Varanasi

December 04, 2014

Varanasi

[Originally posted Dec 4, 2014]

"It must be impossible living in the US." Not exactly the sentiment I would have expected someone in India to say about the US. However, given the topic (vegetarianism) I had to partly agree with them. Clayton and I were sitting in a small restaurant near the Banaras Hindu University. We were squished onto a four foot bench across from a friendly couple both completing their English PhDs at BHU.

There are so many vegetarian options here in India. We went to one restaurant two nights ago--41 different options for Paneer. Not to mention the other 100+ veg options. (Paneer is an Indian cheese. It comes in cubes, maybe similar in size and shape to to tofu but much tastier.) It is often hard to remember what life is like back home, but as Clayton and I have been thinking about vegetarianism, all we can remember is the amount of meat people in the US eat and how meat is pretty much the focus of many meals. I can probably think of 41 different ways people eat chicken but I am sure one restaurant wouldn't facilitate all those options.

At this particular restaurant we were having our latest craze: Masala Dosas. Crepe-like pancakes wrapped around potatoes, onions, peas, carrots, and of course whatever delicious goodness that makes up masala. These are typically a southern India dish but seemed to be served up quite frequently here in northern India. Dosas are also eaten for every meal of the day. Can you think of a food that people back home eat for every meal of the day? (Hint: Clayton and I could only think of one and it may not technically count.)

Masala Dosas

On the topic of eating, we have been having the continual debate: to eat street food or not to eat street food. Clayton's stomach seems to be made of much stronger material than mine. He has been quite brave in some of the things he eagerly puts in his mouth. I am much more cautious on the other hand. I will share some of the arguments in favor of street food:

The sooner you get sick the better--build up the endurance.
What you see is what you get.
How do you know they aren't (fill the blank) in your food in the back?
Hot and ready.
All the Indians are doing it.
What was the point of bringing all that Cipro, if not this.
Wash it down with some delicious chai.
It is 1/5 of the price.

Now there are many arguments against eating street food: sanitation, you don't know where those pots, hands and water have been, the list goes on. However, given that most everything on the street ends up the golden delicious fried color that we came to love in the Delta, part of me argues the boiling hot oil has got to be killing at least most of the bacteria. Right? I have also pretty much taken up vegetarianism since arriving in Nepal. The roadside butcher shops are a bit much to handle and so all the vegetarian food everywhere has its advantages.

We will just have to see how my stomach fairs, besides you are only in India once...err, this makes twice for us. The food is definitely one of the reasons we are back so here is to eating both street food and not street food in India.