Week Ending February 16, 2020

Tuesday we attended the Central Zone Conference.  We love the energy of the young missionaries.

That evening we decorated Valentine's Day cookies with the girls.  The goal seemed to be to pile as many sugary decorations as possible on each cookie. 

And then eat them all, of course.

Wednesday morning we visited the Mughal Gardens situated behind the Rashtrapati Bhawan (Presidential Palace, formerly the Victroy's House).  They are only open to the public for a few weeks in February and March.  The roses, tulips, pansies, violas, dahlias, ranunculus, lilies, and many other types of flowers were stunning.

A beautiful carpet-style rangoli made entirely of fresh flowers. 

Afterwards we went to the Bengali Market and has some mid-morning chat (snacks).  This is papri, one of my favorites. Small crisp disks are covered with chutney,  masala, and yogurt and garnished with pomegranate seeds and cashews.

This is Aloo Tikki, fried spicy potato patties with a side of chana (chickpeas, at the bottom) and served with a couple of chutneys (at the top).

And of course, momos, Delhi's favorite snack,.  These are steamed vegetarian Chinese dumplings. They can be fried and non-veg also.  Served with a spicy sauce.

Thursday Shrivani Rajput came over to made and decorate more Valentine's cookies.  We delivered them to the other senior couples and the mission office.

Grant and I have a lovely Mughal style Valentine's dinner at Dum Pukht.  Since it was Mughal cuisine, we chose the non-vegetarian option.  The starters included a great lamb kabab and tasty chicken tikka.  The latter was garnished with edible silver foil, another Mughal-style detail. 

Dum Pukht is slow cooking method using a clay pot with a dough seal.  It was supposedly developed in the kingdom of Awad in north India by the Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah (1748-97).  During a great famine he carried out a food for work program, providing meals to thousands of workers building the Bada Imambara shrine using this method of cooking.  The method was upgraded and refined for the Nawab's private kitchens and thus passed into Indian culinary tradition.  Besides the appetizer course (above) lamb was included in the main course and the biryani and it was tender and delicious.  I am going to miss the food here!

Sunday evening we had a missionary fireside with Elder Homer of the Asia Area Presidency for the youth and YSA of the stake.  They are a beautiful bunch.

This 27 year old single returned missionary is the president of the Pitampura Branch.

Great kids and the future of India. The two missions in India absolutely depend on local missionaries to function.  They not only avoid Indian visa problems, they create a solid foundation for the Church when they return home after their service.  Generally missionaries from the south serve in the north and vice versa, although many from the south also serve in the south as the need for missionaries is greater there.