I have not had much experience with Indian food and am excited to visit India in February 2016 for 2 weeks. I did not know what to expect but knew that it would be spicy and that sanitation might not be as highly standard as in North America. I made sure to bring antibiotics and other medications just in case my stomach is not used to the food here. I have only tried butter chicken and tandoori chicken so I am really excited to try some authentic Indian cuisine.
avoided street food and fruits for sanitary reasons
Chennai would be the first city we visit and will be here a full week. Being from Calgary just a few hours earlier, we already noticed the extreme heat and have not fully adjusted to the temperature. There was also the smell of spices, garbage and smog from cars and the pollution. We wanted somewhere air-conditioned so we decided to visit the nearest mall to our hotel. Lucky Express Avenue Mall is only a 15 minute walk from our hotel. It was built in 2010 so it is very modern, clean and definitely wheelchair accessible. It has over 150 shops and services so that would be a good choice to try our first Indian meal.
Inside Express Avenue Mall (Feb 2016)
We noticed that there are even National chains like KFC, Burger King and Pizza Hut in addition to the local small restaurants. One thing we definitely noticed was that all the restaurants have either a separate menu or a separate section in the menu showing vegetarian items versus non-vegetarian items. The English language is a barrier to most Indians but they mostly will understand if you say “veg” or “non-veg”. In the food court, we decided on Sandwich Square and got a grilled chicken sandwich. I prefer having a meat sandwich to a vegetarian kind. I was shocked on how much I loved this hot freshly made sandwich and the spicy mayo was perfect. Even the icy drink was great and we had no idea what we ordered.
Sandwich Square’s grilled chicken sandwich
KFC’s Chizza (pizza made with fried chicken)
Throughout the week, we got to try KFC’s chizza which isn’t available in Canada and was a combination of chicken and pizza. Tandoori chicken was great as I could eat this all week. Our day trip to Mahabalipuram to visit historic sites was amazing as we got to visit a magnificent Seafood restaurant where the fried fish and giant prawns were some of the best seafood I ever tasted. The giant prawns tasted like lobster. We also went for Chaat which are just savory snacks that are typically served in India and other Asian countries. Again, not knowing what we ordered we were still pleased with our rice dish and food.
tandoori chicken with fruit smoothies
having some Chaat
the fish was sooo good and the giant prawns tasted like lobster
Our visit to the beach showed that Indians do not really lay there to relax or enjoy the sun. We ate some kind of noodle and curry dish which was tasty. There are also a lot of vendors selling fish and other seafood by the water but the smell of rotten fish and bugs all around deterred us from buying any. We finished off our Chennai trip with a meat platter of different chicken skewers in different sauces and spices which was amazing and a traditional Tamil meal that was served on a banana leaf. We were supposed to eat with our fingers for this but obviously I had to use a fork since my fingers don’t work.
noodle curry dish at the beach
chicken skewers and I think 1 may have been lamb
traditional Tamil dish on a banana leaf
By the time we got to Mumbai, we already had such great Indian cuisine that we were ready to try any new items. A very hectic stroll around the city and we tried some traditional food from a food cart. Throughout the week we got to try Indian ice cream called kulfi which is more denser than our ice cream. A trip to Mc Donald’s had a unique alternative to the traditional Big Mac since they don’t eat beef. The Maharaja Mac is available with chicken or vegetable patties and has a spicier version of the Big Mac sauce and also has jalapenos and tomatoes.
from a food cart
kulfi (Indian ice cream)
Maharaja Mac from Mc Donald’s
Even TGI Friday’s served bison steaks instead of cow, and it was one of the best steaks I have ever eaten. Drinks atop the AER lounge was an open rooftop bar complete with DJ’s and music offered beautiful views of Mumbai. We finished the week with 2 more traditional Indian meals and even tried some Mexican Indian dishes.
TGI Friday’s bison steaks
drinks at AER rooftop lounge
So overall, the food in India was so amazing. Writing this blog post made me very hungry and miss my time in India. I went to India not knowing a lot about the cuisine to really loving the food. I learned so much about the culture and still had enough varieties of food even without beef. I didn’t really try that many vegetarian dishes as I like my meats. I didn’t even have any stomach issues. The food was one of the highlights of this trip and now I visit Indian restaurants now since I know I will like the food. Even if you never tasted Indian food, there is something for everyone’s taste. I will definitely revisit India in the near future.
yummy
chicken drumsticks
