...India (The Importance of Food!)

The monsoon finally arriving in Varanasi

The woman on the plane next to Finn leans over "please have just one more roti", I decline once but she can see the hunger in my eyes and I greedily accept on the second offer. Finn's stomach lurches, a leftover from moving too fast these past few days but the woman won't take no for an answer. He must be fed!

In the last few months, Indian food has played an important role in the direction of our trip. Over chai and aloo paratha in an Indian cafe in Phnom Penh, we decided to cut our stay short in south east Asia and booked a flight to Calcutta. Ten days later we were eating thalis in a restaurant in Siem Reap when one of us raised the possibility of bringing our flights forward. Five days later and here we are on a plane to India. That shouldn't have happened for another two weeks.

Aloo Paratha - a spicy potato flatbread - with lime pickle for breakfast

So Indian food has a lot to answer for. And we know we've made the right decision before the plane has even touched down on Indian soil! On arrival in Calcutta we head for chai, the sweet and spicy tea India sustains itself on and the long dreamt of 'butter toast'. Munching away we get chatting to a local who invites us for dinner with his family. We meet in a park where two plates and several dishes are unpacked and soon we are devouring home made chicken curry, rice and pickles while the family watches on. Not for the first time on this trip  we have to deal with the discomfort of being invited for dinner and being the only ones to eat.

The next evening we locate the restaurant where 6 years ago we ate the most amazing tandoori chicken. Thankfully our memories haven't deceived us. It arrives with a lime and coriander dipping sauce and the chicken is as succulent as I remember, it is marinated right down to the bone! 

Tandoori Chicken

In the holy city of Varanasi, we fight through crowds of Shiva worshipers clad in orange to a restaurant that does a mean thali. A thali is the best value meal money can buy. You receive a large, metal plate with several compartments in. Though the contents varies, you usually have one or two curries, a pickle, dahl, chapatis and rice. You mix the curries and dahl into your rice and then get stuck in with your hands. There is something very satisfying about eating with your hands but there is an art to it. The curries stick the rice together which allows it to be rolled into a ball. You take the ball onto your fingertips and then push the food into your mouth with your thumb. The really great thing about thalis though is that men come round the tables refilling your plate at no extra cost. The whole thing costs about 40 pence.

A Thali

Later we meet a traveller who recounts an experience he had in Delhi. On a tour of the sights, he asks his rickshaw driver to recommend somewhere good to eat, somewhere 'alive'. The driver takes him to a bustling restaurant. The food is amazing. Thirty minutes later he is running for the toilet. Perhaps it was a little too 'alive'. Welcome to India...

Graffiti on Varanasi ghats