a little about the food

well it's been awhile since i've posted anything, i'm came back to goa for christmas and have a few more days to go before heading out. i didn't think anyone would want to read about how i've been relaxing on the beach and working on my tan. so i thought i'd write a little about the food here in india so far.

here in goa, you can get by without eating indian food at all. all the restaurants cater to the the english/european tourists that still want their beans on toast for breakfast. here i usually eat breakfast with at susi's, we have yogurt with fruit and musli (granola), and a cup of earl grey. other places i've visited all have this on the menu as well but with yogurt curds, it's a bit more sour and runnier then yogurt. the only place i've been that western food was not available was mysore. there i would just by fruit from a stand to have for breakfast, a whole papaya or pineapple and bananas. i've eaten more papaya here then ever in my life, it's soooooo good and costs around 0.50$ for a big one. i don't always eat lunch and dinner, sometimes just snacks on the beach, like fruit, coconuts or cashews (goa is famous for them, lots of cashew trees around) or one or the other. i usually have a lassi (yogurt shake) or a fruit juice or two during the day as well as lots of masala tea (chai). i try to eat indian for the other meal as it's usually the best food, sometimes i really want a break form it though and i'll order something like spaghetti or pizza. except for a couple times i'm usually disappointed by the non indian food though. one thing they do quiet well here is chinese food and it's also on every menu, fried rice, noodles, sweet and sour vegetables or chicken etc. it's always really good and cheap if i need a break from curry. in goa there is so much fish as well, mackeral, pomfret, kingfish, snapper and lots of prawns, small ones and huge ones. all very nice grilled or cooked in the tandoor oven. when i feel like i need a veg boost i usually have palak paneer, spinach and indian cheese with nann or roti. the best one i've ever had has been here in goa at a little beach shack, it was so flavourful, not to runny and the spicach was still green, not brown and overcooked.

in mysore and hampi i ate alot of thalis, they are always vegetarian and very tasty. south indian thalis were usually lighter, with poris, small fried pita pocket type things that you dip in sauces, some vegetables and pickles. where as the north indian thalis had 3 curries yogurt curd, a paneer dish rice and roti, it was a much more filling thali, all for around $1.50. i don't know if it's just cuz im in india but everything tastes better, the flavour of the dals, masalas, pickles everything is amazing.

for the first month except for a day where i happened to have beef, chicken and mutten all in one day i didn't eat any meat, just lots of fish. but in the past few weeks i have started eating some chicken, not allot but some. also there is a cafe here in goa run by a german lady that has a very good reputation and i had a cheese burger there the other day. i don't try to not eat meat it's just not a big thing here and the vegetarian meals are so good and allot cheaper. i am having food dreams though, day and night dreams. the other day susi and i were talking about how we would really love a meat and cheese plate for dinner, we went on and on and by the end we had named off all the cheeses and meats we could think of. i also dream about bacon and biting into a nice juicy steak...........

but that does not mean i am not enjoying the food here, i do love it! another thing i don't do allot of is drinking, goa is the only place that i have had alcohol. so for the month of travelling around in between my goa visits i didn't have any, and i didn't really miss it. here we usually have a drink or two watching the sunset, i have a kingfisher beer or a honeybee, which is what the others drink. it's an indian whiskey, really smooth and tasty. i mix it with soda, or put it in my tea, these past two months have probably been the driest i've had in a long time.