Indian cuisine in Umea

As long as the stomach is happy, we Indians are happy. We Indians are a nation of voracious eaters. Buffet is our weakness and we punish all those who offer unlimited food at a fixed price ;-). We are dogs when it comes to our noses and we can smell good food from miles away. We believe in the food that satisfies all our senses, so the food needs to be good looking, well flavored, with perfect texture & heavy enough that we get up with a burp. We dont believe in 3 course meals, rather we just dont believe in courses :-D. Eating in a party often ends up in a terrible bet between an elephant and a blue whale, while the host ends up being the lamb sizzler! From a glass of Lassi to the gulab jamuns and jalebis & everything else in between, we leave our mark on everything like the yellow stained snow you see everywhere in Umea! (PS: If you are not from Umea, the yellow snow marks are dog piss :-D, they all piss in the same spots to mark their territory)

So the big question now is what Umea has in store for us ?

Well to be honest - not much. Wait, don't cancel your Umea plans that fast. As much as we love our own food, we usually relish delicious dishes from around the world, as well. We can now spot a momo center and a chili chicken counter in almost every single mall in India and who doesn't like those Afghani and Irani dishes. So Umea is no different!

The most common food of the swedes are potatoes with meat balls. You can see them everywhere. The meat balls can be beef, pork or a combination of both which at least I try to avoid. However, over the years the Swedes have been experimenting and have developed quite a few delicious ones. There are variants of baked chicken in creme with mashed or whole boiled potatoes, the exquisite Salmon with peas, the falafel taco wraps, couscous with grilled chicken or the tuna fish salad which can be mouth watering despite having minimal use of spices.

The  Swedish chicken curry and the tandoori chicken borrows heavily from India and you do get a mild Indian taste owing to the not so good spices available here. You can spot a lot of Iranian tallrik and kebab dishes as well. The Italian lasagne and the pizza are pretty common here. The Swedes like to eat a lot of salads and raw vegetables including tomatoes! Although the taste is pretty distinct they are quite nice and you can easily get used to them.

When it comes to eating out, you have something from every part of the word - Indian, Thai, Chinese, American, Iranian, Italian, Jpanese Sushi and everything else. You can also enjoy decent burgers, subs and chicken wings from a lot of varied fast food joints. If you are expecting Dominos, Pizza Hut, KFC or Burger King, you will be disappointed :-(

Hang on, before I move on to the next segment, I must mention that the Swedish desserts and cakes can be heaven foodified, if you know what I mean :-D They are out of the world. The chocolate mousse is just liquid happiness. So whatever you do, do not miss them. Swedes are generous enough to offer everything but mind you they are generous only once. Don't deny the first offer and expect that they will offer you again :-D

So how heavy are they on your pocket?

Generally eating out in Umea is very expensive. Lunch Buffets can be half as cheap as an a la carte. Almost everyone cook their own food and eat out occasionally. Even if you want to have your lunch outside, you must cook your dinner  which would not only ensure a smooth bank balance but lets you decide what you want to eat. A general lunch buffet can range somewhere in between 50 SEK to 100 SEK per person.

Note: Some places charge you on the basis of the no of plates you take and some weigh the quantity of the food in your plate. Since you are an Indian, you know how to manage that inherently, dont you ;-)

On another note the Indian restaurants here have evolved a bit and have introduced milder versions of the Indian dishes which is easy on the Europeans, so don't be surprised if you don't get what you expected. Nevertheless, they are still good and worth a try!

So what do you need to start cooking?

I would advise to get as many spices as you can from India. A belan stick should also help although you can buy a huge Pizza rolling stick here. If you can, then get a mixer and pressure cooker. They can be your life saver. You can get almost all the vegetables you get in India, if you know where exactly to look for them. Chicken, eggs, fish, milk, bread etc are never a problem. The super markets are big enough and they have almost all the international brands of cookies, corn flakes, biscuits, fries, soft drinks, juices, tea, coffee etc. You can get different varieties of cheese here but not the Indian Paneer! :-(

Happy Alert: You do get the tinned Haldirams Gulab Jamuns :-)
Saddy Alert: No Maggi noodles :-(

Almost all the Indians I know here, developed their hidden cooking talent after landing here. From chole bhatoore to samosa to rasgulla, you can get everything if you make the right friends ;-). You see, there is a mini India everywhere in the world. So as always I would say, dont worry, food is not a major problem. We all evolve and who knows you can develop your own special dish & we all would make a beeline outside your kitchen. Cooking is over rated as well :-D

Weather conditions in Umea!

I landed in Umea on one of its coldest and darkest days, so things just got better from there. Having said that, my previous 6 years were spent in Tamil Nadu, Southern India, where temperatures usually hover around 40 degrees with absolutely no distinct winter season whatsoever. It was indeed a shock but trust me it was fun too.

Cold conditions:

Before coming here I read a lot about the extremely low temperature but as I found out, low temperature conditions are over hyped. I have met at least 50 Asians here and none of them had any major issues with the cold. Every place including the apartment, office rooms, labs, buses, super marts are heated up using  the thermal radiators. As long as you are well dressed with some winter jackets, you will have no major issues. The trick is, you should have multiple layers of clothing, so that the air is trapped in them, which in turn acts as an excellent insulator. 

I would advise you to buy your winter wear from Stockholm or Umea. Indian jackets may not be warm enough and may look funny. So if you don't want to be an odd one out, come over here and shop. Just come with some basic winter wear like Jacket, thermal shirts and pants, gloves, shocks, winter cap and a muffler. The Swedes have a distinct style when it comes to winter wear and am sure you would love them. By the way 1500 SEK should be fine for an average jacket, gloves and winter cap. 

You may need a pair of good snow shoes as well. I have a pair of woodland shoes and I feel they are perfect. Whatever you buy make sure that they are thick, strong and that they should have a good grip. There can be sudden warm days which can make the snow very slippery. No matter how good the shoes are nothing can save you from slipping :-). I have not heard of anyone who has not slipped on the snow :-P. While occasional slips can be fun, they can at times be very dangerous.    

Darkness: 

Umea is as much cold as dark. While cold can hit you physically, the darkness is going to be a silent emotional tormentor. I have seen people getting depressed. A close friend of mine usually calls Umea as the city of "suicidal nights". People coming from tropical countries can suddenly miss the sun a lot. Loneliness, silence and darkness can be a lethal combination. While you cannot do much about the darkness, you can certainly do a lot to avoid being alone and being silent.

Having said all that, I would like to repeat that it is more of a psychological thing. Although there is no sun, Umea is hardly as dark as our nights back home. The snow carpet acts as a beautiful light radiator. The sky usually glows and the entire set up has a charm of its own. Besides it is just about 2 months, after which you can again enjoy a fair amount of sunlight. 

I had personally no problems with the darkness. All you need is some good friends and trust me you would love to walk around the Nydala lake to get a glimpse of the amazing Northern lights. Sometimes a simple walk in the evening, some fresh air, coffee or a good companion can help you connect to a whole new world.

The Swedes make it a point to work more in the winters as compared to the summers. I guess that way they utilize more time that they spend indoors and of course not worry about the absence of sun shine. When you come out of your office in the evening it is the same as any other evening around the world. So even the effects of darkness is over hyped by some people who just connect every other problem of their lives to the absence of sun.

So in short if you love getting into a rajai(quilt) or love eating pakodas(fries) with chai (tea), while watching the snow flakes cover the world around you in a beautiful white blanket, Umea is the city you should not miss! The feeling of the snow gently falling over your face and melting away, those silent shivers when the cold wind somehow manages to enter your body through the layers of your clothing- its just amazing! If you are a nature lover, then this is the place where you can see her, in her wedding gown - Close your eyes, shut your brain & start packing!

First post from Umea

                          [An evening view of Umea, captured from my apartment]

Hey guys! This is my first post in this new blog. Today is a special day for me and I wanted to do something memorable so I thought of creating this new blog. This blog would not only bank my memories in Umea but would also serve as a guide to would-be travelers to this beautiful Northern Swedish city - Umea.

I landed in Umea on 17th January 2013 at exactly 05:35 PM. Yes, it was dark and the mercury was close to -20 degrees (it then touched -27 degrees later at night). I am a curious traveler and I usually do my homework before visiting a new place. So as usual I read some blogs, Wikipedia,  travel sites etc. etc. Since you are going through this blog, I guess you are no different :-)

Today, I completed my 2 months here and I feel now am competent enough to post my views on Umea ;-). Since you have been looking around for random stuffs about Umea, you would have already read about the "city of birches", "European Capital of Culture-2014", "Dark & extremely cold winter", "Northern lights", "Semla", "lots of potatoes", "Moose" & the "Ice Hotel" may be. I read them as well :-P.

A lot of the things that you see over the internet are compiled by Europeans or Americans or the Englishmen. We Asians are unusually lazy when it comes to doing something that doesn't pay well :-). You see am utterly bored today, so sorry fellas, I am breaking away from the herd. The idea behind this blog is to help fellow Indians get to know the inside story of how it feels to be in Umea. Trust me, its way different from what you are told by citizens of other nationals in their blogs and we all know how true are travel sites :-).

Stockholm is usually synonymous with Sweden, when it comes to the rest of the world and usually everyone talks about their stay in Stockholm when you inform them that you will be visiting Umea, but trust me, Umea and Stockholm can be as different as Delhi and Chennai. So please feel free to write to me if you would like to know anything specific that is not covered in this blog.That way, you can have your answers and I can have a friend :-)

Anyways, am looking forward to a good long stay here and I hope you will enjoy reading my experiences :-). I would try to compile as many things as I can but then am still a naive traveler and I have miles to go!

So follow me when I take you around on a small trip of Umea and decide for yourself. Loads of Love & God bless!