Before our trip we had eaten and enjoyed quite a bit of Indian food, thanks to local restaurants and friends like the Bird, Colburn, Henriksen, and Sukrutham families. While in India we enjoyed many tasty paneers, curries, aloo ghobis, masalas, lassi drinks, and dals. The descriptions below are Indian foods new to us or variations of familiar favorites.

Garlic naan – This bread is extremely tasty when chunks of fresh garlic are added to the top of the dough, baked in a tandoori oven and then topped with butter. A few restaurants we tried did not have or use a tandoori oven so we discovered the hard way that using the correct type of oven is essential.

Chapatis – We had previously eaten chaptis made with wheat flour. And while in India we enjoyed wheat chaptis with potatoes and onions added for extra flavor. Also, the Bishnoi village woman we visited made chapaties from millet flour because they did not grow wheat.

Pakora – This appetizer dish consists of deep fried vegetables with crunchy coating. It tasted best when served with a green spicy sauce

Chai tea = This became one of our favorite breakfast beverages.

Snack foods – We tried many types of packaged snack foods made in India, such as crackers, chips and snack mix. The most widely available flavor was masala and spicy tomato was a close second.