Food

I know that everyone is curious to hear about the food. Unfortunately, I have not taken many pictures of food, but hopefully my description will do it justice. I have not had meat since I started the trip and I am not missing it at all. Breakfast so far is usually aloo paranthas (a potato filled flat bread) or oatmeal. Lunch and dinner usually consist of some form of lentils (daal) or other legume and vegetables.  There are always chapatis (flatbread) and usually raita (yogurt with spices). I think that I have watched Abhijeet's mom cook enough that I am finally feeling ready to perfect at least a few Indian dishes when I get back home. My rolling and patting of the chapatis (flat bread), however, still has room for improvement. Everything that we eat is freshly made from vegetables at the market. I went along to the market one day and watched as Abhijeet's mom filled her bag with potatoes, eggplant, okra, tomatoes, peppers, and a few vegetables that I did not know. She handed the clerk the equivalent of about $1.00 and received change back from that. Over the last few days, we have also had a few Indian specialty treats. We tried kachori, mirchibada(green chili) and of course samosas which are all fried treats. We went to a sweets shop and bought some fresh gulab jamon. This is like a small round doughnut type treat glazed in a sweet and sticky sauce. I have tried them before in the US and enjoyed them, so was looking forward to the treat. I had not realized, however, that trying them fresh would be a whole other experience. When I bit into the gulab jamon, it was pure pleasure. The warm dough melted in my mouth.
I also tried another sweet called ghevar which has lovely presentation. It is a crispy, airy baked good that has a sweet light sauce and is topped by rose petals.