Curried cuisine

Indian food was at first unpalatable. He tried the Northern food that was available in every little shanty called Dhabas. It was mainly from a place called Punjab (lit. the land of five rivers). He grew to relish it. They offered bread made in a tandoor (a pot like oven).Fresh, hot and delicious. He tried tandoori murg (spicy chicken cooked in the tandoor), and kofta curries (vegetables/cheese, meat balls smothered in thick spicy gravies), kebabs (skewered edibles), Biriyanis (spiced rice) along with a generous supply of raw onions, curd, green chillies and lime wedges. The spices they used were mainly was garlic, onions, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, peppers, cashews….

Kashmiri food boasted of fruit-both dry and fresh .He began to enjoy Kashmiri pilaf (rice cooked with pieces of fresh and dry fruit) and naans and kulchas (pancake bread sprinkled with fruit as well) and ghosht (meat mainly mutton).Gujarati and Rajasthani food was succulent even in its blandness. He loved the juicy Khaman Dhokla( a savory, steamed seasoned cake made of lentil flour and yoghurt) ,dalwadas, jalebis (sweet-sour delicacy fried in copious amounts of oil),undyu(mixed vegetable curry ,aamras (thick juice made of mangoes ,shrikhand ( a sweet-sour dessert akin to ice cream slightly sour but creamy, nonetheless) Handvi, bhakris, theplas, rotis(bread again), a variety of farsan and chavana (fried crisp snacks).Mumbai was not far behind. He loved the snacks-wada pav, pav- bhaji(buns with curry and a blob of sizzling butter), samosas, kachoris (pastries with potato and peas filling deep fried in oil),the absolutely lip smacking gol gappas( potato-peas filling in small pooris doused with a thick-tangy-pungent-sweet-salty

Sauce with a delightful sprinkling of onions, cucumbers and sev).Chaat consisted mainly

Of the amazing golgappas, dahi poori(filled with yoghurt, sauce), raj kachori, bhel poori

Oooh! The choice was unlimited… and he had to tour the south as yet….