BM 100 Meet Hyderabad – Day 4 & 5

After the Day 1,2 and Day 3, I am here with my experiences on Day 4 and 5 on our Hyderabad Food Bloggers meet that happened last month to celebrate the completion of 100 months of Blogging Marathon. If you are new, Blogging Marathon brain child of Srivalli started amonth long blogging event wehre food bloggers got together virtually and blogged about a certain theme. In these eight years it has evolved to blogging three days a week and we are so close as family. We keep chatting and we also make sure we meet every two years. This year is quite special and many NRI bloggers also came to the meet.

Day 4, Saturday July 20

It was blue day so everyone came down wearing their blues. Morning started with some yoga and exercising, and we got ready to go out. Rama akka, Usha’s cousin who came on Friday invited us to have breakfast their restaurant.

So after some selfies, we went to the restaurant and had a wonderful breakfast. It was so filling but still we never forgot to click them. She also took us to the restaurant kitchen and it was wonderful. Being a food blogger I was always interested in seeing the kitchen.

We also visited her bakery which was next to the restaurant. The variety of cakes and pastries can make anyone crave. That too a sweet addict like me it was so wonderful. But as we had our breakfast, we just enjoyed the visual treat.

On our way to Charminar, we had a brief stop at Jalavihar just for some amazing snaps by the waterside.

Then came our main shopping spot – Charminar. The place was too busy even at the beginning of the day.

How can we return without buying Hyderabadi pearls? The variety of pearls and the jewelries were amazing. I even got a set for Sruti and an earring for myself.

The majestic Charminar

While we were shopping some of the team stopped to relish some mini samosas.

The bangles were beautiful. Couldn’t resist wearing them.

By the time we were done with shopping, we were famished. It was nearly 4 and we didn’t have our lunch. So seeing the famous Nimrah bakery, we went inside. Huge trays filled with cookies were coming fresh out of oven. Wow! As a baker it was an amazing experience.

The arrangement of cookies itself makes one’s mouth water. As we settled, we were served amazing cookies and Irani chai. With so much of hunger, I didn’t miss even a single type of cookie. It was like being a child again. Without worrying about the calories, we just ate our fill. After the cookies, there was a plate of hot veg puffs, which we devoured immediately. And I bought home two packs for daughter.

By evening, the place was filled with people and we had a tough time walking. Looks like the rush would be there all night. The shops were so glittery, we took so many photos. We then left Charminar and reached villa.

I need to write about the Bread Baking group headed by Varada. Varada is the bread queen of our group and when she decided to take part in the meet, we wanted to learn sourdough from her. As sourdough can’t be made in a day, she dehydrated her sourdough starter and brought it to Hyderabad. Here, she rehydrated it again and the starter was bubbly in no time. It was such a nice learning experience. With the sourdough starter, she made some boule and a whole lot of other breads in three days.

Two trays of pav buns being made.

And there was a braided bread, paneer stuffed rolls and sourdough bread. After returning from Charminar, we had an amazing dinner with all the breads. For the pav buns, Vaishali made some bhaji and it was just divine.

There were so many games organised for the night, but I was dead tired because of the lack of sleep. So I went to bed early and missed all the fun that happened at night.

Day 5, Sunday July 21

We didn’t have anything planned as everyone was returning home. The day started with so many selfies and photos as we were leaving the villa by 10. We wanted to chat as much as we could. We were supposed to be in grey or beige for the day.

We went to Minerva for breakfast. As I couldn’t taste the Pesarattu with upma, I ordered for it that day. I love upma so much. Combinig it with the crispy pesarattu was fantastic. The rava dosa they served was so crispy even now my moth waters thinking of it.

Then we returned back to villa, took all our baggages and went to Shailaja’s (Usha’s cousin) home. Wow is the only word I could use to describe her place. She served us some crackers and then we kept chatting for our heart’s content. So much laughing was going on there also and I guess Shailaja enjoyed it very much. She was the perfect host. The spread she prepared was absolutely wonderful. After the lunch, the kubani ka meetha served with vanilla icecream was the perfect dessert. And then came the meetha paan which was the perfect end to the meal. We enjoyed it so much. I can’t express it with words, thank you Shailaja.

We also went to look around Usha’s kitchen garden next to Shailaja’s house. Look at all the greenery. Wow!

It was time to say Goodbye to everyone. As I was waiting at the gate, I was so worried that I couldn’t meet Veena before I leave. And then she called. As I had some time, I went back to meet her, had a cup of coffee and then with heavy heart, I said goodbye and left.

Though it was really sad to leave Hyderabad, I was also happy to go and meet Sruti and hubby as they were desperate to meet me after five days. The trip ended but we will have all the memories to cherish for the next two years before we meet again.  Good Bye Hyderabad, Madurai, here I come.

I reached Madurai by 10 pm and my baggage didn’t arrive. It was tension at last minute before meeting Sruti and hubby. My baggage was sent to Triivandrum by mistake. It took another two days to get it back, but still I went home happily.

Whenever we return from any meet, our luggage would just double in size with all the gifts. This time, I had excess luggage and I also paid extra to bring it back home. Look at what I brought home.

Isn’t this wonderful! Sruti enjoyed the cookies and snacks while I am working on the sourdough. All the spices are being used in dishes in daily cooking. I am yet to think of ways to use up dried flowers. But will come up with recipes soon.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip.