The Internet Personified: eM's List of Shit I Love
My dear fellow compulsive shoppers,
God, I love stuff. There are recommendations I make over and over again, banging on about them at every party till people start rolling their eyes. (See: Terrace House.) But it occurred to me the other day that I should turn this long running party conversation into a list so that I'm not just jumping in to conversations, making jazz hands and going, "Haaaaaave you tried MAKING YOUR OWN CAT FEEDER?" [All credit for this goes to K, but since you asked, he took an old plastic jar, a large one, and drilled holes into it. Fill it with cat food, place on the floor, cats get at it (or shout at you to make the food appear faster.)] (Some of these might be things you've heard me talk about before, just not all in one place.)
One final housekeeping note: Due to the temperamental nature of TinyLetter, I'm not going to put links into this, because otherwise it thinks I'm spamming you and blocks my letter for like a hundred YEARS and this platform is really secondary to their paying platform MailChimp, so no one cares about the upkeep. I would switch, but all my archives are here, and this platform is old, but it has stood the test of time etc, so I'm staying on till I absolutely have to move. All this to say, no links, you'll have to Google stuff, unfortunately.
Free stuff to make you Feel Good. I think they're calling this category "self-care" these days: We had a wedding anniversary last week. Eight years together and two years married, both on the same day, because sometimes I am efficient and don't feel like remembering two dates, so we deliberately got married on the 16th of October 2017, which was also our six year regular anniversary. Fun! (Also have the foresight to meet in October, so the days are balmy and no one is too hot or too cold to party.) Anyhow, since we are basically Old Marrieds, my idea of a Fun Anniversary Activity was deciding to do some home improvement, which involved rearranging furniture. Oh my god, have you tried this? It is SO FUN and feels like you have a new house for a few weeks also. We pushed around stuff till we had a large swathe of empty space in our living room, and also a cozier arrangement for our slightly threadbare sofas. (Three cats, hard to have nice things.) Tip: if you're having a hard time deciding how to start, just swap two biggish pieces, like your dining table and your arm chairs. You'll start to see all the different ways a room can be. We also moved around a large potted plant which really ties the whole thing together.
My favourite date night restaurants in Delhi: Speaking of anniversaries! There are a couple of places in Delhi we go to over and over again, so I suppose they could all be technically Date Night, but any night can be a date night if you leave the house, I guess.
1) Leo's: Where we went to this particular anniversary. Named after a FRICKIN' DOG whose pictures are everywhere and if that is not reason enough to go, these are also the best pizzas I've had this side of Naples. (And I can say that now because I've totally been to Naples.) Wine, beer, SUPER QUICK service, so not really a lingering sort of place, but pretty anyway. (Yes, we've also been to EVOO's in Shivalik, but these pizzas are better.)
2) Fuji: There are a number of good Japanese restaurants in Delhi (okay, two: Kofuku in Ansal Plaza and bento box quick service Makoto Udon, both good) but for all-round excellent service and food it's Fuji in Connaught Place which pretty much always is full of only Japanese people, so you know it's authentic also. Oh ALSO they have Real Japanese Toilets, which means there's buttons next to seat and you can pick between front shower (for susu) and back shower (for potty), how much pressure you want and also AIR DRY your bits when you're done. Such an amazing civilization.
3) Little Saigon: I've shouted out to Little Saigon in Hauz Khas Market (not Village) before, but one more time! Really good, really authentic Vietnamese food. Vietnamese food can get a little same-y after a while, so I don't go as often as K wants to, but now that I've written this down, I kinda want to go for lunch today. No booze.
4) Rodeo Cantina: Remember the old Rodeo? Tex Mex via Punjab? This is the new and improved Rodeo, excellent tenderloin tacos, excellent margaritas, but sometimes they don't have tequila which is weird since they are supposed to be a Mexican restaurant, so call ahead and see if it's Tequila Friendly or not. Also Delhi's only Mexican restaurant at the moment, I think? (Although Sazerac at ATM in Sundar Nagar also does a few nice Mexican dishes.)
5) Pema's: Another one of K's favourites on this list. Pema's does the BEST momos in this city, they're not your regular momos, they're sort of steamed puffy doughy buns with also the best dipping sauce. Anyway, we order from Pema's frequently, and they are not far from us in Malviya Nagar, so we went once or twice, and K swears by the noodle soup when you go to eat there (because it doesn't travel very well.) Also non-alcoholic and teeny-tiny so there might not be much seating.
6) (And a delivery restaurant, because sometimes nights in can be date nights too) Sassy Begum: The best Hyderabadi biryani that's not actually in Hyderabad. Trust me. Spicy and steaming and so good, that I want to venture into their other Andhra dishes as well. Also try the salan! They are in Shahpur Jat, if I'm not mistaken, so if you fall within their delivery radius, you should absolutely try them out.
My favourite grocery stores because you should really cook at home more also:
1) Swiss Gourmessa: It all began a month ago, when K asked me why there wasn't any good pumpernickel bread to be had in this city. I decided that a city as big as Delhi HAD to have some enterprising pumpernickel bakeries that weren't just imported in from Germany, so I Googled, as I am good at doing, and hidden all the way on the bottom of the page was Swiss Gourmessa. Not only do they do pumpernickel, they also do a great multigrain and sourdough and all sorts of different sorts of bread and THEY DELIVER. This is the best part. The first two times they sent us bread in plastic wrappers, but then since we take the bread out and put it into freezer bags to keep fresh longer (they have sliced and unsliced options, I always pick sliced because it's easier) I wrote in the Special Instructions thing online to send paper bags only and they actually listened, which I think was great. I've been wanting to tell you guys about Swiss Gourmessa for weeks, and really, they are the reason I decided on this newsletter theme.
2) Fresh To Home: For antibiotic free chicken or free range goat but also for a lovely WIDE variety of river and sea fish, which you can order cut in any way you like. I use them for all my meaty needs. Got some excellent sardines the other day, which stank up the whole kitchen for weeks but tasted so good. It's an app/website for delivery.
3) Mother Dairy Milk Booth: Which okay, yes, LOL #sobasic. BUT! They still do this thing where they will fill up a can or a bottle for you if you go there. Rs 40 per litre, and no plastic involved at all. We dug out our milk cans (stopping for a moment to go, "Whoa, when did we get milk cans?") and K takes them down to the booth every now and then and gets four litres of milk which he turns into homemade paneer (easy how-tos on YouTube) and dahi (in the Instant Pot, which I am going to expand on below) and then we hang the dahi so we get Greek yogurt and then further, a creamy cheesy spread which you can sweeten with honey and cinammon or season with green chilli and garlic and spread on bread. (I don't drink milk, so I have taken to making oat milk at home, which is also super easy and tastes yummy.)
My favourite new hair product: I bought some natural deodorant off this website called Soap Works the other day. (Yes, I am now at Peak Crunchy Granola Hippy, but it's so fun! Also the deo is great and lasts all day, and since it's mint flavoured, I smell minty fresh in my armpits.) Soap Works was all over my Instagram and you know that old marketing saying, "If you see something seven times, you'll likely buy it the eighth time"? I believe it, because I found myself rootling around their website and since I had tossed in the deodorant and they were charging shipping, I decided to try the Hibiscus Hair Butter, just on a whim. You guys. It is literally the best thing I have put in my hair. I recently bleached a whole section, but it's all still so soft, the curls are forming nicely and it's not at all sticky--you put it on before a shower, let it sit for a bit in the steam and then rinse your hair and it's gorgeous and I have almost finished my tin.
The hottest hot sauce I have ever had: Is by a brand called Naagin, and you should have the bhoot jhalokia hot sauce if you want your eyeballs to fall out of your head with steam coming out of your eye sockets. I mean, it's a pleasant experience for me, but do not try this unless you want something super spicy.
My two favourite use-all-the-time gadgets:
1) Red Gear Mechanical Keyboard: Which K got me for my last birthday and which I love even more now than the day we met. I actively miss it when I travel. It's so great. And the clicky clacky noises never get old.
2) Instant Pot: A lot of people message me on Twitter or Instagram saying, "Oh is it worth it?" and I will answer them as I answer you right now: if you are a reluctant, lazy or slightly scared cook, it will turn your cooking around because it's just so easy to use. It's more than just an electric pressure cooker, it's like this little gadget sitting on our kitchen counter inspiring me to confidence. I feel like I can make ANYTHING. Recently I've taken to cooking single serve Indian meals in it, just about enough for our lunch, so rajma-rice one day, kadhi chawal the next. Today I thought, "Hmm, it'd be nice to have a nice rasam in this weather" so I Googled it, found a recipe and off I go. (However, now the electricity has gone and will be gone till 3 pm so I think I am stymied.) (It needs regular power, and also a step down transformer, which is quite ugly, but I have propped my cookbooks up on it, so at least it's hidden.)
Phew! Long list! I am done (for now). I hope some of it proved useful.
Stuff I wrote recently:
In my Mythology for the Millennial column, I finally tackled karwa chauth and it was exciting!
Stuff other people wrote which I enjoyed reading:
The Downton Abbey tourism boom is not great for people who live in that village, as expected.
The reborn doll community is weird.
"But, for once, here is someone who by not giving me the “respect” or distance I feel instinctively entitled to because of my social class, makes me feel…weird." On discussing sex with an auto driver.
"Hearing other people’s uncensored opinions of you is an unpleasant reminder that you’re just another person in the world, and everyone else does not always view you in the forgiving light that you hope they do, making all allowances, always on your side." I loved this op-ed.
You've watched the show Unbelievable, now read the Pulitzer Prize winning article that inspired it. (Trigger warning: sexual violence, rape.)
Yup, white people have weird bathroom habits.
Do we need to be vegetarian in India to save the planet? As an upper middle class Indian, I think sadly, yes.
And very fitting: what romance looks like after ten years of marriage.
Have a great week!
xx
m
Where am I? The Internet Personified! A mostly weekly collection of things I did/thought/read/saw that week.
Who are you? Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan, writer of internet words (and other things) author of seven books (support me by buying a book!) and general city-potter-er.
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