All vegetarian fare at SAARC retreat lunch
Kathmandu: From traditional Nepali thali to Gujrati Basundi with Jalebi, it was a lavish vegetarian spread of cuisines laid out for the SAARC leaders as they met in the cooler climes of exotic Dhulikhel resort for a retreat session.
The leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, arrived at the resort, around 30 kilometres from here, in the morning and held talks in informal settings with most leaders seen in a relaxed mood.
All the heads of states and governments wore long yellow scarves and posed for photographs besides engaging in chit chat as salubrious air from the Himalayas freshened the environment.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina could not join her counterparts at the retreat as she was unwell. Foreign Ministers of SAARC countries, including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz, were also present at the retreat.
The starter at the lunch, hosted by Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, included dumplings infused with spinach, seasonal vegetables and home-made cottage cheese. It was served with Himalayan spicy tomato pickle.
The main course included Nepali thali, cauliflower curry, cottage cheese curry, zuccini curry, spiced mushroom curry, lentil kofta, sauted palung greens, organic rice and chapatis.
The salad served at the launch comprised cucumber rolls filled with avocado, cheese and mizuna greens topped with fenugreek, fruit and edible flower and molasses.
Nettle and fenugreek soup was served with home-made assorted breads. The deserts were picked up from all the eight member countries. From India, it was Gujrati Basundi with Jalebis while Baklava from Afghanistan was also laid out. The desert from Bangladesh was Rasbari while Shahi Tukra from Pakistan was also served.
The Maldives’ Pirni, Nepal’s Sikarni and Bhutanese desert Daisee and Waterlappan from Sri Lanka comprised the desert.
Modi is a vegetarian and has been having simple food with less spices and less oil during his stay here. (PTI)
Woolly mammoth skeleton auctioned for 150,000 pounds in UK
London: A rare near-complete skeleton of an Ice Age woolly mammoth has fetched a whopping 150,000 pounds at an auction in the UK.
The skeleton, which was found in eastern Europe and is between 30,000 and 50,000 years old, was bought by a UK-based private buyer at an auction in West Sussex.
The skeleton was expected to fetch between 150,000 and 250,000 pounds at the sale on Wednesday, BBC News reported.
The Summers Place Auctions said the skeleton – 18ft high and 11ft 6in long and weighing up to six tonnes – was found decades ago but had only recently been prepared and mounted.
It took four people to lift the mammoth’s skull and fix it to the body, according to curator Errol Fuller.
The auction house said complete skeletons were rare but isolated teeth, bones and tusk fragments were occasionally found.
The specimen sold by a private collector is 90 per cent complete, the report said.
Woolly mammoths, which were covered in fur and had long, curved tusks, died out about 10,000 years ago.
Another item in the auction included an 11 inch elephant bird egg which fetched 69,960 pounds. (PTI)