We don’t have family in San Diego but have friends there who were generous enough to spend their time with us . I am thankful to them because of whom we could make most of this wonderful place in 4 days. I am happy to share some highlights of our trip with you . The day we reached we were lucky enough to see the air show and expo held at the marine headquarters. It was just spectacular . We even got a chance to see the choppers and fighter jets from inside. The feeling was overwhelming. The next day we headed to LEGOLAND – the most awaited place to visit as my son is a lego fan and Oh boy , he had a blast there. The famous Taj Mahal made of legos – unbelievable right
Everything you see here is made of Lego blocks . Isn’t this marvelous . Its so amazing to see that humans can do about anything. This creativity and pain staking efforts just blows my mind. The New York skyline with Statue of liberty – everything legos
The Congress House
The miniature people at the Congress House are made of legos too And here comes the epic , the masterpiece – Mount Rushmore re created with legos here – how cool
You’ve got to visit this place .. there is so much more amusing things to see and experience 🙂 The third day we went to the Zoo . Let me tell you this ain’t any ordinary zoo. It’s a home to whooping 4000 species mostly rescued . You name it and they have it. One of the best ones in United States and the best one that I have ever visited . The best part of the zoo was watching the polar bears so close
AAhhhh and the giraffes
And the last day we again headed to LEGOLAND as 1 day wasn’t enough for my son . He is all the more in love with LEGOLAND . And needless to say we brought back tons of souveniers – mainly lego blocks .. lol By the way if you happen to visit San Diego do not forget to stop by ‘extraordinary desserts ‘ – its by far the most exquisite and fancy dessert place I have ever been too and yes its very pocket friendly too.
I forgot to carry the camera .. silly me All the holiday pictures are clicked by my phone . Now back to the post 🙂 So after eating out day and night for 4 days ,when you return home what is the 1st thing you crave for? Well …… Its always garam garam dal rice for us . Nothing fancy yet soul satiating right. I knew I was going to make dal rice , but as we were out on holiday I did not stock up on groceries . I just had few lemons and one onion on hand . But you know what I did not even use them . I made Jain dal without onion or garlic . So today I am sharing this very simple yet flavorful dal recipe which comes from the state of Rajasthan – its rajasthani khatti meethi dal which doesn’t require any veggies , not even tomatoes . I have learnt this one from my mom and its a staple one at my place. I make it once in 2 weeks at least . And when I made it today , it occurred to me that I have to share it with you . So no fancy pictures , clicked in a jiffy on my cell phone . As I mentioned it is khatti meethi Khatti means tangy – and here tanginess is achieved by use of Kokum. If you don’t have kokum – refer to notes below the recipe for possible substitutes. Meethi means sweet – and sweetness is infused with use of sugar or gud/ jaggery . Today I have used raw sugar. I am a big herb fan – I have used dried curry leaves in this dal too. I always stock up on dried herbs , so that I have them available whenever I want. If you have fresh curry leaves , do use them . And lastly – how can we forget the very important part of our cuisine – fabulous ghee and spices tadka. Yes ghee /clarified butter is something we rajasthani’s cannot part with . We love everything with tadka . So please do not use oil.
Dal is made in every Indian household and the interesting thing is that not only every state has their own dal specialities but every household has their own way of making it. Hope you like my version of dal.
best eaten with
Steamed rice side of roti / paratha or simply sip it off like a lentil soup and by the way did you try my rajasthani khoba roti – its pairs best with it . You can find the step by step recipe link for the same here. Its no onion no garlic dal but I served with a side of chopped onions as hubby dear can’t live without them . We didn’t even find the need to add lemons . And how can we forget a side of papad or Khichiya with dal rice . Sometimes I even serve it with a side of bhujiya sev and homemade chutney or pickle . Pure bliss!
