Our First country was selected randomly by Emma-Rose and it took us all the way to India. Before commenting on this country's eclectic cuisine, let's share some of the most interesting Indian facts that Sarah and Emma researched:- Geography: 7th largest country by area and 2nd most populated with 1.2 Billion people
- Capital: New Delhi and the largest city is Mumbai
- Currency: The Indian Rupee which is equivalent to about 2 CDN Cents
- Religion: Hinduism is practiced by over 80% of the population
- Language: India has 15 languages but the common ones are Hindi and English
- Sports: The national sport is field hockey but the most popular is Cricket
- Past Time: Indians love their movies, with Bollywood in Mumbai making over 500 movies every year. In Indian movies, the characters never Kiss, instead, they break out in Dance.
- Items of Interest include the fact that Gandhi led a non-violent resistance in 1947 helping India become an independant nation. The Taj Mahal was built in the 17th Century by the emperor Shah Mahal for his wife who past away while giving birth to their child. It is in Agra and is considered the 8th wonder of the world. The Ganges river is the largest and considered the holliest of waters. The largest mountain range in the world are the Himalayas that border the north with Bhutan and Nepal. Finally, Indians do not eat any Cow Meat as it is considered sacred for its nutritous milk.
RESTAURANT REVIEW : Tandoori Bellevue, 67 St-Anne, St-Anne de Bellevue, QC
On January14th we visited this well established restaurant and followed our waiters suggestions. First we had the Chicken Tikka (Sarah: "Spicy"), the Kebob chiken and chick Pea (Dad: "Tasted like a sausage"), the Samosa (Sarah & Mom: "Our Favorite"), and the Pakora (Emma: "My Tongue is Mad!" as it was very spicy).
For the main course we ordered the Tandori dry Chicken (Sarah: "Too spicy and dry"), the Butter Chicken (The family's favorite and the most fun to order with the proper accent!), the Balti Lamb with green peppers (Mom: "looked better than it tasted"), and the Baigan Bharta, an Eggplant puree which only Dad enjoyed. The Naan is their bread which was delicious (Sarah: "Just like a Pizza") while Mom and Dad enjoyed the Taj Mahal Blonde Beer in a supersize, perfect to cut the spicyness: "More Beer Please!"
All in all, it certainly debuted our adventure with a serious KICK! We would never have exposed ourselves to such a cuisine if it were not for this family project proposed by Mom. Researching these facts together as a family was certainly a lot of fun as we look forward to our next "trip", stay tuned...
