Weekend Cooking: What I ate in India

I started a new role around 7 months ago. If you had of said that as a result of that decision I would have had the opportunity to spend a week in Kolkata, India, I would not have believed you. However, that is exactly what happened over the last couple of weeks. In previous roles the furthest I got to travel was to Sydney for two days.  

The arrangements for this trip came together very quickly. A few weeks ago my boss said I think we are going and then next thing I knew I was applying for business visas and we were off.  We went to visit our offshore processing team, and I have to say the welcome we received was incredible. We were looked after really well!

One of the bonuses of travelling for work with this company was that it is business class travel all the way. I have never travelled business class before, and I am pretty sure that there is no way that my husband will ever pay for that so it might be the only time it happens! So, yes, I was absolutely the person taking photos of everything around me including the meals. It will be a bit of a struggle to go back to economy when we go on holidays in a few weeks...depending on what the state of the world is at that time. We are supposed to be going to Türkiye via Dubai so that may or may not happen!

The food in business class was pretty good, and came with real cutlery and crockery. I had pre-booked all my meals so knew exactly what I was having. I made sure it was a good mix of western food, Indian food and Singaporean food. 

The company we were visiting is huge. There is something like 27000 people working at the site we were visiting. It's hard to comprehend that number! We ate in the executive dining room every day where we had soup, a choice of dishes from the buffet and dessert. Most of the buffet and dessert dishes were local Bengali dishes. It was here that I discovered that I do actually like paneer. It is not something that I would necessarily have chosen to eat off a menu here, but I tried several different versions and they were all delicious!

My favourite discovery though was a Bengali dessert called Mishti Doi. It is a yoghurt that is sweetened with jaggery and then set within clay pots. The clay pots are porous and help draw the liquid out so that it sets into a firm but smooth texture. The closest texture I can think of is like a panna cotta. It is so delicious! I have been trying to find restaurants here that serve it, but I think it will be a case of if I see it on a menu I will just have to have it as it might not be there the next time! We also tried some other dessert such as Roshomolai, Baked Rusgala and a saffron flavoured Sandesh.

One of the highlights was a dinner that we had with the leaders. It was at a beautiful restaurant at an upmarket hotel and the food was amazing. The host just ordered a selections of dishes which came out one after another ranging from prawns to chicken to paneer and more. Everyone was really full when she said now it's time for the main course!

Whilst the work aspect of the trip was really intense, as was the humidity in Kolkata, they also made sure that we got to see some of the sights. I stayed two days longer than my bosses because we booked flights so late, and so I go to do a day trip around the city visiting some incredibly interesting places.

Whether I get to go again or not, I had an amazing experience and I am so glad I got to go! 

Weekly meals

Saturday - Away
Sunday - Away
Monday - Spaghetti Bolognaise
Tuesday - Korean Chicken Burgers
Wednesday - Zucchini, Parmesan and Tomato Risotto
Thursday - Japanese Pork Curry and rice
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page