Southall is London’s answer to “Little India.” It’s a bustling place full of colour, music, fashion and of course, food. There’s lots to see, and lots of bad driving LOL (just like in India). There are also these weird grannies who cross the street without looking in any direction. Southall has people from all parts of India and Pakistan, and many religions are represented here. It is a real eye opener, if you’ve never been to a place like this before, and it’s also a lot of fun. Let me give you a little tour my daaaaaahlings. Ah… what’s this I spy with my beady little eyes???
It’s Kashmiri tea! This is no ordinary tea my dears. This is really something special. Check it out, it’s pink! I wish you could all taste the deliciousness of it. It is surely like no tea that you buy in the supermarket. It is incredibly sweet and very milky. They put a lot of sugar in it (but that’s okay by me 
) and there is a sprinkling of pistachio nuts that go on top. I had two cups (hey, it was a cold day okay???).
What gives the tea that pink colour? I’m not exactly sure to be honest with you. In some recipes I see people use saffron. That would account for the pink colour. But I have also read in other places that when the green tea brews, the liquid is actually burgundy, so when you add the milky ingredients, it turns pink. Hmm… might try making this at home … but of course, I am digressing. Now that my belly is full of deliciously sweet tea, let’s browse shall we?
You can’t walk around Southall and not be touched by a bit of the glamour that is Bollywood. Did you know that more movies come out of Bollywood every year than from Hollywood? Every few stores you pass, you will see Bollywood DVDs, CDs and magazines. Southall even has a really cool cinema dedicated to these types of movies called Himalaya Palace. Designed in 1929 by George Coles, it was destroyed by a fire, and then rebuilt as a Bollywood cinema. Yes, I realise it looks more Chinese than Indian LOL. If you haven’t seen a Bollywood movie, watch one some time. They are so much fun. Most of the time, there are shows with sub-titles, so don’t let the language issue get in the way. I don’t speak Hindi either.
Picture taken from flickr by Ewan-M
Watching a Bollywood movie might inspire you to wear a sari . You wouldn’t believe how expensive some of them get (like in the thousands). Here in Southall you can get them custom made and imported from India where they do all the hand beading, or you can buy a less expensive one off the peg. There are tons of stores here that sell loose fabric. So, if you know how to sew ( I don’t), you’ve got it made. Now you only have to figure out how to drape the 6 to 9 yards of fabric over your body without totally bulking yourself out like a big old heffalump. It’s not easy. I had to watch loads of YouTube videos, and did a lot of practice, before I was able to get it right (and then you got to figure out how to walk in the thing).
If, like me, you’ve been eating too many chocolates these days and would rather not squeeze into a belly baring sari, maybe you’d like to sample some sweets. Throughout Southall, there are sweets galore which the Indians call “mithai.” Mitahi is just a generic word which encompasses all manner of goodies. Most of them are fudge-like in their consistency and made of lots of clarified butter and milk solids. They are extremely sweet. Too sweet even for me (yes, shock horror indeed)! Still, they are beautiful to look at.
All that looking around and spending money is hard work, I think its time for a little break. We can always browse though some magazines. We can just pretend that we understand them, after all, we need to keep up appearances daaaaahlings.
Be sure to check out my next post when I tell you my favourite place to eat in Southall. I’m pretty sure they do the best samosas in the whole world! Speaking of food, it is time for me to go. It’s feeding time at the zoo 
.
“Ya’all come back now, ya hear?”
Yes, that’s really how they talk LOL (not).
The colors of your post today are just gorgeous and I’m really intrigued by the pink tea. I’m going to experiment this afternoon and see if I can recreate the color. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings…Mary
Oh wow, I didn’t know this corner existed. Thank you darling for the guided tour, I found it really interesting. That tea looks so delish and I love that light blue fabric with the embossing on it, so pretty.
I would so visit here If I came over,
xoxo
You made me miss London darling …. diversity culture mix energy and unique places …. that’s my London … ps: I also miss Brick Lane
keep me updated lovely HH!
I’m visiting london and would love to check out this area, I have a bit of an obsession with Indian things, its all so colorful! How exactly do you get to this area of london? Thanks