I Am a Foodie

angryteacherishere
Nov 10, 2015
2 min read

By Mohammed Mobeen

Food is a basic necessity. Yet for me, it’s about exploring food habits. In a country like India food is celebrated. The way people eat and drink is amazing.

The Morning Beverage

The morning food culture in India differs from region to region. In Northern India people start their day by drinking hot milk boiled for almost 8 hours. After this amount of time, it turns brown. For me it was a sweet way to start my day. In South India people have strong coffee. Food habits really differ don’t they?

The West and East are almost alike: here people have tea. So, the morning drink is quite interesting. It’s not that everyone loves their drink - the fact is people are addicted to certain drinks. Drastic changes in habits, right?

Snacks

Snacks are loved by all. And how can a person avoid them, especially in a country like India? I travelled to Rajasthan, a northern state, and the snack hub of India. People like to gorge on snacks and believe me, it’s lip-smacking. The snacks include fried dry fruits prepared in various ways, using gram flour, spices and lots of oil. This may upset your stomach and diet-conscious people avoid them.

The opposite is the case in Tamilnadu. Here people enjoy healthy snacks like Idli (which is made using rice flour and doesn’t have oil at all).

Lunch

Lunch consists of a variety of foods, like Roti made from wheat and rice (the staple food in my country). They are served with curry, some vegetables and may include chicken/meat/fish.

We have a saying back home: “Eat all you can and until you die”.

Dinner

The tradition of multiple courses served for dinner started in the city of Nawabs Lucknow (a city in India). The inhabitants had a huge crush on the variety of food served to them. The cooks used to serve the King food prepared using an entire range of authentic ingredients. The rule was the food served should always be checked by the head chef and if any mismatch was found that was his last day on the job. So dinner is like a heavy platter including starters, soups, salads, curries, barbeque, deserts, and drinks.

I had a chance to dine with the Nawab himself and it was a pleasure to dine with his Excellency. My journey of discovering food doesn’t stop here: it continues. I am a Foodie.