Last week my language tutor (Atul) and I went to an Indian grocery store together. I recognized some of the foods from my visits to India, but many more were new! He took me first to the snacks aisle, and showed me his favorite kinds of “biscuits”. Indian biscuits are like British biscuits: small, crispy, slightly-sweet cookies that are meant to be enjoyed with hot tea. He then showed me the savory snacks that his city is famous for. They had so many different kinds!! Most of them were some variant of crispy little pieces of grain- or potato-dough, at varying levels of spiciness, and are generally called “chaat” चाट meaning “snacks”. I also noted with amusement that they had a “diet” version which was more like puffed rice than a delicious fried snack.
Next we looked at the spices – oh, India and its beloved spices! I picked up some powdered turmeric (a recent health fad in America) and fennel seeds. Fennel seeds are used in India with large pieces of white sugar as an after-meal mouth freshener. It can also contain brightly-colored pieces of confection or confection-covered fennel. I think it is called Mukhwas in Hindi. I first experienced fennel seed mouth freshener at a small café overlooking a lake in the foothills of the Himalayas, and when I tasted a little bit of the fennel after I got home from the store this week, I was instantly transported back to that beautiful place.
Next we looked at the cooking supplies and I bought some of that food known all around the world – 3-minute noodles! My favorite brand of Indian noodles is called Maggi, and I bought those and also a new kind that had noodles made of oats. Atul and I also looked at the refrigerated section, and I bought a huge 5-pound bucket of Desi-style plain whole-milk yogurt! Because it is such an everyday item in Indian kitchens, it is much cheaper at the Indian store than at an American grocery store, and it is also so much more delicious and natural without the gelatin/pectin that American brands add to thicken it up.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time. It was good to see Indian foods from the perspective of someone outside the Dehli/UP area, since Atul is from Rajistan. Attached is a picture of most of the food I bought! As you can see, my kitty was also interested - she is a great student of Indian culture. ;-)
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