Food- Day 2

Our Indian food journey began on the plane ride from Frankfurt to Mumbai, when a small mix-up occurred. Unfortunately, the flight attendants were short on kosher meals so some of us were given vegetarian Indian style meals instead. My meal consisted of white rice with a curried sauce and Indian rice pudding on the side. I ate the meal with great satisfaction, and as I did so, I turned to the Indian brother and sister sitting next to me who I had recently befriended. They informed me that the food would only get better from there.

And sure enough, they were right. On our first day in Mumbai and since then, we have been given a choice to eat our meals at Chabad or at nearby "pure veg" restaurants. Both options have given us rich and flavourful eating opportunities. Those of us who ate at the restaurant experienced our first authentic taste of India. We had chapati dipped in baji, which is a hot tomato-based dipping sauce with mangoes, and samosas with dal and panjabi on the side. This was the Indian equivalent of chickpea and potato bourekas. My initial reactions? The weather and food here have a lot in common, as they are both incredibly hot!

For me, the most memorable meal so far has been at a restaurant where my table ordered mushroom paneer masala with naan and some other delicacies whose names I cannot remember or pronounce. Many of the flavors were ones that I had never before tasted. Eating at these types of Indian restaurants has proven to be an interesting social, and unique cultural, experience because everyone ends up sharing their dishes with each other. This makes it easy to sample a whole bunch of Indian dishes at once. When the meal was done I looked down at my finger nails and saw that they were yellow from all the dipping of breads into various sauces!

But, for all the satisfaction we get from it, Indian food also has a dark side. For one, some of us agree that that eating Indian food for every meal does not agree with our stomachs. I've also been hearing group members say that all the different foods are starting to look, smell, and taste the same once you've had a few meals in India. Thankfully, meals at Chabad offer a nice change of pace, with a mix of Israeli and American style dishes such as shakshuka, chicken sandwiches, and Israeli salads. I am excited to celebrate Lag baomer tonight, which we will celebrate with a  bonfire and barbecue, and am looking forward to the other tasty dishes ahead!

- Tovi