Recipe: Tob Tim Krob at home made easy!

By Raul Dias

(pic courtesy http://thaispa.ca)

Show me a person who can resist a bowl full of this wonderful Thai dessert that we in India have taken a mighty shine to and I’ll change my name... But if you thought that this water chestnut and coconut milk concoction was hard to make and best left to the restaurants, think again. This recipe that I’ve got—straight from a Thai chef, Chef Sumeth Boonyaratglin in a sweet little restaurant called Sawasdee in Chiang Mai is as easy as it is to make as it is to love. So, without any further delay, here it is. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:
100g water chestnuts (either fresh or Blue Dragon brand http://www.bluedragon.co.uk/products/water-chestnuts available at speciality stores)
5tbsp tapioca flour  (easily available)
150ml rose syrup (Rooh Afza will do)
150ml sugar syrup
2 stalks pandan (kewra) leaves or 2tsp kewra essence
750ml thin coconut milk (second extract)
Crushed ice to serve

Method:
* Chop the water chestnuts into small pieces and leave to soak in the rose syrup for at least three hours.
* Strain the liquid out of them and roll the water chestnuts in the tapioca flour.
* Place them in the sugar syrup and bring to a boil.
* Add the pandan leaves or essence to the boiling sugar syrup and water chestnuts.
* Turn the flame to simmer and add in the coconut milk.
* Stir till a bit thick and turn off flame.
* After cooling in the fridge, spoon mixture over crushed ice and serve with a spoon.

XXX

The trend of 'Communal Dining' hits Mumbai with a vengeance!

By Raul Dias    

(As appeared in the April 20, 2014 issue of the DNA newspaper in the Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore editions)

Raul On The Prowl @ the KitchenAid Gourmet Summit 2014 in Manila, Philippines

By Raul Dias

With a neat little invite sitting pretty in my email inbox and an equally elaborate itinerary for the next five days in my hand, I started a brand new month in a brand new country, doing what I love best—travelling, eating and enhancing my food knowledge even further!

Yes, the 1^st to the 5^th of April, 2014 saw me participate at the very prestigious KitchenAid Gourmet Summit 2014 in Manila, Philippines. The folks at KitchenAid, India very graciously extended an invite to me and around 30 other food bloggers, writers, recipe developers, stylists, chefs and other members of the Asia-Pacific region’s food cognoscenti to fly down to beautiful Manila and indulge in a series of cookery classes, talks, demonstrations and general food bonding—all the while learning more about the versatility of the range of KitchenAid products (and indulging in a fair bit of sight-seeing around Manila as well!).

And the venue for all this couldn’t have been more apt. We were to take temporary residence at the very famous (Alain) Ducasse Institute at the Enderun College (www.enderuncolleges.com) in Manila and learn all we could under the tutelage of master chefs like Chef See Cheong Yan who is the Culinary Head at Enderun Colleges and his team of dedicated chefs, instructors and guest speakers.

So, after learning all about this fabulous culinary institute—that chef Ducasse takes a very personal interest in—thanks to a quick orientation tour around the Enderun College, we got down to business. Our very first class conducted by Chef See Cheong Yan was one where we learned to make Lyon Style Sausage with Crushed Potatoes and Mushroom Cappuccino (see recipe in .jpg format attached)

from scratch and when I say from scratch I mean it! Not only did we grind the pork meat and fat along with spiced and pistachios via the very handy grinder attachment of the KitchenAid Stand Mixer, but we also tried out the sausage stuffing attachment of the mixer. After a few misses and flops we all somehow managed to get the hang of stuffing a sausage, but then again most of the hard work was being done by the many KitchenAid Stand Mixer that we were given to work on. I chose one in the top selling hue—the Candy Apple.

For the crushed potato component once again it was a KitchenAid appliance to the rescue. This time the KitchenAid Food Processor

did its magic in slicing the boiled spuds just about as thick as Chef Yan wanted them.

Dishing out our individual creations under Chef Yan’s hawk-like gaze made us a wee bit nervous, but seeing his face light up on tasting our amateur creations was reward enough. This was followed by a quick lunch of a yummy Roast Hen with Polenta, rounded off by a sinfully good Peanut Butter-Chocolate Ganache Torte at the school’s fully functional (and open to the public) fine dining Rerstaurant 101. It was back to the grind in the classrooms (or should I say class kitchens!) for a three hour class on the art of making a traditional Filipino dish called Kare Kare. But the one we were taught to make by the lovely faculty member Chef Suzette Montinola—who also runs the sublime La Cocina de Tita Moning restaurant in downtown Manila—was a twist on the traditional Kare Kare (see recipe in .jpg format attached)

with a shredded pork stuffed ravioli floating in a peanut, banana flower and eggplant saturated sauce that was jazzed up using the typically Filipino dried shrimp paste called bagoong! What I loved most about the dish was the fact that we not only got to make our pasta dough in the KitchenAid Stand Mixer but we also used the mixer’s special pasta-making attachment

to roll out the sheets of pasta to our desired thickness and then use the special KitchenAid Stand Mixer Ravioli Maker to stamp out perfect little raviolis! That I thought was simply genius. And once again the KitchenAid Stand Mixer’s versatility was amply evident. But like they say the ‘proof is in the pudding’. And what a sublime dish our Ravioli Kare Kare turned out to be and something that I plan to try out very soon in a desi style. So watch this space for that fusion recipe...  

This was followed up by a very interesting dessert wine and dessert pairing session conducted by the very hands-on sommelier Bel Castro who took us through the nuances of some of the best dessert wines in the world while we nibbled at desserts like a wobbly Vanilla Panna Cotta and a typically Filipino Leche Flan which is similar to a caramel custard. I must say that at first I was a little apprehensive about pairing already sweet wines with desserts, but like Bel said, one needs to keep an open mind to see the possibilities opening up.

The next day began on a fun note with us learning to make one of the world’s favourite Spanish fried dough pastries—Churros with a Raspberry Jam (see recipe in .jpg format attached).

Right from cooking the choux pastry to mixing in the eggs one at a time in the KitchenAid Stand Mixer to piping out the filling on butter paper and then freezing it before frying we did it all ourselves and the results were astonishingly good for a bunch of amateur cooks. The tartness of the jam that we blended till smooth using the KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender

was almost epic and was the perfect foil to the crunchy bite of the hot churros.

A hand’s on workshop on Food Photography and Styling by the famed Neal Oshima

was next on the cards and it really gave us an insight into the world of food in its glam avatar. It encouraged even a novice photographer like me to pull up my socks and get clicking. Barely had the session got over when we were presented with a bombshell by the KitchenAid guys. We were to compete in teams of three based on our nationalities in a Masterchef-esque cookery competition the next day based on certain rules and regulations that we were to strictly adhere to. For example we all had to have a pasta in our dish and we had to use an approved list of ingredients that the school would provide us the next day. We also had to submit a written recipe that we had to come up with so that we could get what we needed in time for the big cook off the next morning.

My team mates were the very talented Archana Doshi a fellow food blogger (www.archanaskitchen.com) and Vishal Kolhe of the BBC Good Food India magazine. We got together and quickly came up with a stellar recipe for Grilled Chilli Coriander Salmon and Lemon Gnocchi served with a creamy mustard turmeric sauce and grilled carrots and bell peppers (see recipe below). We were given two hours to execute our dishes which we did in perfect harmony with each other with all our roles and duties clearly defined. Finishing in the nick of time we all gave a collective sigh of relief as the servers took our dishes to the judging panel to give their final verdict.

I really didn’t envy their job as having done some judging before I know how tough it is for them to come up with a single winner from a bunch of talented people and this time we were in some stellar company with professional chefs from Hong Kong, food bloggers from Australia, nutritionists from China and food editors from Malaysia.

In the evening the results were announced and although we didn’t win (the crowd favourite team Hong Kong did!), here’s our much-appreciated recipe...

Grilled Chilli Coriander Salmon and Lemon Gnocchi (served with a creamy mustard turmeric sauce and grilled carrots and bell peppers)

Recipe developed by Archana Doshi and Raul Dias for the KitchenAid cookery competition

INGREDIENTS
For the Grilled Salmon
5 salmon steaks
Juice from one lemon
1 recipe of Coriander Marinade
1 tbsp oil for cooking
Sesame seeds for coating

For the Salmon Marinade to be ground into paste
1 bunch coriander leaves, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 green chillies
Salt and pepper to taste

For the Lemon Gnocchi
4 potatoes peeled, quartered
Salt and ground black pepper
2 egg yolks, lightly whisked
1/2 cup of plain flour plus more to dust
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp lemon zest

For Mustard Turmeric Sauce
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp turmeric powder
salt and black pepper
250 ml cream
1 tbsp of butter

For Garnish
1large carrot, sliced
1green bell pepper sliced

1yellow bell pepper sliced

KitchenAid products used

* KitchenAid Chopper

* KitchenAid Stand Mixer with paddle attachment

* KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender

METHOD
For the Marinade and Grilled Salmon
* Into a KitchenAid Chopper, blend together the ingredients for the marinade until blended and lightly coarse (not a smooth paste).
* Toss the salmon steaks into the coriander marinade and allow it to rest for about 15 minutes at least.
* Preheat the BBQ gill or the stove top grill, grease the pan with oil. Place salmon steaks on grill and cook for five minutes on each side, or until fish is easily flaked with a fork.

For the Lemon Gnocchi
* Add enough water to a saucepan and bring to the boil over high heat.
* Place potato in a metal steaming basket. Place steamer in saucepan making sure base of steamer doesn't touch the water.
* Steam the potatoes covered, for 15 minutes or until tender and fluffy. NOTE: It's best to steam rather than boil the potato. Boiling can saturate potato with water, which will increase the amount of flour required and result in a heavier gnocchi.
* Lightly mash the potatoes with a fork and transfer to the bowl of a KitchenAid Stand Mixer with a paddle attachment.
* Add in the eggs, cheese, lemon zest, salt and pepper and whisk well until combined. Gradually add in the flour over the potatoes until it just holds and brings the dough together.
* To test if the dough is of the correct consistency, take a piece and roll it with your hands on a well-floured board into a rope 1/2-inch in diameter. If the dough holds together, it is ready. If not, add more flour, fold and press the dough several more times, and test again.
* Flour the working surface and the gnocchi dough. Cut the dough into four pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about 1/2-inch in diameter. Cut each log into 1/2-inch pieces. Lightly flour the gnocchi as you cut them.
* Lightly flour your hands and roll each piece of dough into a ball. Use your thumb to roll each ball over a floured fork and place on a floured tray.
* Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil over medium heat. Add a few gnocchi at a time into the sauce pan and cook for three minutes or until they rise to the surface. Use a slotted spoon to drain and transfer to a bowl. Cover with foil to keep warm and repeat with the remaining gnocchi

For the Mustard Turmeric Sauce
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a quick boil. Blend till smooth with a KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender, strain into a sauce boat and keep aside.

For the Grilled Vegetable Garnish
Place the sliced carrots and bell peppers on a grill with salt and pepper and cook them until still a bit crunchy with the grill marks visible.

PLATING THE DISH
Arrange the grilled vegetables diagonally at the top end of a rectangular plate. Next place the grilled salmon, gnocchi and a small bowl of sauce.

_____________________________________________________________________

The last session of the summit was my favourite with a lecture by Chef Suzette Montinola on “Food Trends and Sustainability”. It ran the whole gamut of both passé trends (guys, I’m rather happy to tell you all that molecular gastronomy is out!) and future trends (communal dining).

And what a perfect way to end a perfect foodie conclave talking about the future of our great big wonderful world of food that I’m so happy to be a small part of!

All pics courtesy KitchenAid

(for those who want to catch us all in action working with our KitchenAid appliances, rustling up our very own edible wonders, here’s a YouTube link to a short video http://youtu.be/NFJmKuvwrcM)

Do let me know what you thought about the post and the recipes. I really hope this little endeavour of mine inspires you all to cook more efficiently and confidently with KitchenAid’s awesome range of products. I know I have!

PS. Watch out for new and exciting monthly recipes that I plan to come up with using my very own KitchenAid appliances.

For information on KitchenAid appliances...
visit: www.kitchenaidindia.com
email: info@kitchenaidindia.com
visit: www.facebook.com/KitchenAidIndia
tweet: www.twitter.com/KitchenAidIND
see: www.youtube.com/KitchenAidIndia
call: Toll Free Number (India): 1800 4190 790

XXX

A few pics from my recent Goan food styling assignment

The world's hidden shopping destinations

By Raul Dias

(As appeared in the November 21, 2013 issue of the DNA newspaper in the Mumbai edition))

Indian? You don't need a visa to go to these exotic destinations!

By Raul Dias

(As appeared in the January 23, 2014 issue of the DNA newspaper in the Mumbai edition)

Where turtles hatch in India...

By Raul Dias

(As appeared in the March 13, 2014 issue of the DNA newspaper in the Mumbai edition)

Drinking snake wine in Luang Prabang, Laos

By Raul Dias

(As appeared in the January 16, 2014 issue of the DNA newspaper in the Mumbai edition)

Me going 'Dumpster Diving' in London!

By Raul Dias

(As appeared in the April 6, 2014 issue of the DNA newspaper in the Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore editions)

Japan served

There is much more to the edible wonders of Japanese cuisine than just sushi, tempura and teppanyaki, says RAUL DIAS who comes back from the Land of the Rising Sun with a plateful of unusual suspects

Stendhal Syndrome is defined as “a psychosomatic disorder that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful...” But that afternoon, as I stared in wonder at the perfectly poised ‘cherry blossoms’ fashioned out of a blushing pink radish, surrounded by tendrils of carrot, all adorning a miso-glazed piece of red sea bream, accompanied by a quivering egg and seafood savoury custard called chawanmushi, I knew that I was struck by the aforementioned affliction with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
I was in Japan on a mission. A food-forged mission that I hoped would have serendipitous consequences. Adamant to have a taste of the ‘real’ Japanese cuisine, something other than sushi, tempura and teppanyaki—the holy trinity that has assaulted us with all its might here in India—I found myself in the hallowed and sacred environs of the Haryō-in Temple in the mountain town of Kōya-san in Japan’s Kansai region, sitting down for a meal. But this was no ordinary meal, I was told by the temple priests. I would be indulging in the Japanese version of haute cuisine called kaiseki-ryori, that this temple, doubling up as a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn), serves its patrons. Mainly a meat-less eight course meal, kaiseki-ryori is an elaborate and expensive affair at around Rs 4,500 per person. Among other fish and vegetarian dishes, go-han or Japanese style boiled rice is always eaten last along with assorted vegetable pickles called tsukemono, rice dough-based wagashi (desserts) like the adzuki red bean paste-stuffed mochi. All this is lubricated by the smooth-as-silk rice wine, sake, or the tepid ocha green tea for the teetotallers.
Offering me a glimpse at another one of Japan’s edible wonders (with a less expensive bill at the end!) was the Matsuzaka restaurant in Tokyo’s trendy Akasaka area that specialises in shabu-shabu—a dish popular with the Gen-Y set. A variation of sukiyaki, where thin slivers of meat are blanched in a herbed, citrus-y broth and then served to patrons, this dish puts a D.I.Y. spin on things by making diners do all the cooking themselves over the pots of steaming broth that are fitted onto gas stoves built right into the tables. Surrounded by a phalanx of giggly teenagers dressed as cosplay and manga comics’ characters, I got down to business. All the while under the watchful gaze of the rather bemused wait staff who were still coming to grips with the idea of a gaijin (foreigner) attempting to infuse a little grace into the rather messy preparation!
Another über popular D.I.Y. preparation is the famed okonomiyaki. Literally meaning “grilled as you like it”, this pancake-meets-pizza doppelganger is as fun to make as it is to eat. My friend Satoshi Abe at whose Roppongi Hills, Tokyo pad I was crashing at threw an impromptu okonomiyaki party for me, where he and his friends introduced me to the dish’s nuances. Made from a slurry of flour, water, shredded cabbage, ginger, beaten eggs, seafood and any other meat or vegetable of your choice, the diners are supposed to pile all these up in layers onto a hot oiled flat top griddle (see recipe). Once ready, the pancake is drizzled with a sweet brown sauce and mayonnaise and sent off with an embellishment of dried bonito fish flakes.
As I travelled south of the country to the once doomed city of Hiroshima, I learnt that there is a lot of conjecture with regards to the provenance of the dish. While some believe that the okonomiyaki made all over Japan is the Real McCoy, there is a whole other school of purists who is adamant that the Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki made with soba noodles, with pork or beef substituting the seafood is the only kind there can ever be. But at the risk of sounding like a total Philistine, I must admit that the one that I ate at the Okonomi-mura Okonomiyaki House at Shintenchi Plaza Building in downtown Hiroshima was no better or worse than its other country cousins.
The streets of Kyoto, particularly the Geisha-infested alley of Ponto-chō were my Aladdin’s cave of treasures as far as street food went. Rushing me past restaurants, whose window displays featured plastic replicas of assorted food and drinks (including a very authentic looking masala dosa, I kid you not!), my former university buddy and de facto Kyoto guide, Fumie Takai led me to her favourite local Japanese style pub called an izakaya. Featuring on its menu were grilled skewers of offal like gyutan (ox’s tongue), torikawa (chicken skin) and motsu-nabe (pig’s heart) along with octopus balls called takoyaki and bowls of steaming beef ramen noodle soup. All criminally encore-worthy.
Also gaining popularity, I was told, was the rather Indianised kari (curry) dishes. The tonkatsu kari that I bought in a packaged form from an Osaka train station shokudō (casual restaurant) was a curious dish of a deep fried pork cutlet and prawn doused with a sweetish, gloopy curry sauce with subtle nuances of Madras curry powder, all sitting atop a bed of raisu (western-style cooked rice). Perfectly edible. But curry, it sure was not. 
And I couldn’t possibly leave Japan without a bit of sumo action. But not the kind you’d be expecting. Chanko-nabe is a hearty stew developed to put the heft into apprentice sumo wrestlers. Made from a base of chicken stock to which copious amounts of chicken, tofu, and vegetables like onions, shiitake mushrooms and Chinese cabbage are added along with herbs like ginseng root to bulk things up. Half a bowl of this power-packed concoction at downtown Kyoto’s Chanko Tomoegata restaurant and I was ready to call it quits. I was finally full.  
Accepting defeat, I skulked away from the restaurant, averting my eyes from the piercing gaze of my fellow diners. But ecstatic that my must-eat list would see its final ‘check’!

All pics by Raul Dias

Satoshi’s Okonomiyaki

Ingredients:
1/2 a large cabbage
2 cups plain flour
2 2/3 cups water
4 eggs
2 chicken/vegetable stock cubes
150 gm mixed seafood (squid, prawns, oysters, mussels) or mixed blanched vegetables (peas, diced carrots, French beans)
1 tbsp pickled pink ginger (gari) chopped finely
2 spring onions sliced thinly with stalk
2 tbsp HP sauce or thick Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp dried bonito fish flakes (optional)

Method:
* Finely slice cabbage.
* In a large bowl mix flour, water and eggs.  Mix in stock cubes, spring onions and pickled ginger. 
* Add cabbage and combine well.
* Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan. Spoon cabbage mixture into the pan to make a nine inch circle about ¾ inch thick. If the mixture spreads out of the circle, try and coax it together with a metal spatula. You can even use a cooking ring to pour the mixture into to retain its shape.
* Sprinkle the seafood or blanched vegetables on top of the okonomiyaki and let it cook for 3-4 minutes.
* Carefully flip, then cook another 3-4 minutes. When cooked through, turn onto a plate with the seafood/vegetable side upwards.
* Using a squeeze bottle, drizzle both the HP/Worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise over the okonomiyaki.
* Top with bonito fish flakes, cut into wedges like a pizza and serve hot.

 (First published in the February 2, 2014 issue of The Hindu newspaper in Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kochi, Coimbatore, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam

editions)

Doing Dhaka!

Look beyond its grit and grime and Dhaka is sure to stun you silent with its innate beauty, subtle grace and immense cultural wealth, says Raul Dias after a recent tryst with Bangladesh’s chaotic capital

“You must be a die-hard cricket fan” was a statement I constantly encountered for weeks leading up to my maiden trip to Dhaka—with a strong emphasis on the ‘cricket’ bit. Right from my colleagues to the Indian immigration officer stamping my passport at the airport, all erroneously assumed that I (a total non-believer in the religion of cricket, as it were) was going there to partake in the back-to-back cricket mania that is gripping Dhaka even as you read this. Why else would any ‘tourist’ visit a city like Dhaka? But ask true blue, card carrying members of the ‘traveller’ brigade “why Dhaka?” and they, like me, will serve you with a volley of reasons to partake in Dhaka’s story. And what a richly-textured story this city by the Buriganga River has to tell!

So, resolutely ignoring the many strategically placed ICC T20 World Cup 2014 time tickers along the dusty roads, I set off on my day in Dhaka. All the while coughing my way through the potentially toxic fumes emanating from the city’s gazillion auto rickshaws or ‘Baby Taxis’ as they are referred to in the local vernacular, as I gaped at the cage-like bicycle-driven contraptions that ferry school children to and fro. Sitting ensconced in a colourful cycle rickshaw with an equally colourful driver, I decided to pay obeisance to the very vehicle I was riding in by visiting an iconic street housed in the precincts of Old Dhaka in the south end of the city.

Bicycle Street, which is more formally called Bangsal Road, is a meandering one lined with shops selling bicycles of all kinds as well as stalls that do the special kitschy rickshaw art that each driver tries to outdo the other by decorating his beloved cycle rickshaw with. A few yards away at the 300-year-old Hindu Street called Shankharia Bazaar my ears suddenly picked up a sonorous tinkling sound that was being made by the workmen fashioning intricate pieces of jewellery from gold and other precious metals. From there, I chose to have a go at walking through the labyrinthine alleyways that led me to the deliciously pink-hued Ahsan Manzil nestled at the top end of a very nondescript street. This 144-year-old edifice was once the official residential palace and seat of the Dhaka Nawab Family that is today converted into a museum with all the regalia on full display.

Having heard of this Dhaka oddity from a fellow traveller a few years ago, I simply couldn’t resist a glimpse at the serene Armenian Church in the Armanitola area of this part of Dhaka. I call it an oddity because this is the only known place where you can still see old gravestones inscribed in the traditional Armenian script. Just a mere 300meters north of the church, I discovered the Sitara Mosque thanks to the Tk100 (hundred Bangladeshi taka) note that has on its face a printed depiction of this mosque that is an icon, thanks to its four domes that are entirely decorated with mosaic tiled stars and hence the name—Sitara.

Still in Old Dhaka and dodging the omnipresent black smoke belching buses and eardrum shattering blearing of horns, I descended upon the rather paradisiacal 17^th Century Lalbagh Fort Gardens. This is where I found the very beautiful Tomb of Pari Bibi that is in the middle of the complex, flanked on either side by the Diwani-i-Aam hammam and the Lalbagh Fort Mosque on the eastern side. 

Feeling a tad peckish after that cultural overdose, I simply couldn’t resist the lure of the famed Dhakai snack called chotpoti that is hawked from almost every street corner out of glass box-like carts. Similar to our very own bhelpuri, chotpoti is made from potatoes and chickpeas that are mixed with chillies, onions, tamarind sauce, salt and spices and served in a paper cone topped with a grated hardboiled egg. I then chased it with a plateful of goodies like ros bhora made from lentil flour and the Bangladeshi version of the patisapta that I bought from a shop dotted with luridly coloured sweetmeats. And only after washing it all down with a glass of borhani—the drinkable Bangladeshi version of raita—was I satiated. But only in the edible sense of the term, as Dhaka still had to fill me up with its other bounties.

And one of those bounties showed itself to me in the form of the red-brick Curzon Hall that is part of the vast Dhaka University. This 110-year-old structure built in the colonial-meets-oriental style of architecture intended to serve as the Dhaka town hall is today part the University’s school of science. A little further down the road, I savoured the sight of the stunning ivory Supreme Court building and its well-manicured lawns. But the piece de resistance for me was the startlingly modern and abstract looking National Assembly Building or Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Central Dhaka. A true architectural marvel, the building was finished in 1982—with work having begun in 1961—and is based on the designs of American architect Louis Kahn. With a moat-like water body surrounding it, thus referencing the country’s aqueous geography, the main building is made up of huge walls deeply recessed by porticoes and large openings of regular geometric shapes that let the light stream in.   

As my hotter than hot day about the city began to give way to the cool comfort of the evening, I decided to end it with something I was looking forward to. A languid cruise down the main arterial Buriganga River, sailing on a tiny wooden boat was just what I needed to see how chameleon-like and bi-polar Dhaka is.

The once grimy, grey waters of the Sadarghat Boat Terminal from where I boarded, suddenly seemed to take on a magical, shimmery orange hue as I sat in serene bliss and all seemed well in the world once again. But that’s what Dhaka does to you. It lovingly soothes away all the aches and pains it inflicts on you. And all is forgotten as it embraces you with all its might…

All pics by Raul Dias

   

FACT FILE
Getting There
There are a number of daily direct flights to Dhaka from New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata on airlines like Air India, Jet Airways and Biman Bangladesh Airlines. Visas need to be taken in advance at the Bangladesh High Commission in India and take three to four working days to process. Travel within Dhaka is easy with many auto rickshaws, cycle rickshaws and buses plying between its various attractions and neighbourhoods.

When to Visit
The months from October to April are the best time to visit Dhaka which experiences a pleasant climate, while May to September are the hot and humid months.

Accommodation
There is a good range of accommodation options available in Dhaka that suit most budgets. The average cost for accommodation is around 6,000 Bangladeshi Taka (Rs 5,000 approximately) per night for two inclusive of breakfast.

Besides Dhaka…
* Visit the tea estates that dot the hilly slopes of Sylhet in Bangladesh’s north east.

* Commune with nature in the wilderness of mighty Sundarbans mangroves that Bangladesh shares with India.

* For all you beach bums out there, plan a few days of sun, sand and surf in the beautiful coastal city of Cox Bazar.

(First published in the April 4, 2014 issue of the Afternoon Despatch & Courier newspaper, Mumbai)