Being a Vada pav and pav bhaji lover, Ladi Pav is must try for me. During this lock-down when we are avoiding buying from stores, this comes as blessing. So let’s not waste much time and get the recipe, don’t forget to read the tips mentioned as it plays a very important role in recipe.
Ingredients
420 gms All purpose flour
Half tsp – instant yeast
Salt 1 1/2 tsp
Sugar 2 tsp
2 Tbsp Butter
Water+ Milk 300 ml or as per flour absorption
One tbsp Sourdough starter discard(optional)
Milk for brushing
Process
Take two spoon flour and add 5-6 spoon water and mix properly now cook it on slow flame until it forms a paste
keep it aside and let it cool down
Add sugar in luke warm water + milk (70 ml) in a glass bowl or cup and then add yeast and mix gently. (Check temperature of water by putting your pinky finger, if your are able to resist heat for sometime it’s good to go)
Cover it and keep it in warm place for 12-15 minutes to activate the yeast
Check if get good bubbles in yeast water, as shown in picture
If you can’t see bubbles rise then discard and start again
Shift Flour, salt, sourdough discard in a separate bowl and start adding activated yeast slowly, don’t add liquid in one go
Keep mixing the flour with liquid until it combines properly
Dough should be sticky, if it feels dry add more liquid
Kneading
Clean your kitchen counter properly and remove unwanted items
Now dust your kitchen counter with some flour or some butter
Take out dough on kitchen counter and start kneading it
You need to knead in stretch and fold method as shown in video
Keep kneading for at least 10-15 minutes or until dough get easy to handle
Add butter while kneading in parts after it starts coming together
To check when your dough is ready press one finger & it should bounce back slowly, or do the window panel test(Mentioned)
Take a small ball and stretch it in front of window, dough should stretch easily and light can be visible
Now tuck in the dough and keep it in well greased Bowl
Cover it properly with cling film or wet towel.
Keep the bowl in warm place for first rise at-least 45 minutes or until it doubles
It got double in volume after first rise
Take out the dough an punch it out, knead again for few minutes
Shaping
Take a square or rectangular baking pan, lined with parchment paper
Take the punched dough and divide it into 60 gm balls, you will get 9 balls from above measurement
Apply some oil/butter on hand if your dough is sticky, knead each ball a little and start cupping it in tight ball with help of your palm and fingers
Placed the well tucked ball in baking trays with some gap in between
I created balls in little hurry that why 1 less and little bigger in size
Brush with milk (optional)
Keep it for 25-30 minutes minimum covered with cloth for second rise
After second rise
Baking
Pre-heat oven at 180°c
Placed the baking tray on rack and bake it for 20-25 minutes. Or until you get a golden top( if you are not getting golden top after 22 minutes, take out the pan and brush again with milk and bake for few more minutes)
Take our pan and remove pav from it and keep it for cooling on rack. ( It will be hard at this time)
Let it cool completely, once it cool down pav becomes soft.
Milk cake has a very special and important place in my life. It’s connected to beautiful memories from childhood. It is also known as Kalakand.
The first birthday cake I remember from my childhood was milk cake. It was decorated nicely with small small balls which holds candles all around the cake.
It was the sweet that can bring smile to face when I was angry. Remember eating different shades of milk cake to have different flavours.
Lets refresh memories in this lockdown with yummy milk cake
Ingredients
2 Litres Full cream milk
Ghee – 4 tbsp
Sugar- 3/4th Cup (increase if you want more sweet)
Cardamom powder – 1 tsp (optional)
Lemon juice – 2 tbsp or Alum (Fitkari) – 1 to 1.5 Pinch(powdered)
Time
It will take around 2-2.30 hrs, it totally depends on the quantity of milk
Procedure
Take heavy base iron or steel kadai. Heavy because milk will burn due to high heat if the base is thin
Boil milk in kadai and keep stirring continuously without stopping as milk can stick to the base and can burn
Flame should be High to medium (depends on your gas stove and base of the kadai)
When the milk remains little less than half the total quantity, add lemon juice/Alum gradually.
Keep stirring and you will notice milk granules will start forming. Don’t add too much lemon juice otherwise it wont be what we want it to be 🙂
Keep stirring don’t stop till we finally turn off the flame
When it’s around 1/4th of total quantity add sugar
keep stirring and once you feel the water is all gone add ghee gradually, until it start leaving pan
You have to cook till it’s light brown in color and then add cardamom powder to it(cardamom is also optional)
Turn off the flame now and grease any tray with ghee and take out the mixture from kadai in it.
Press it gently to set and make it even all around. Now cover the tray with lid or plate. Take a thick towel and keep this tray wrapped properly inside the towel.
Leave this wrapped for 4-5 hours as the mixture would self cook with its heat and give beautiful brown color.
Now after 4-5 hours take out the tray and cut the milk cake in squares and garnish with dry fruits as per your liking.
Hope everyone is safe and staying at home. As we are lockdown it’s time to enjoy doing what you love the most and was not able to do with busy schedule.
Baking is one of my hobby that works as a stress therapy. Today I have made whole-wheat granola cookies with goodness of honey and dry fruits.
Well this recipe just formed as I was having some left over granola. Why to waste when it’s yummy, healthy and can make a great recipe.
So presenting my recipe from scratch.
Ingredients
Whole wheat flour – 3/4th Cup
Granola left over – 1 Cup
Honey/sugar powder – 3/4th cup (if you prefer more sweet can add 1 cup, and if you want to go more healthy replace sugar by honey)
Dry fruits (almonds, cranberry, raisin & walnut) – 1/2 Cup
Butter/Ghee – 1/2 cup (as per availability in lock-down)
Vanilla essence – 1/2 Tsp
Pinch of salt if you are taking unsalted butter
Procedure
Add sugar and butter in bowl whisk well till light and fluffy. Add vanilla essence and mix well.
Shift whole wheat flour, Granola and salt in another bowl. Add dry ingredients raisins and almonds to whisked butter and sugar and mix gently.
Bind together to form a dough. If the mix is dry add 1 or 2 tbsp milk and make dough (if you are replacing sugar with honey skip milk part)
Make small balls from dough depending on size of cookie you want to make and press slightly to flatten.
Preheat microwave/oven at 180°C. Arrange the balls on parchment paper or grease the tray. Bake for 12-15 minutes until edges turn slight brown
Be careful cookies would be soft at this time carefully take out and let them cool on wire rack.
Once cooled they will turn crispy, store in airtight container and enjoy munching ?
Hi guys! Today I am writing this blog post as a mom finding solutions to build my child’s immunity. With the changing weather, children catch cold & flu easily. This made me think about how I can improve my child’s immunity and make her strong.
Food plays a very important role in improving health as well as recovering from any diseases. There is a strong connection of food with nutritional elements and immunity system. We need to make sure that kids get proper balanced diet with all the nutritional elements needed for good immunity.
What are these elements and how do they affect our immune system? Nutrients are broadly divided into the following categories:
Protein (1gm protein provides 4 Kcal energy) Some of the constituents of protein can’t be made by body so it needs to be taken directly from food. Milk, cheese, meat, fish, poultry, pulses contain proteins.
Fat (9 Kcal per 1gm of fat) Fats are an important source of energy for the body and kids need this to stay active.
Carbohydrates: ( 4 Kcal per 1 carbohydrate) They are mostly starch and sugars of vegetables origin and a major component of cereal.
Vitamin & Minerals Vitamins are needed for adequate functioning of body. Vitamins consists of mainly two groups: water soluble vitamin ( B1, B2 & Vitamin C) and fat-soluble vitamin ( A, D,E & K). Minerals such as zinc, selenium are also needed for proper immunity, cell development, etc.
Maintaining a Balance Balanced diet is defined as one, which contains a variety of food in such quantities and proportion that can provide the needed energy, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates and other important nutrients that are required to maintain good health and proper immunity.
I am happy that I found PediaSure with this balanced nutrition to help boost immunity in children. I make sure to give my little one home cooked food that includes cereals, vegetables, fruits, and milk products. Adding PediaSure in milk also helps in boosting her immunity.
We are vegetarians so we try to maintain the protein balance by adding pulses, chick peas, sprouts, and paneer to our daily meal. Apart from this, we add dry fruits with black pepper, chia seeds and fennel seeds in shakes that we drink early morning as part of our routine. You can also add banana in this shake as it gives a sweet taste to it. (If you need detailed recipe for this shake, please leave a comment, and I will share with pictures)
With proper food it’s equally important to teach kids to maintain proper hygiene such as washing hands properly for a minimum of 20 seconds before eating anything. Most importantly right now, we should take care that our kids don’t go out to play until things get okay.
I hope these small changes can help make them stronger. Do share your valuable views and tips that you follow at home to improve your children’s immunity.
Today I am sharing a healthy and yummy recipe of Broccoli paratha. One of the best way to hide nutrition in regular food as it’s hard to let kids and even elders eat it easily.
I would say I was not sure how broccoli paratha would taste but we all loved it. Even the one who says no to broccoli had three parathas. So before I share recipe let me share some details and benefits about this super food.
Broccoli is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus Brassica) whose large flowering head and stalk is eaten as a vegetable . Broccoli is a great source of vitamins K and C, a good source of folate (folic acid) and also provides potassium & fiber.
There are many ways to cook and eat broccoli. You can have it raw, steamed, stir fried, baked and roasted. Here we are making broccoli Indian style .
Ingredients for filling
1 big Broccoli One medium sized onion ( finely chopped) One tablespoon butter One tablespoon olive oil ( cooking parathas need oil separately you can use normal oil if you don’t have olive oil) Salt as per taste Red chili powder 1 tsp ( or more as per you liking) Black pepper powder 1 tsp Coriander powder 1 tsp Mozzarella cheese ¼ cup ( optional)
Ingredients for Dough
Two cups whole-wheat flour Salt as per taste or 1 tsp Water for kneading Oil for cooking parathas
Process First we will prepare our dough and keep it aside for rest. • Take two cups whole-wheat flour in a big bowl and add salt • Now you can add water slowly and start kneading until you form sold dough • Apply some oil so that it doesn’t dry and keep it covered for rest
Filling • Now we will grate our washed and dried broccoli with the help of grater • Add some oil and butter in kadai and heat it • Add chopped onions in the kadai and cook properly until it turns transparent • Add Grated broccoli and all spices in kadai stir continuously • Turn off the gas when broccoli turns soft • Let the mix cool down • You can add grated mozzarella cheese to the filling, this is completely optional
Parathas • Take your dough and knead again for few seconds and take a small ball of it. • Roll it in small puri and add 2-3 spoons of the broccoli filling • Closed the puri nicely with the stuffing inside • Roll it again with help of some flour into bigger round • Now heat your tawa and once it’s hot put the paratha on it • Cook the paratha applying oil/ghee/butter till it’s little crispy • Serve hot with achaar & curd
We were planning trip to Statue of Unity from quite some time. This year in Holi holidays we finally visited Worlds tallest Statue standing tall at a height of 182 Meters.
It is around 420 Km from our home. We took NH 48 till outskirts of Bharuch and then took diversion on State highway 165 towards Statue.
Different routes and the one we took
We usually start our road trips early morning, this time was no different. We left around 5.20 AM from our home. I think this was the first time we got lost at the start of the trip.
Not exactly lost as we have Google but we took 1 or 2 wrong turns, due to this we went inside Biwandi. Maps showed us this route as there was some accident or work on NH after Thane.
As it’s National Highway there are tolls but the roads are in great shape. We misplaced the receipts so won’t be able to tell how much total toll we paid.
But due to Fast Tag we went in wrong lane and paid double the toll in one of the toll plaza. Most of the time there are clear signs for Cash lane and Fast Tag lanes but some how we missed it at one of the plaza.
Our experience with cash lane was like it was fast at most of the tolls, as most of the travelers have opted for Fast Tag so the rush on those lanes were little more at some tolls and took more time to clear.
We too have Fast Tag but the site was not working a day before so we couldn’t recharge it. The state highway in Gujarat is not in good shape, there were many patches which were in bad shape but manageable.
Our first stop was for B/F at Silver Miles restaurant. This is one of the most rated place on this route. It is big place with ample of parking, clean but not properly maintained restrooms.
Food was good and fresh and they accept card payment. Cost was little bit on higher side for normal Idly dosa but it’s Ok. It was around 100 Km from our place and took around 2 hrs.
After this we didn’t stop any where and directly stopped for Lunch around 12.30-1 PM at Hotel Narmada. It is around 400 Km from our place and around 20 Km from Statue so it was good point to stop.
Our visiting slot for Statue was 2.30 to 5 PM, so we had ample of time for lunch and relax before visiting the Statue. Food was Ok, not bad nor that good but it was fresh and service was fast as it was not that crowded at that time.
We reached the Statue at around 2 PM. There is ample of parking available around the Statue, there are different type of parking available like one w/o any shade.
It was more like a empty ground converted into parking. Then there is parking which has shade and tar road.
Parking with shade is little far from the Statue. No need to worry as the bus ride from parking to Statue main entry gate is included in the ticket price. Parking fee for both the parking is same i.e. Rs 150 no time limit.
First pose with Status from the parking area
You can find a detailed guide about this place here. Other then the statue there are lot of things to do here.
Now we entered the compound, there is one security check at the main entrance. Then you have to walk around 100-120 meter to the gate where the tickets are scanned.
We have taken Rs 350 ticket which include the entry to the viewing gallery which is at the height of around 124 meters i.e. in the chest of Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel.
If you don’t want to stand in line for ticket purchase book your tickets here well in advance. As there are limited tickets for each slot.
Other types of ticket are general ticket which cost Rs 150 and does not include entry to viewing gallery. Then there is express entry costing Rs 1050. If you buy this ticket then you don’t need to stand in any line.
Waiting for Lift to viewing gallery
Here you will find a long queue if you are going in season or say weekend evening time. As we booked the slot for little odd time we didn’t find that much of crowed but it took us around 10 min to enter.
Travelator
There are Travelators on each side and is covered from the top so you will have shade most of the time. There are escalators every where which is wonderful and very thought full.
This will reduce the overall tiredness and keeps you fresh which is necessary to explore other things. Best part is you can come with full family as escalators are really nice facility specially with elders and kids.
When we first saw the Statue it was like WOW, this is simply a architectural marvel and a great tribute to Sardar who united India.
The Architectural Marvel
There is museum at the bottom of the statue. This is the only place which is air conditioned.
Entry to this place is given as per slots. It has huge metal head of Sardar and other details of the full construction. It also contain pictures and videos related to Sardar providing more details about his work and his life.
In the middle of this museum there is big wooden circular shape which contains the lifts to take people to the viewing gallery. There is big line here, bigger then the one we get on the main entry.
Behind this beautiful wooden wall are the elevators
Museum is made with proper sitting areas and benches all over the place. Their is two movie theaters where you can watch small documentary on Dam and Sardar’s life.
Relaxing a bit after the visit to viewing gallery
It took us 15-20 min to reach the Lift and then few seconds to reach the viewing gallery.
Viewing gallery
The view is amazing but you will enjoy more if you visit after rains. There will be water in Narmada and if you are lucky enough you can witness the open gates of the Dam.
View of Narmada and Sardar Sarovar dam from 124 mtrs
There not much to do here, you can enjoy the view for some time, click some pics and then again get in line to get down. All these lines can be skipped if you purchase express entry ticket.
For us it was too costly and didn’t justify the price as we were visiting in a kind of off season.
After getting down you can again enjoy the museum or relax a bit. After getting out of museum we climbed to the feet of Sardar. They are so huge and one can’t even see the face of the Statue from the bottom.
Gigantic feet of Sardar’s StatueView of entry while coming down
The view is great from here as well. You can enjoy some time here click some pics. As I said earlier there are escalators so you don’t have to climb a single stair 🙂
After all this we started walking(basically standing on Travelator :)) to exit. It was great experience and one should definitely visit this. There is food court in the campus which is quite big and has different options to eat.
Sitting area front of food court
Note – there is free water available in the premises, you can either refill your bottle or buy one as a souvenir. Do carry sun glasses and sunscreen in case you are visiting in day and if it’s sunny
There are other places to see near by, I’ll give more details about them in my next blog so stay tuned 🙂
Parents nowadays are so busy in their lifestyle that we are not able to spend quality time with kids.
How to engage kids with daily home activities
Whether it’s working parents or stay at home, taking out time to relax and play is a real task. So why not involve kids with you in helping your daily chores!!
She loves to play with water and tissues so teaching her the use of both while cleaning the glass
It’s always better then giving them phone or tablet as this is the easily available option we see nowadays!
How to involve kids in Home chores and how it is helpful?
Kids love to explore and easily bored doing same activity again and again. They love to do new things and enjoy learning it as their curiosity level is really high.
Helping mamma with folding her cloths
Involving kids in daily chores like dusting, putting clothes in washing, folding clothes, arranging utensils etc. will help in there overall growth.
They love to do what you do so it’s really easy to involve them
Helps in learning new skills
Improve concentration
Helps in improving hands and eyes co-ordination and strengthen muscles.
Helps in improving vocabulary as they learn to express themselves by asking questions
Creativity– they show their own way of doing the activity
Helps in boosting their confidence as they are doing work on their own
Helps in personal bonding as you get to spend quality time with them
Helping hand, fours hands are always good then two doing same work!
Cleaning the grill and watering the plants
Explain them what they are doing and why it is important.
Note – always make them do things under your supervision so that there is no damage to things or kids.
While planning our trip on Diwali to our home town of Ajmer we thought to Drive from Mumbai and make a small sightseeing vacation @Ramada Udaipur.
For this we were in confusion that should we go before Diwali or After Diwali, then we thought to do it before Diwali and while returning back we’ll stay @Ahmadabad.
Our 2 days details and how we planned and traveled and reach Udaipur @Day 1 & Day 2. Here I’ll share more details about our stay @Ramada
This time instead of choosing any kind of Home stay for our 2N stay we opted for a resort, reason being we were not getting any decent homestay with any view or any activity included in it.
So basically once you are back you need to sit in your room and watch TV or your mobile. We did booked a homestay for a night i.e. the night we reached Udaipur. Property was located in a residential area. The property itself was nice but our experience was not.
When we reached Ramada, check in didn’t took too much of time. They have different variety of rooms. we stayed in there premium villa rooms.
The reception area is hug with different sitting options, a travel desk, a check in counter etc. There is small handicraft shop at the end of the reception area.
Main outside
Parking space @main building
Main enterance
The lobby
Reception
Waiting area
Relaxing at waiting area
These villa rooms were separate from main property and you need to walk a little to reach there.
Don’t get confused with the name villa, it’s just a big room with big bathroom. Why the name villa is coz they are build like a villa. In a single villa there are 2 room, one on the ground and other on first with separate entrance.
Ground floor one will get a porch and first floor will get balcony. In the Villa section the front row has the best unobstructed view as in front there is a garden.
View form our Porch
Garden area in front of our room
View from our Villa terrace
We stayed on the ground floor on the row behind the front row. We did get the beautiful view of Sajjangharh Palace from the porch. You can read a newspaper or have your morning tea and enjoy the view.
Porch area
Room was quite big and specious. After entering there’s a 2 seater couch on the left, then a king size double bed with comfortable mattress and pillows.
Bed head @Night
On the right we have a TV table and at the very end of the room we have a writing desk. After the bed on the left there is door which opens to the luggage and closet area.
This is really a nice add on, once you close the door you won’t see all the mess from your suitcases and cloths 🙂 From this area we have entry to the big and luxurious bathroom.
These Villas bathroom is huge with big rain shower in the shower area and a full size bathtub, yes you read it right a Bathtub.
The Property is quite big with lots of rooms in the main building and in villa section. They have a private pool with Jacuzzi which is accessible only to those who go for Spa.
There is a big common pool with a small waterfall as well which is accessible to all the guest. This pool is situated kind of middle of the property and @night you will have a great view of the property with all the lights on.
Main building and pool in the center
There are 2 garden on the property one was in front of the Villa section and the other was in front of the other category rooms in the main building and this was big.
View from terrace
The big garden has a cemented platform to play badminton and the smaller garden has swing, seesaw, slide and a board for archery.
They do have kids play area which is not a big area with lots of things to do, so your kid might get bored soon. They have indoor games for adults as well like TT table, pool and carom etc.
The restaurant is decent with decent food. Being in heart of Rajasthan they don’t serve spicy food and the reason we got to know is because maximum tourist that come is from the state of Gujarat.
There a open sitting option in the restaurant from where you’ll get the view of Sajjangharh Palace on the hill top.
When were there on our last night we had dinner at the property by the poolside. They were celebrating something which I don’t remember but I think it was related to earthen pot cooking.
they served the food in clay plates and clay bowels which is quite different. There was Rajasthani song and dance performance as well which was quite good.
Overall I would definitely suggest this place to all my friends and family for a comfortable stay.
It’s been so long that we have witness a proper cold climate, this time in January we got the opportunity to witness the same that too in beautiful Uttarakhand, India at Nayalap.
We wanted some relaxing holiday far from all the tourist place, to enjoy best of nature and get some mesmerizing view of mighty Himalayan range. For this we searched for a place on the hills and found an amazingly luxurious camp site in Shitlakhet.
Morning view from Nayalap
Nayalap Rural Himalayan Glamping was a beautiful find. It is charming and boutique home/ retreat consisting of 4 luxurious tents, spread out from each other for privacy of the guests.
Our luxurious tent at Nayalap
We have to attained one wedding in Delhi and my wife was going to her mom’s place in Agra for her cousins wedding, so we converted this opportunity in a relaxing glamping holiday ?.
We booked trains this time as from past so many years we have not travelled by train as from Bangalore it was too much time consuming. We booked August Kranti Rajdhani from Mumbai Central to H. Nizamuddin Delhi.
The train left around 4 PM and reached at 11 AM, as it’s a Rajdhani so no trouble for food on train. Due to more stops it took 2-2.30 hr more than Rajdhani.
Trains now a days are quite clean, and facilities have also improved, like cleanliness, seat cover in western toilets etc.
We stayed for a day in Delhi for a wedding. There are 2 good options to reach Nayalap, one is Ranikhet express which leaves from Delhi at around 10 PM and reach Kathgodam 5 AM, other is Shatabdi early in the morning at 6 AM and arrives 11 AM at Kathgodam which is the last station for this area.
We got down at Haldwani which is second last stop where our driver, Heera Singh was waiting for us. Tanuja the owner of Nayalap helped us in booking the cab. You can either ask her to book it for you, it will cost you around Rs 2500.
Way to Nayalap
Kathgodam is the place where plains end and Mountain region begins. It is a 3.5 hours drive from Haldwani to Shitlakhe. As you leave the plains and drive up the hills, the drives becomes beautiful with the mountain vistas, terraced fields and beautiful villages.
We reached Nayalap at around 3 PM, there our host Tanuja was waiting to welcome us with warm herbal drink. She showed us the property and introduced us with the wonderful staff of Nayalap – Prem, Chandan and the cook Basant.
Nayalap is located on Hill slope on a land that was used for farming long time back. We came to know that now a day’s people are migrating from hills to plains in search for better life, education and career opportunities. The name Nayalap is a reverse of ‘Palayan’ meaning migration in Hindi.
Tanuja’s thought was to give back to the people of hills and provide them a better opportunity in their native land, instead of moving to the cities at least a few people can work near their home and can stay with their family which is simply amazing thought and she executed it as well by building ‘Nayalap’. All the staff who helps to make your stay happy are local peoples from the nearby village.
This place has 4 luxurious tents with amazing view of the Garhwal & Kumaon side of Himalayan range. All the necessary amenities are present in the tents and they have private and quite spacious bathrooms with geysers, handmade soap with all-natural ingredients, a shampoo and a body lotion.
There were super clean towels, a dinning table to seat 4, a small 2-seater sofa, a chair and a king size bed with clean and soft sheets with hand woven sheep’s wool blanket and electric heaters to keep you warm in cold winters.
Instead of stone flooring in the tents, Tanuja has done it with mud which helps in keeping the temperature little warm during winters and cold during summers. The mud floors are covered with dry grass floor mats which are hand made by locals.
The property is adjacent to the main road and has enough parking space. One tent is adjacent to parking but far enough to avoid any disturbance from parking and then when we walk down, we have another tent and their kitchen. Then wakling further down the hill, we have 2 more tents.
Out of 4 tents the 2 new one has wooden doors and the initial 2 has a zip to close the tent will gives little more feel of living in a tent. There is an open dining area, covered from the top and then we have a fireplace right adjacent to the dinning space to enjoy the bon fire during winters.
You can enjoy your morning tea with view of the Himalayas facing the mighty Trishul, Nanda Devi peaks, and listening to the chirping of the birds around. We really enjoyed our stay here, we did some reading, played with our little one in open ground, she liked exploring the ground on her own, climbing up and down, touching different plants, dried grass, wood etc.
Soaking in the sun
This will really help the kids living in big cities to know the wilderness up close and experience the nature. We went to a local house and introduced our little one to rabbits, cow and baby goat (kids). She really enjoyed feeding them and was not ready to leave from there.
As this place is quite far from any of the major cities so you won’t find any restaurants nearby which a plus point is again as in this way you can taste the local specialties and all the ingredients are sourced from locals.
The food here really tastes good and homely and another amazing thing which we have not seen this till now is they do prepare dishes as per your request which is great hospitality. We really enjoyed our stay here, the cold weather, mesmerizing view, great food it was such a relaxing trip, what else does one want in life ?
Other then relaxing and enjoying nature, one can go for a 5 km long treck to hilltop, which we could not do due to our daughter as we won’t be able to carry her, and we didn’t bring her baby carrier. Then you can do a village walk which is not that long but a nice experience to have.
Kosi Dam
If you want to do more touristy things then you do excursions from Nayalap to Kasar Devi, Almora, Ranikhet, Katarmal Sun temple which are about 1 hours drive one –way each from the camp. Tanuja can help you plan your visits according to your interest and time. You can visit Kosi dam built on Kosi river, also you can visit a beautiful small stream and enjoy the fresh cold water.
We visited Kasardevi temple which is an ancient temple and well known with the nature seekers, yoga practitioners and it is said be one of the three places in the earth where magnetic fields are the strongest.
Kasardevi Temple
We had a beautiful stay at Nayalap and enjoyed every bit of our vacation in the hills, exploring this wonderful corner of the world, where only the lucky ones tread. We are glad we were lucky to be there and experience the joy of glamping in the beautiful foothills of Kumaon.
You can also enjoy here, book your stay at Nayalap by using my code BABYNMOMMY20 and get 20% off on your booking.
After our happening day 1 in Udaipur we planned our day 2 (somewhat 🙂 ). Do check my previous blog Udaipur Day 1.
For this day we have planned little less and want to explore the resort and relax a bit. So today we planned to start with Sajjan ghar Palace another name is Monsoon Palace, then to Moti Magri/Maharana Pratap Smarak and Nehru Garden.
After heavy b/f we started with Monsoon palace as it was quite near to Ramada. You can take your car to the top, there is open parking space but little small so in peak season it could be difficult to find a spot there.
This palace was built by Maharaja Sajjan Singh so the palace is named after him. It is said that he built it to get a glimpse of his ancestral home i.e. Chittaurgarh or to get a beautiful view of city during monsoon time.
Entrance of Monsoon Palace
Entry cost to this place is Rs 65 Pp and Rs 220/Car and Rs 10 as Emitra amount. Timing is 9 AM to 5.30 PM during winter time i.e. 21st Oct to 15 March and 9 AM to 6 PM rest of the year.
After spending some time inside enjoying the beautiful view with lovely breeze we had tea and paneer pakoda in the restaurant at the entrance. Pakode and tea were both good and fresh. Then we left for Maharana Pratap Smarak and Nehru Park both are situated near by.
Entry fee for Maharana Pratap Smarak is quite cheap Rs 20 Pp, here also you can take you car to the top entry is free I think and there is sufficient parking. There is nothing much to do there. On top you can click some picks with the great warrior Maharana Pratap and Chetak and also Fate sagar at back.
Then there is a Moti Mahal Museum where you can find some really interesting painting and a model of Haldighati war with some replica of Maharanas weapon and Armour. Over all it’s a nice place to visit and learn more about our history.
Then we went to Nehru Park, one has to take a boat to reach there, there is no entry fee to the garden but one has to pay for the boat ride which will take you to the garden and back. I think the cost was around Rs 80 – 100.
This place is not that well maintained overall we could see the algae in the fountain area, damaged railing etc. We can take some snack, sit and relax there and enjoy the beautiful lake and view.
It was around evening so we went back to our hotel Ramada, to check some of there amenities and relax.
Ramada nigh view
After a wonderful day we have a wonderful dinner by pool side with some traditional folk dance and music and this brings end to our short and happening Udaipur Trip.
Special dinner arrangments
After this our road trip continued to our home town Ajmer which is around 250 Km from Udaipur and there we celebrated Diwali with family and had a great time.
Will be sharing a detailed post on our stay – Ramada Resort and Spa soon, so stay tuned.
