The (un)Joy Of Shopping in India

Ok, so this post might digress from being just about food, and hit on my other obsession - shopping. I'm in the mood to rant.

Having lived in the US long enough to have been completely spoiled by the retail experience here, I'm now secretly dreading the prospect of shopping in India.

American store-owners actually want you to buy from their stores. Indian store-owners ("lala ji"), on the other hand, seem intent on making your shopping experience feel like war.

What is it about our country's businessmen that makes them so indifferent, so callous to the needs of the customer ? Why is the mantra of any business in India to rob the customer blind until they wise up ? I've seen a million cheap imitations of American products that don't come close to the original for quality. Not to say the US doesn't have its fair share of duds, but in India, the duds, by sheer volume, crowd out the few good products. 

The "Made in India" clothes that I buy in the US will last me years, while (pricier) clothes I buy in India will unravel in months. Why do we not deserve the same quality in manufacturing that is provided to US companies ? I'm genuinely perplexed - is it the cost ? I'm willing to pay more; no one offers me the option ! Or is it just indifference towards the domestic customers, because we are second-rate in our own country ?

And it's not just retailers; this trend extends to almost every industry. A Domino's pizza in India will taste so different from one in the US that you won't know they both came from the same parent company. Same for Coke. Same for Kitkats and Dairy Milks. McDonald's in India will continually reduce portions and increase prices, while their counterpart in the US is doing the opposite and still making money. 5-star chefs will continue to peddle a frozen, gelatinous mess as "New York cheesecake". At the local Subway, I pay for double meat to get the amount of chicken I normally get in the US.

Kirana-store uncles will always add up your total incorrectly, and when you catch them, laugh it off ("Beta chashme ke bina 3 mujhe 8 dikh raha tha"). Strangely, 8 will never look like a 3 to them, ever. A look at the Facebook page of the recently-launched-in-India version of Forever21 will show numerous messages from customers - none with a reply. On the US webpage of the same store , every question has been answered, every message replied to.

It's our money that drives these businesses, yet we never demand better from them. We've resigned ourselves to being treated like crap and settling for second-best. Why ?

A few recent imports from the US give me some hope - Chili's has great food, US-sized portions and decent prices (let's see how long that lasts). The Quiznos in Hyderabad had my favorite baja chicken and had not (the last I ate there) yet converted half its menu to alu tikkis. Zara India stock their entire international line, not just "India appropriate" clothes. I'm praying for Gap, H&M & the Cheesecake Factory to wake up and smell the opportunity that is urban India.

Till then, I'm relying on my network of friends and family to stuff their bags for me every time they head to India. Please, guys. I need your suitcase space more than you do.

The Island of Dreams

Aaah, New York.

Despite having been exploited for all it's worth, with everything written about it that possibly could be, ubiquitous Central Park photos splattered all over the web, New York City still moves me in a way that's almost indescribable.

Almost.

I can sense the train pulling into Penn station every single time; it sends a shiver down my spine and makes me sweaty with anticipation. The sheer joy of being the world's greatest city (yes, it is), being surrounded by culture, food, art, fashion and history, and of course the shopping - all of these combine into the heady cocktail that is New York. Its narrow alleys set me free; its towering skyscrapers make me giddy, and its pulse finds an echo in the beats of my heart.

Ok, I'll stop.

This trip was probably my last sojourn to NY (as tour guide to my visiting mother), so I decided to tick off another few things on my to-do list (I could never, of course, hope to tick off ALL of them). My focus so far had been on history and fashion/shopping. This time, I wanted pop-culture NY - and I wanted food. So I scoured the Food Network for affordable, interesting places, and this is what I came up with.

1. Magnolia Bakery Any fan of Sex And The City would recognize this name immediately - it's where the ladies got their cupcake fix. Since the show aired, this place has become a destination in itself, known more for the show than the actual cupcakes. I got 2 - red velvet (my absolute favorite), and Chocolate Coconut.

Now, I've been on the hunt for the perfect red velvet for ages (more on that later). This one, while good, didn't come close to that vision. The choc-coco had great texture and soft, sweet coconut, but slightly dry cake. All in all, Magnolia did just about ok in my book.

2. The Meatball Shop A Brooklyn original, it recently branched out in Manhattan (thus saving me a tedious subway trip), and serves beef, pork, chicken and veggie meatballs. You can order them "naked", on a slider (one ball, small bun), as a burger (2 on a bun) or as a hoagie (3 on a hotdog roll), with an assortment of sauces and cheese. I got chicken burger, spicy tomato sauce and pepperjack cheese - and it was goooooooood. The meatballs had just the right consistency, were flavorful, and piping hot. Would go again. 

3. Waffles and Dinges A traveling truck that dispenses authentic, hot Belgian waffles. Found out it was parked in Times Square (perfect). A long line of post-lunch, craving-something-sweet people greeted me. I got a plain small waffle with just powdered sugar...........and couldn't figure out what people raved on and on about. It was nice, yes, but nothing to write home about. Ah well, maybe it takes a more sophisticated palette ! I was on a busy sidewalk with sugar all over my fingers, so no pics. So sorry !

4. Red Hook Lobster Another traveling truck, and this one went gourmet ! Serves lobster rolls, lobster mac and cheese, and even live lobsters ! It was the most expensive of my jaunts - a $16 lobster roll ain't cheap - but oh, was it worth it ! Cold, sweet chunks of lobster, a hint of spicy mayo and a perfectly buttered bun - H.E.A.V.E.N. 

NYC never fails to surprise and amaze me. This was my 8th (9th ?) trip to the little island, and I discover something new every single time. 

That's why I keep going back for more.

Pub Mein Kukkad......Blimey, Mate !

Brits do a lot of things well - fashion, museums, the tube, and of course, the staple of British alleys and nooks - pubs. I'm a fan of fish and chips, and for me, that's about as far as pub food went. I know of some great Colonial pubs in Manhattan, but never expected to find one in our little cubbyhole town.

The credit for this discovery must go to the husband, really. We seemed to have exhausted our usual routine, familiar restaurants (the kind where we no longer needed a menu to order), and wanted to try a new place. After a little digging, the husband came up with a quaint pub downtown. I was reluctant (fish and chips = diet disaster), but followed along when he promised an extensive menu.

Surprise, surprise ! In addition to some lovely, unusual dishes (spicy lamb burger, The Starving Artist - a hodge-podge of rice, beans, salsa and gravy), the menu featured........Butter Chicken. 

Wha.................... ?

It is unheard of to find an Indian dish on the menu, outside of Indian restaurants, in the US. Curiosity piqued, I ordered it (the husband went with the spicy lamb burger). Both dishes arrived looking beautiful, and smelling delicious.

The butter chicken

The lamb burger

The lamb burger was flavorful enough, but the husband had eyes on my butter chicken from the start. And for good reason - it far surpassed my expectations ! It had all the right spices, wasn't drenched in butter, and was boneless - so it checked all the boxes I grade chicken on. Sadly, Karim's memories never let me enjoy a good naan; if it isn't great, it doesn't count. But other than that, it was perfect; we wiped the plate clean.

Unexpected pleasures really are the best.

P.S. I'll be back (have to try the Starving Artist !).

Mofongo Khush Hua !

While researching for our upcoming trip to Puerto Rico, I stumbled upon what seemed to be the favorite local food - the Mofongo. Every website I stumbled upon had tourists raving about this delicious tropical staple, some going so far as to say they only ate mofongos during their entire trip.

As scary as it sounds, its description had me intrigued - a bowl made with fried, mashed plantains, and filled with your meat of choice. My love of all things fried is legendary, as is my fondness for poultry, so naturally, this seemed like food made just for me.

Now, I knew plantains were a distant cousin of the banana, but I had no idea what to expect as far as taste goes. Luckily, lard blocks out pretty much most of the original taste of anything, so all I tasted in the plantain bowl was kind of fried-dough-taste, which served as the perfect backdrop for tender chicken chunks doused in garlic aioli.

It. Was. DELICIOUS.

It was also, however, so filling that I couldn't move for the rest of the evening, and much of the next day. Because our vacation was only 3 days, I didn't dare try it again. Both the husband and I did try out a few more of the most recommended local dishes, but none compared to the mofongo.

Regretfully, it was so dim in the restaurant that I couldn't take a decent pic. I'll try to paint a verbal picture - a 4" wide, 1" deep fried bowl, the color of a good samosa, filled to the brim with meat, doused with sauce, sometimes sitting on a bed of veggies or rice. Sounds good, doesn't it ?

It's actually quite easy to make. The plantains can be substituted with mashed unripe bananas mixed with a little flour. Roasted/grilled chicken/tofu/paneer/shrimp/fish chunks and your sauce of choice complete the mighty mofongo.

Have you tried any exotic foods ? Are there any that you'd want to try ? 

Meri Maggi: A Bowlful of Memories - Part 1

Hot and soupy, straight from the pan. Cold and congealed, in a plastic lunch box. With veggies. With chopped-up boiled eggs. With ketchup (yeah !). With chicken curry. Al dente. Starchy soft. In a bowl. On a plate. Masala, Tangy Tomato, Sweet and Sour.

No matter how you liked your Maggi, everyone in India under the age of 40 has memories of it. Each one of us remembers waiting for that one day of the week when mum would oblige us with Maggi in the lunch box, or for dinner, while grumbling about its lack of nutrition. I even had a pact with my best friend - she would share her Maggi lunch with me, and I would share mine. That way, we could enjoy Maggi twice a week. Such cunning !

It's the stuff legends are made of. Dorm cafeterias and university dhabas boast of "their" way of cooking it. Hot plates and electric heaters are smuggled into hostel rooms for the sole purpose of making a (very) late snack of it. It is sustenance for the millions of hungry souls inhabiting the colleges and universities of India, and increasingly abroad. It is what I still yearn for on a rainy day (and on days when the maid fails to show up). After exhausting evenings of partying and dancing, a shared bowl of Maggi stifled the rumblings of our collective stomachs.

It's a simple food - flour noodles, and a packet of seasoning. Boil water, add noodles and seasoning, cook until soft. And to this day, I haven't managed to cook it in the stipulated "2 minutes". It usually takes me 8-10. 

But I digress. False advertising aside, Maggi delivered on its promise of being a tasty, spicy, quick and easy meal (it never claimed to be healthy, until a whole-wheat avatar was launched in 2008). While many households reserved it for an evening snack for the kids (after a vigorous game of tag), many a harried mother has given in to its temptation as full-blown dinner on days when chopping veggies, frying onions, making curry and rolling out chapattis seemed to be just way too much.

We never had much say in when and how much of it we could eat; we could salivate for weeks before the elders deemed it ok - "Chalo aaj Maggi bana lete hain". Ahhh ! The joy ! The anticipation ! The aroma wafting from the kitchen as the saucepan bubbled !

And then came college, with the inedible dorm food and the perennially broke situation. We all turned to our only savior - the only thing that remained edible no matter who made it - and we all over-did it. Maggi for lunch, dinner, and late-night snack. All week. All month. All semester. Towards the end of my 4 years was the only time in my life that I was slightly revolted by it.

To be continued........

Ghar Ghar Burger Shurger Hoye !

Beef - the official food of the USA.

Ok, I may have made that up; but it isn't too far from the truth. The average American adult consumes 270 lbs - yes, more than their own body weight (or is it ?) - of beef each year (source: NPR). McDonald's - the premier hamburger giant - is the largest publicly traded food company on the stock exchange, closely followed by Burger King and Wendy's. The beef section in the grocery store spans 4 aisles. There are restaurants that have only one item on the menu - beef.

My point is - USA is beef country.......

.....with a Hindu population of 1.2 million. 

While some desi immigrants have taken to beef, most still consider it taboo, for reasons both religious and cultural. Even for largely non-religious people like me, beef remains out of bounds, simply because trying out a new food is tricky territory. Some of my food adventures (raw oysters, caviar, smoked salmon) have left a bad taste in my mouth long after the meal was over. It also represents a kind of cultural leap - from being a "desi" desi to being a transitional American - a leap I'm not willing to make.

A small but growing population here in the US is beginning to realize that there are other, healthier meats out there - poultry, seafood, turkey - that have remained under-utilized for decades. But none of these comes close to replicating the mouth-feel of a good, juicy burger - chicken and seafood can't be ground up and made into patties; turkey dries out and is bland.

The Indian answer has always been the potato patty - the delightful "tikki" - mashed up potatoes, peas, onions and lots of spices, grilled on a flat pan and handed out with generous doses of chutney, sometimes sans the bun, often as a tea-time snack. I wonder how long it will take McDonald's to realize that its Indian version sells a potato-patty burger that could be a delicious veggie option on their US menu.

The American answer to the beef substitute isn't potatoes (they use potatoes as a side anyway); it's the humble bean  ! Black, red, soy or kidney - ground up beans can hold flavor and moisture, and can be made into a patty ready for the grill. The patty looks surprisingly similar to a beef burger, goes perfectly with cheese melted on top, and fits snugly into a toasted bun. Vegetarian heaven !

Black bean burger at a local joint in G'ville

About 6-7 years ago, when I first visited USA, I could only find these patties at specialized stores, frozen. I would bring them home, along with a bag of buns, and get grilling. To my surprise and delight, they have made their way into mainstream culture, and can now be found at most restaurants. I don't see bean burgers at fast food chains yet, though (Mc Donald's current "vegetarian" burger is lettuce and tomato on a bun). 

Ah well, someday. Until then, I'll head to the frozen section.

The Grocery Conundrum - Why I prefer the friendly neighborhood desi kirana store to the US versions

Who would've imagined dowdy, boring grocery shopping to cause so much melodrama every week ! But it does, at least in the US.


It's easy to do grocery in India - pricing usually takes a backseat in deciding where to shop, because all packaged goods have the same retail price across the nation. You go to the nearest market, pick a kirana store with a sweet uncle ji/aunty ji manning it, and soon enough, they know your weekly list by heart and will have Chotu bring out the 2-lt Thums Up, no-sugar-added juice and bag of roast peanuts as soon as you set foot inside. Some chit-chat and gossip exchanges later, you're all set for the week. 

Photo courtesy Outlook magazine

Not so the US. As with everything else  in this country, you have way too many options on where you want to get your aata-dal from. For most people, it comes down to cost differences - the price of the same product can vary greatly from store to store.


The lowest-price retailer in any area tends to be Walmart. Price-wise, it makes sense to shop there all the time. But for the downer - Walmart is depressing. Very depressing. Bleakly lit, withering bunches of flowers, week-old piles of apples and bruised bananas, and a bakery section where the ingredient of choice is lard. It does offer vast choices at great prices, and some of those choices are good ones (high-fiber cereal, no-preservative yoghurt). It is up to us to sort through the crap.

Produce at Walmart

This is just sad

In stark contrast is Whole Foods - a mecca of organic, locally-grown goodness, of produce fresh off the farm, flaxseed supplements on everything and a preservative-free, calorie-conscious bakery ! It stocks shelves upon shelves of imported Italian pasta sauces, whole-grain cereal, cage-free eggs, grass-fed beef, hand-cut potato chips and even gourmet international cuisine (Sanjeev Kapoor mango pickle, anyone ?) - things that will have you feeling more wholesome and healthy just by looking at them. Well, the one part of you that won't feel so healthy - your wallet. Yep, organic comes at a steep cost; just because the farmers save on pesticides doesn't mean you save too. 

Produce at Whole Foods

Well-stocked with fresh, crisp veggies

So, where do we go ? Cheap Walmart, where our wallets will thank us but we'll need mood-enhancers later, or Whole Foods, where we'll feel uplifted and broke ?


We've reached a compromise - for the packaged stuff (toothpaste, soap, paper towels, cereal, canned goods etc.), Walmart is just fine. For produce, it makes sense to shell out a bit more and buy pesticide-free, fresher stuff, so every few weeks, we run by WF and stock up.


What do you look for in a grocery store ? Would you prefer the perfect aisles of US stores to the chaos of desi kirana shops ? Would you pay more for fresh and organic, or does that scream "scam" to you ?