South/Southeast Asia
General Tso in Bombay
In the U.S., immigrants have forever shaped and influenced American cuisine. It is often difficult to separate what is American and what is “foreign,” or perhaps, what makes American cuisine so unique is that there is no need for separation. The complexities and diversity of food is what makes eating in the U.S. so interesting. [...]
Breaking Bread
Pan, pao, bao, pav…whether Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese, India, the word for bread seems similar across cultures and languages. Most cultures have some sort of bread – flatbreads, buns, baguettes – and breaking bread is not an unfamiliar term. You eat together, you are no longer strangers. Indian breads are numerous and they also vary [...]
Eat With Your Hands
There is an art form with eating with your hands here in the state of Gujarat. You use your right hand to eat and your left for water. Typically, you wash your hands before and after with lemon and water. To pick up the food, you press and rip off the roti or puri or [...]
On a Silver Platter
By now you know I am in the state of Gujarat, in the Western part of India. Gujurati food is known to be sweeter than other parts of India and due to the influence of Hinduism and Jainism, it is almost vegetarian – and for someone who didn’t eat vegetables for most of her life, [...]
All Scream for Ice Cream
When it’s an average of 106F and the sun is full every day…all day…and the only respite is around midnight when the temperature drops to a balmy 95F, what else can you do but eat ice cream? I have not done any form of exercise in four weeks nor do I pretend. I sweat by [...]
99 Bottles of No-Beer
Gujarat is a dry state. Which means: no alcohol. Now this doesn’t bother as I can’t drink anyways (I turn shades of eggplant purple, among other fun side effects that would deliver me to the emergency room), but one thing that I always don’t get to partake is cocktails. Unless I order them non-alcoholic, but [...]
Where the Streets Have No Name
The hustle and bustle of street markets hold a special charm of its own. Monik Chawla in Ahmedabad, India is no different. Stalls outside the gate sell everything, from plastic buckets to shiny party decorations to brown basmati rice. Inside the gate is even busier – people, autorickshaws, and scooters rushing to go somewhere. This [...]
Maharaja Value Meal
Due to high demand, I actually went into the McDonald’s here. I haven’t eaten at one in almost a year (last time didn’t end up too well), even though I love their fries. This was one happy day. Happy Meal it was. The McDonald’s was super nice and clean with upbeat funky dance music playing. [...]
KFC or Raju Chiken?
As many of you know, India is full of contradictions. One of the biggest and most obvious points of contrast is the wide gap between rich and poor. It is not just a bit rich and a bit poor – it is like having the fancy Le Meridian hotel where meals cost as much as [...]
Hotdog Millionaire
If you haven’t guessed, I’m in India right now and will be here for a while. It is in a word: HOT. Summers in India is like being in a permanent sauna. No matter how much sunblock, I get burned. I’m in Ahmedabad, on the eastern part of India in the state of Gujarat. It’s [...]
