bazaars. One was Palika Bazaar where Kamna found a nice sweater and I was able to get my eyebrows done. The area was amazingly Indian. With a variety of stalls selling things from CDs and DVDs to formal jewelry to churiyan. Pictures taken there could easily be mistaken for India.
From there, we got suggestions for places to eat and headed to "Chandni Chowk." Both of us were feeling like having Chaat. I got Bhel Puri, Aloo Tikki with Chana and Mango Lassi, and Kamna got Bhel Puri, Gol Gappa and Masala Chai. The Bhel had potato and chana which I'm not used to, but I liked the additions. I couldn't eat it all, so I ate the rest of the Aloo Tikki for dinner.
I managed to keep my mendhi drying until around 5 pm and then put balm on my hand. It came out quite dark and hopefully will be even more so tomorrow morning. The trip was great because it allowed me to be culturally engaged for the first time in a while. It felt great to be around so much culture and the people there were very connected and nice, unlike the notions I get in Central London. We hope to come back again :).
Okay, well the title is a bit misleading - it's the second one in the city. But still, how convenient that the second Chipotle in London opens a block down from a building with a bunch of Pitt kids?
Some of my roomies were fortunate enough to get some FREE grub from there prior to their opening, which was awesome. I went there a week after...
The layout was similar to those in the US, but there is no fountain to dispense drinks. Instead they had lots of fancy bottled drinks.
On to their food: Their tortillas were smaller(-), they had an option of brown rice available(+), their corn was white not yellow (?). Oh, and THEY DIDN'T USE GLOVES(----). And their burritos were smaller, yet more expensive($_$)
The burrito was good, but different. I told Purvi Didi I'd bring them all Chipotle burritos next time I visit so they can try it too!
Today we visited Stonehenge and Bath. Both locations were beautiful; but more to come on that later. In Bath, we went to a small pub to get some lunch. I ordered quesadillas, with "no chicken." When I got my order, there was no cheese. What kind of quesadilla doesn't have cheese? I told the waiter and he came back saying I had asked for no cheese. He was mistaken, for I had asked for no chicken. Then the lady who took my order came five minutes later to ask again. I said again, I asked for no chicken, not no cheese. She says she thought the later, but after a few minutes of soft arguing, agrees to remake it. After all that commotion, she comes back to tell me there is an hour wait in the kitchen. WHAT? We had to leave in 30 minutes to catch our tour. I told her so, and she said she could give me my money back - I'd just have to come to the bar. I went and waited for a few minutes, then she finally said the lady with the money would be a few minutes. Now I was getting irritated, did she expect me to wait there? I think she could tell, so she offered to bring it to the table.
A couple things I'm not used to:
1) Why did they have to ask me a bajillion times about my order? I said no chicken, yet they came and questioned it multiple times.
2) It was their fault they messed up the order, so why was I put at the back of the line?
So, I was left lunchless until the evening when we finally got back... good thing I had some munchies in my bag.
This really made me appreciate American customer service - where the motto is, "the customer is always right." Here everything is about pride. Somehow I think this has something to do with the rigid class structure here, but I will do more research and observation before making more comments on that.
