Exotic Eats: India

Posted by on Apr 10, 2013 in Exotic Eats, India | 4 comments

India is a culinary smorgasbord. The food is greatly varied and extremely flavorful.  Before traveling to India, my knowledge of the cuisine did not extend further than naan and chicken curry. Anil, our driver, helped make every meal feel like a special occasion by taking us to restaurants that are “known” for whatever specific dish we ate.  At almost every meal he would take a bite, savor it, and say, “You cannot get this taste at any other restaurant.”

 It is impossible to include everything I ate during my two weeks in India so I have focused on some of the new things (and dishes that were easy on my American stomach) that I sampled:

Chai tea: Indians love tea. Anil talks about tea like Bubba Gump talks about shrimp. Black tea, lemon tea, chai tea, masala chai tea..you can sip it, savor it, gulp it….you get the picture.  We had chai tea multiple times a day and the local people take pride in their unique recipes and combination of spices and herbs.  

Mike Chai Tea Stand

Puri bahj: Traditional Indian Breakfast in Northern India:  Puris are made up of flat rounds of flour which are deep fried and are served with a spiced potato dish which could be dry or curried.  Puri bahj is also served with pickled vegetables and a white yogurt to help cut the spice.  A little different from our normal breakfasts but still delish.

Agra Indian Breakfast

Lassi:  Lassi is a popular and traditional yogurt-based drink. It can be sweet or savory and eaten as a dessert, snack, or part of a meal. We often drank it out of a clay pot which is typically just discarded on the side of the road after….clearly not helping the trash situation.

Kat & Mike Lassi and Kachri

Uttapam:  Basically Indian pizza. Ingredients are cooked into the batter like a thick pancake.  This dish is traditionally from South India so we went to a restaurant specializing in this region’s food while we were in Jaipur.  

Tomato & Onion Uttapam

 Masala dosa:  A mix between crispy pancake and crepe made from rice batter and black lentils.  Often served with some sort of chutney.

Masala Dosa

 Fennel and rock sugar: This is put on the table after every meal in lieu of breath mints to be used as a digestive aid and breath freshener.

After dinner sugar and mint

 

 

4 Comments

  1. This all sounds so delish, especially the uttapam!

  2. Pretty adventurous Mike, especially for a meat & potato guy…you have come a long way. Love ya

  3. I love the bubba gump reference, but Grams post is clearly the best part of this entry!

  4. I am so glad you enjoyed the different Indian foods and did not have your Gram’s reaction to eating them. The pictures almost made me want to try them again. You did a great job on the pictures and descriptions. Love Gram. PS. I do like Chia tea.

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