From Masala to Bollywood and everything in between! Catch up with me and my time around South Asia

So here is your introduction into the foods of South India (this is the cuisine which I am most familiar with)! Breakfast is made up of a staple food—usually a bread (roti-baked, chipati—lightly fried, or puri—deep fried or idly—a rice pancake—very bland) or saffron rice mixed with bay leaves, and Parsley (they call it Coriander here), and some other spices and cooked veggies. Then you have some kind of curry or chutney that is very spicy to dip, or dress your staple foods. Of course there is plenty of Cardemon tea or Coffee made with generous helpings of cream and sugar—as is the Indian way! Lunch is a bit more exciting—you have a chipati or roti or maybe even a parota (this is a fried bread but that is in concentric circles and more flaky). Then you have some kind of dal (bean) curry, either chick peas or lentils or some other legume. Then you have a mixed vegetable dish—potatoes (alu) and cauliflower (gobi) are the most common with some spinach (palak) or tomatoes (tamatar) and onions (piyaj). After you have your main course (above) then it’s time to have your digestive aids—a sambar (watery-soup-like curry) mixed with rice and curd (yogurt) to follow. Dinner is similar to lunch, but you have some more variety. There is my very favourite rice dish called Puliogra, this is a spicy rice dish that is savory and a bit sweet. Another favorite of mine is a digestive aid called Kosumboi—it’s made of baby sprouts and some lentils and herbs, very fresh and crunchy. Another yummy rice dish s Curd rice, they mix the curd with the rice and then add pomegranate seeds, and raisins, and some nuts, it’s oh so yummy! Indian sweets are also good, and very fattening! Traditionally Hindu Brahmins, also called Iyengars make exceptional sweets, and since I am studying my Bharathnatyam with a Brahmin I am exposed to the best Indian sweets that ever existed! Who started the myth that people lose weight eating Indian foods?!?! Some of the most famous are Basan Laddu—made of Maida flour and Ghee, it’s in the shape of a ball and filled with pista nuts (pistachio), another is Payasam—made from vermicelli and a milky custard-like cream sauce, also has cashews and raisins. Gigi’s favourite sweet is called Gulab Jamun and tastes like a donut and has flavors of cardemon seed and rose oil, it’s served in a sugar syrup….very yummy and waist expanding! Instructions on eating your Indian Cuisine: It’s important to know that most Indians think that if you don’t use your right hand to eat then you have not really satisfied your appetite. It is good manners in Indian culture to sweat, burp and have messy hands at the end of a meal…your host will feel as if they’ve done a good job entertaining you. There is an art to using the hand to eat, as it was taught to me you take your hand like a claw over your food…ball up the amount you want to take, and then bring your hand and mouth towards each other, pull your thumb back behind the food, and then scrape the food off your hand and into your mouth with your thumb! I’m still perfecting this art…but can now eat rice and wet items this way….I’ve come a long way! So I’m looking forward to bringing my Indian table manners back to the states and see what happens and how many stares I get when I try to eat this way! I enjoy very much not having to use a fork…just make sure to wash your hands thoroughly before and after your meal! Here they usually bring you a bowl of hot water and lime at the end of the meal to rinse the hand!!!