Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork

Rongali Bihu is the main festival celebrated in Assam and marks the onset of spring.It's a time for joyous celebration and that's exactly what we did at the A Perfect Bite Cook Studio where Gitika Saikia arranged for the most exotic meal I have had! It was a part of the Culinary Legacy Series and many more such events are planned.The studio was packed,understandably so! Having had her Assamese food earlier at a pop-up,I expected this to be great.Walked into a studio decorated with Assamese "gamosas" and Rushina and her hubbie Shekhar wore them too.Gitika was wearing the traditional red and gold Mekhala Chador.Bihu songs played in the background,adding to the festive mood and bubbly  Gitika danced for us :D Bihu is a festival of the farmers and has no religious connotation First thing we were served were the pithas or pancakes made of rice flour.Stuffed with jaggery and sesame seed paste,these had to be dunked into black Assamese tea. Lo...

We reached Dapoli in about six hours after halting at several places.It is about 250 km from Mumbai.Dapoli itself is away from the sea so we choose to stay at Karde Beach at the Sagar Saoli Resort. Close to the resort were adventure sports such as parasailing,water scooters and beach biking.The Dolphin Safari also started there. The hotel was comfortable and the service exceptionally good! Bathrooms were simple but equipped.Food was homely and quite a treat! In the garden was a well and a huge mango tree full of unripe mangoes. We had a view of the ocean from the rooms.There was lovely chai stall by the sea In the garden was a sago palm.This is the source of sabudana which is made into khichdi and kheer on days of "fasting".High in calories. For breakfast we had many options.The Thalipeeth was superb! Handpressed,this was well spiced and nutritious as it was multi grained.Way better than any I have had in Mumbai.This wa...