Idli &Wine!

This morning it was Idli for breakfast which were very nice. They are steamed savoury cakes made with rice and white dhal flour and served with a coconut chutney. They certainly set me up for the day.



We nibbled a few cashew nuts on the beach at lunch time and tonight I'm cooking pasta with a jar of tomato and basil sauce, part of the basic easy cook provisions we stocked up with in Cochin - Keith thinks it is to give his stomach a break from hot and spicy for a day but I know I'm doing it for the wine! As I'm cooking and therefore there are no real food costs we're going to throw caution to the wind and indulge in the hideously expensive alcohol here. Kerala is basically a dry state, alcohol is not readily available as you have to have a licence to sell it and that is a very expensive business. We are going to have our first bottle of wine since we got here and it is going to be an Indian wine - Grover Vineyards in Nandi Hills their La Réserve 2006. Should I be worried about the warning on the label in big letters - 'ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IS INJURIOUS TO HEALTH'? - I'll let you know tomorrow!



We are marveling at technology today, we can keep up with everyone's news on Facebook; through the good internet connection here Keith has just downloaded the Saturday Telegraph to his Christmas Kindle; while I read in the hardcopy of The Hindu newspaper left outside our door each day along with the Indian Express that the spice market is being revolutionised with the introduction of e-auctions for Cardamoms. It is claimed to stop the secret deals in the traditional a nod is as good as a wink system, or as they call it the 'outcry system'. It is cutting out the middleman, the farmers are selling direct to the traders and are getting a much better price. It is said to be fast too with over 500 lots a day being auctioned. Between August and December they shifted 5,955 tonnes of the stuff @ an average of Rs 1,090 kg - about £15.

Oh yes the beach was fab, there was a nice breeze today. The undertow is quite strong so we don't bother with the warm sea, we save our hippo like soaking for the pool. There were loads of the ubiquitous squawking black crows which chunter away to themselves all day but on the odd occasion they quietened down a little and we look up to see what we think was a Fish Eagle going overhead, it was too big to be a Brahminy Kite, it might have been a Long Legged Buzzard but Fish Eagle makes more sense - and the pictures in the book in our cottage match better!



Anyway its nearly time to cook!