Food glorious foooood.....

Eating on campus is certainly broadening my experience of curries….breakfast is usually curry free (although one morning  I had an omelette which had green chilli in it!) .  Lunch is rice and dahl plus a vegetable of some sort, and tea is rice, chapatti, vegetables and another curry.  The food is very good – the quantities are not huge (by Indian standards!) and it all feels light, without heavy creamy sauces.  And meat is usually only once a week - the veggie dishes are so good I am not missing meat at all!

Part of the kitchen is outdoors.... its a big pot for the rice!

  

I have bottled out of eating with my fingers – eating in the guest dining room we do have the option of cutlery!  We also have the luxury of being served – 2 students have been given serving us as a task and they do it very well. Every day in college, the evening meal has chappatis – not all students come knowing how to make them (in Tamil Nadu for instance, they don’t have chappatis ) – so they also learn …. However they need a lot of patience for Tamzin and I as we attempt to roll them thin enough and round!  I discovered that mine were being “re-modelled” because there is a lot of competition between the boys teams and girls teams….. and the boys complain if they are too thick! Having said that the girls graciously welcomed me onto the team!

Joining in with the girls teams in the making is good though – lots of laughter and it’s an informal chance for the girls to ask us questions (they have many) and talk in English. As we are also helping in their evening devotions, it also allows us to build some friendships – a good platform for sharing and prayer.  Hopefully I will also be able to make them back home  …. I will probably buy a chappati rolling pin here !

We have eaten out in Udaipur a couple of times and tried different things – I haven’t had anything too hot yet!  One morning the students brought us a bowl of the indian breakfast – “Poha (no idea how to spell it) – not rice, but another grain plus tomatoes, peanuts and green chilli – the chilli certainly woke me up! Jaysri and Rozi (the 2 students who are looking after us) explained that students are from all over India and so not all like it very hot – some bring their own chilli powder to add extra, others remove the chilli!

So far the food has not had any undesirable affects either, but a salad would be nice!