By Rupveen Arora (Mademoiselle Wanderlust), Head of Lifestyle

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This past Sunday evening, I headed out of NYC to my holy place — The Golden Temple in Amritsar, India. Along the way of this 23-hour (yes I said 23-hour) journey, I was forced to visit Haveli, one my favorite eateries. Of course, leave it to me to only be thinking of delightful Indian food while trekking to my pilgrimage, ironically enough on the same holiday of the most auspicious day on the Indian calendar, Diwali (festival of lights).

My trip went as follows:

Nov 8 – 8:50 pm – Depart Newark

Nov 9 – 9:20 pm – Arrive Delhi

Nov 9 – 11 pm – Stop by food place (before getting home) and order best spicy food in car

2 am – Get to bed

6 am – Wake up

7:40 am – Make train to Chandigarh (a town in Amirtsar)

11:20 am to 11 pm – Arrive at station , shop, eat one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten, shop some more, visit a Gurudwara (Sikh holy temple), nap, chat amongst hosts

2am – Sleep

4 am – Wake up to catch a…

5 am  – Hired car to drive us to Amritsar (nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get because of the Diwali holiday)

Haveli (literally meaning mansion) was converted to the well-known eatery halfway between Chandigarh and Amritsar (Golden Temple) that every tourist/patron/visitor and local alike visit. I’d be remiss if I didn’t have our driver pull in and let us nosh on the Indian delights as early as 7:45am.

Coffee: to die for.

Channa bhatura (chick peas in spice and deep fried dough bread): probably the best my palate has ever had the pleasure of savoring. I literally took my time chewing each and every morsel (while dreaming of ordering a 2nd and 3rd platter).

Poori aloo (smaller deep fried bread with potato and gravy): delicious. I could go on but I shall let you review the menu all on your own. If you ever find yourself fortunate enough to find yourself schlepping to the Golden Temple (my highest recommendation from a spiritual and peaceful perspective), you should definitely take a moment or 45 and stop at Haveli. You will personally find me and thank me that you did.

All in all, the things I do to not only find spirituality 10k miles away from home, I still make it a point to do what I, Mademoiselle Wanderlust does, EAT. And, Eat well.

Bon appetit, happy pilgrimaging, and a very, very Happy Diwali.