In other respects, the journey was just the same; tuk tuks whizzing in and out of other traffic, hundreds of bicycles and motor scooters each with upwards of two passengers, overloaded buses and lorries and the ubiquitous Ambassador car. Nonetheless there are now far more other makes of private vehicle on the roads than before, Tata being a favourite, manufactured by the giant company formerly only known for its trucks, but now making affordable family cars as well as branching out into the telecoms business.

 

The welcome at our hotel was, as always in good Indian hotels, impeccable and we were soon ensconced in the bar with an ice cold Kingfisher beer and were soon deep in conversation with the incredibly well-educated barman about, amongst other things, Indian politics and the growth of international business in this part of the world.

 

Another Kingfisher in and we were a bit peckish, the effects of our Virgin Atlantic breakfast having worn off. The speciality here was Chinese cuisine so we opted for king prawns in a wonderful chilli and garlic sauce plus (more) prawns wrapped in crispy filo pastry and served with a delightful, light dipping sauce, slightly sweet and slightly spicy. But enough of Chinese food, after all, we are in India!

 

The same night we ate a tandoori chicken dish as well as spicy, very finely minced lamb patties. To accompany the meat, we chose a tarka dal (red lentils, spiced with cumin, garlic, ginger and chilli, to name but a few) served in tiny individual dishes, as is traditional, as well as light-as-air naan bread. To follow we had (rather unnecessarily, but my husband has a sweet tooth) Zauk-e-Shahi, which we were told translates as Dessert of the Royals and is a reduced milk, saffron and paneer (similar to cottage cheese) dumpling encrusted with poppy seeds. It was a truly wonderful meal, made so particularly by the friendliness of the waiting staff and their happiness at our interest in the food and how it was cooked. They were astounded to learn that we in the West, cook Indian food in our homes too!

 

On day two, after a breakfast buffet which catered to every possible taste and dietary requirement, we headed back to the airport and flew to Udaipur. As there was a lengthy check-in period and the flight was slightly delayed, I just had to try the samosas, which at less than one rupee for two (if my memory serves me correctly) was the bargain of the holiday. On top of that, they were very tasty and hardly greasy at all - pretty amazing for a fast-food snack in any country.

 

On arrival in Udaipur, we were once again struck by the bright colours worn by the Rajastani women - shocking pink, orange and yellow being predominant. Negotiating the narrow, winding streets, many of the shops were also festooned with the same rainbow-hued saris.

 

Our hotel was part of the City Palace complex, still partially occupied by the Maharana himself and its main attraction, apart from the palace itself, is its outdoor bar and restaurant set right at the edge of Lake Pichola, overlooking virtually the whole lake and in particular, the Lake Palace Hotel, famous for featuring in the James Bond film "Octopussy". The view from this terrace of the setting sun reflecting in the lake and the twinkling of the uplighting of the Lake Palace is really something to see, but on this particular evening, the thrall of the sunset was interrupted by first an elephant complete with howdah but no passengers, swiftly followed by a procession of various classic European sports cars and then a marching band. Apparently, the sports car drivers were on a tour of India and had been invited by the Maharana to a banquet. As a consequence, we too were treated to processions, music and fireworks far into the night.

 

Knowing that there would be less choice at some of our other destinations, we went the Chinese route for dinner which consisted of chicken fried in chilli sauce, crispy shredded mutton tossed in lemon, honey and chilli plus Sweet and Sour Vegetables - red and green pepper, cauliflower and peas, which, with egg fried rice, all went down very well.

 

The next morning was taken up with sightseeing - a drive around Lake Pichola, the Princes Garden and the City Palace, of which there is far too much of interest to describe here. Lunch was samosas and vegetable pakora, served with a chilli dip and washed down with more Kingfisher.

 

Following the obligatory sunset drink, for our dinner we chose Seekh Kebab (spiced minced lamb), Khumb Palak (mushrooms simmered in puréed spinach with herbs and spices), Dal Dhaba (green lentils with cumin, onion and tomato) and Tandoori Khatta Aloo (potato marinated in fermented yoghurt and aromatic Indian spices, cooked in a Tandoor). To mop all this up, we had Kulcha, which is a leavened flour bread stuffed with onion and green chilli, then fried - absolutely wonderful .... and so to bed!

 

In the next installment we'll be moving southeast through Rajastan - next stop Bijaypur.

Liz Canham is a long time lover of Asian Food and Cookery so for more books and articles, visit her website.

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