Page 20 November 25, 2021 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
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dominate their preferences (the color yellow
comes to mind). One of our favorite styles
originated in Kerala in the south—think
seafood, chilis, and coconuts. In the big
cities like Mumbai and Delhi, you’ll find
everything from extremely sophisticated (and
expensive) inter-regional feasts to some of
the most renowned street food in the world.
Four common threads run through most
Indian cuisine:
Best seat in the house for Mumbai street food from Bademiya.
Not a lot of chilis:
As Westerners, we naturally expected our
mouths to demand CPR after every blistering
bite, but most Indian cooking is actually quite
mild. And subtle. Even coconut, which can
overwhelm a Thai curry, is held on a tight
leash. There’s a spice in everything you eat,
but if one taste (cumin?) blows away the others,
you might want to request an upgrade.
Not a lot of alcohol:
Alcohol isn’t necessarily banned, especially
at the big western hotels. And in Maharashtra
and Karnataka, India boasts two of our favorite
wine regions on the planet. And there’s
nothing for atmosphere quite like a gin and
tonic on a steamy afternoon at a crumbling
colonial tennis club. But Indians just aren’t
big drinkers. Most of the time, with our meals,
we take a spectacularly refreshing mango
lassi (mango, yogurt, cardamom, and mint).
Not a lot of meat:
14% of the country is horrified by the taste
of pork. 80% reveres the cow for befriending
and comforting the deity Krishna through his
Mumbai street food stalls in the Muslim market off Mohammed
Ali Road. A little of this, a little of that—a midday Mumbaiker Thali with a refreshing plain lassi.
ancient tribulations. Unfortunately for fish,
sheep, and chickens, their ancestors never made
the honored (or dishonored) lists—but there’s
30% of the population who don’t much care
for consuming any living being. So this is an
easy (if less than doctrinaire) country to be a
vegetarian. Again, there are exceptions, and
you can find pretty much any meat in some
obscure corner of the culture. But as a visitor,
why would you want to? We consume as
much as we want, but no one ever suffered a
guilty conscience from gorging on vegetables.
Not a lot of drama:
In general, we expected a much more
complicated relationship with food than we
found in India. In a mega-state like Maharashtra,
there exists the potential for every
kind of misery (New York and London
come to mind), but widespread hunger, at
least in the urban areas, isn’t the scourge it
used to be. Obesity is rare, but so is visible
malnutrition. Famine has all but disappeared.
Indians might not over-eat, but they relish
the foods of their culture and will welcome
your awestruck admiration.
As for the foreigner’s digestive adjustment—
to put it delicately—that issue has
never proved more than vaguely inconvenient
for us. We both sport pretty weak stomachs,
and face an amoebic challenge flying coast
to coast in America, much less to Europe,
Africa, or Asia. A week or so before arrival
in-country, we start a regimen of probiotics,
but only because we drop all inhibitions at
the first exotic aroma. And as for ice cubes,
brushing teeth, suspicious plastic bottles,
and all the other water-based shibboleths,
we keep meaning to start paying attention.
Maybe someday we’ll find out the hard way.
Maybe we won’t.
So…
As Indian-obsessed foodies, we’re just
getting started. We did take lunch with
one of the premier chefs of India, where
the chocolate dessert truffles were served
suspended in a magnetic field (we have no
idea why, but it took the waiter longer to
suspend them than it took us to swallow).
But our most memorable meals have been
among the least gaudy and expensive. And
that is the true secret of Indian food—simple
ingredients blended with mouth-watering
spices and cooked to perfection. So easy.
So relaxed. So good.
Next up: Down on the Bayou—Five Days
Lost in Louisiana.
Ben & Glinda Shipley, published writers
and photographers, share their expertise and
experience of their many world travels. If
you have any questions or interest in a particular
subject, please email them at web@
heraldpublications.com. •
Which hand does what? Lunch a mano in the mountain tea plantations of Munnar. Milk for sale, but not much else. Along the Colaba Causeway in Mumbai.