A Meal Fit For a Maharaja
Dave says:
One of the pleasures of traveling and, in my opinion, one of the benchmarks by which to measure the visited culture is to eat and drink like a local. This subject has been well documented in other reports from other countries and now it’s India’s turn to step up to the gastrometer for the great global food weigh-in.
But first a word or two about the word “gourmet”. Several viewers have written in imagining that their international favorites such as phad thai from Thailand or chicken vindaloo from India must be amazing once tasted in their native environment. The producers of the show would like to emphasize that we’re trying to ascertain the base level of culinary achievement in these countries and, although we have had wonderful meals everywhere, generally speaking it all comes down to the quality of ingredients. Poor people often cannot afford the best ingredients so often the meals do not reach their maximum potential. For example, every part of the chicken is used, legs, feet, the lot. Vegetables have sometimes seen better days and the jungle-destroying, cheap and low quality palm oil is used in heart clogging quantities everywhere. Therefore, a $1 plate of genuine street fare phad thai tastes great for $1 but doesn’t taste quite as good as an $8 plate from any restaurant in Seattle. We can, and have, walked into the swanky restaurants in town and paid $5 for phad thai and it’s been better than we can get at home but then our only dining companions are other tourists and any local would think us mad to spend so much money on food. So, in general, we try to eat as the locals do and use this to measure how good the food really is.
India is proving to be the exception to the “poor people/poor ingredients” rule. Just about everything we eat is really good. The quality of ingredients seems to be really high and their ability to take a spicy dish and maintain the separation of its distinguishing flavors is amazing. It is this kind of craft we expect to find in top-end eateries around the world but we seem to find it here in nearly every $1 dish we eat.
Indian restaurants are broken into 2 categories: veg and non-veg. Veg places are, of course, vegetarian and don’t always serve beer. Whereas, non-veg will serve veg and meat dishes, beer and inexplicably Chinese and pasta. Every place looks exactly the same, a little grubby, hard seats, formica tables and sometimes will have both AC and non-AC sections. Service is a little slow but generally good and water is provided for free. I believe this is to torture the Americans. We have missed the never-ending water glass found at home and now we have it but can’t drink it. Fortunately, bottled water is a standard Rs15 ($0.40) everywhere and, although it pains us to keep generating empty plastic, it’s over 40 degrees and our pee is bright yellow as it is.
Ordering food is really simple. Just like at home, the dish names tell you exactly what it is. For example, Aloo Gobi is Aloo (potato) and Gobi (cauliflower). The other catch all words are curry, dry, fry and masala. So, Aloo Gobi Fry is exactly what its name suggests. And that’s where the simplicity ends. Just like every place name in India seems to have two spellings so does food. Sometimes gobi is gopi and sometimes, although chapati, roti, naan, paratha are all meant to be different kinds of bread, one region’s paratha may taste the same as another’s naan but they are all on the same menu at the same time. Just like the rest of Asia, menus are only a suggestion of what the restaurant may serve if they actually had the ingredients to make it. Often they don’t so the word “finished” comes up a lot although I suspect it never really “started”. Equally frustrating is the random nature of when dishes can be served. Often they are only available for breakfast even though they clearly appear under the dinner section of the menu. Sometimes the waitstaff will tell you your selection is “not appropriate” meaning you ordered rice for a dish that is much better served with bread. Helpful if a little terse.
Breakfast is always a challenge on the road and anywhere there are tourists in Asia, the breakfast is either cornflakes, bad muesli or banana pancakes and all sport a higher than necessary price tag. Due to the law of supply and demand, we have often succumbed to this brief glimpse of home. In India, however, we have been more than happy to eat Indian breakfasts and, surprisingly, spicy food is a pretty good way to start the day. Our favorites so far have been Uppma (steamed semolina,spices and a curry sauce), Sheera (steamed semolina, fruit, nuts), dahl (lentils in a spicy gravy served with a chappati), masala dosa (veg curry served with a thick pancake) and iddly (a steamed rice cake served with spicy sauces). Breakfast, more than any other meal, suffers from different spellings and different words in every restaurant. I have seen iddly spelled about 8 different ways and we once asked for sheera and another dish called kesri bath and when they arrived both dishes were exactly the same.
To drink? Masala tea, of course. Masala tea and chai tea are another one of those interchangeable food stuffs. Sometimes masala is spiced with milk and no sugar and sometimes it’s with sugar. Either way, sugar is on the table. Chai is almost always sweet. Tea is about Rs5 ($0.12) and is often so good, multiple cups are required. It is available everywhere and never fails to please. Beer is not always available but is “always” available. Different states have different laws and taxes on beer. In Goa it’s everywhere and only about $1 for 660ml. In Kerala it’s either illegal or very highly taxed but the backsheesh system insures tourists can find it for about $2 as long as they are happy to drink it from a tea mug and hide the bottle under the table.
In previous posts we have highlighted the challenges of this vast country and, indeed, it is a challenge and it is always hard work. One of the things that keeps us going when we’re at a low point is the knowledge that we will always find something to eat and, despite outward appearances, it will end up being delicious, nourishing and always a little unexpected. I suspect my theory that a culture is reflected in its food will be proven when those same adjectives end up describing our entire stay in India.
April 12th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
My son Tim is married to a Indian and we are served Indian food every Christmas when we visit. It is too spicy for me and I wouldn’t eat it (that’s when I could eat) so Tim’s mother in law would make me American. We know many Indians and I think they are the kindest people. I will relate your experiences to them next time we seem.
love and good wishes