Walking along Bombay's Marine Drive or on the beaches of Bombay Chowpatty or Juhu, colorful market carts sell not only vibrant fruit and vegetables but many have been converted to sell the street food varieties India is famous for. And Bhelpuri is one of Bombay's quintessential street food, not to mention one of the most loved snacks in India.
My life – most of it – has always revolved around food. My mother’s father was a hotel / restaurant inspector and my father is a hotelier. As a little girl I spent most of my time in the various kitchens of the hotels. I watched as the pastry chef made my sweet patisserie dreams come true, squealed in disgust as the butcher axed the chickens, was intrigued by the way the sous chef magically whipped up the smoothest sauce béarnaise or waited impatiently as the trucks came into the delivery loaded with tropical fruit and vegetables from all over the world.
The basket brimming with fresh fruit, vegetables and a few early spring flowers are loaded into the boot of my car. It is a lovely sunny morning, the busy market place coming alive with fresh new colors of spring and throngs of people meander the cobblestone streets catching the first really warm rays of sun this year. With the boot of my car still open I sit on the fender, taking a minute to catch my breath and watch the bustle around me.
Celebrations are a part of our life! Actually life should be a celebration, a party of our achievements, a banquet of our abilities and a triumph of our successes. We progress forward, sometimes at a faster pace and sometimes the pace is slower. Keeping the positive aspects in view is so important but we often fall back and waiver, brooding over things we have not accomplished.
India has a strong influence on the senses of those visiting the country – it is loud, it is colorful and it is very multifaceted, a country with incredible paradoxes. Under all the contrasts this vast country presents, there is something consistent that one could easily describe it as the essence of India.
A humble feast! Meals that take me back to my nana and nani’s veranda on hot summer days in their Delhi home. As we arrived to spend several weeks of our vacation with the rest of the family I was always sure that the forthcoming days were going to be filled with lots of food where the hub of the house was the kitchen.
India’s food culture is as varied as its people. Each region boasts of dishes that have clearly defined characteristics and diversity. Up north in Punjab, a fertile land, the dishes are rich with thick gravies and buttery sauces. Rajasthan, an arid region, offers drier game-based and vegetarian dishes often spicy and cooked with buttermilk and curd. Kerala, in the south famous for its incredible variety of both spicy vegetarian and seafood curries, which are thinner and coconut, tamarind and an array of spices are used to flavor the dishes.