Feeding Religion

When talking with friends to determine where to go to eat, how often is Indian an option? I love going for Indian food, but usually sparingly - once a month or so. Mexican I could have every day for every meal, but Indian is more of a treat for me. Not to mention how full (read: bloated and disgusting) I feel after each Indian meal. Imagine that bloated feeling times three - every day! To take advantage of the authenticity of the surroundings though, I have only been interested in eating the best Indian food here. Locally known simply as 'food.'

My favorite new dish is the samosa chaat that we had at Samrat. It consisted of smashed samosas in light yoghurt and tamarind chutney sauces, garnished every so elegantly with Jay's potato chips. Excellent! I've also really enjoyed my new choice drink: fresh-squeezed lime juice. The limes are so different from what I'm used to - not at all and very mild and light tasting. If that makes any sense. On the bottom of the drink list is a bottled lemonade served aboard an intra-India flight. It might have been good except for all of the salt that was added to it. Other good stuff includes a thali, an assortment of many different dishes, sauces, rices and breads. The dangerous part: it's unlimited so you keep getting refills on everything. The two best places for thali so far are Samrat in Mumbai and Natraj in Udaipur, which served and refilled dishes at speeds unfathomably fast.

What is ultimately surprising to me is that even after a number of days in India my digestive system has not objected at all, probably thanks to considerable efforts against supporting the Lactose Regime and abstaining from all dairy entirely. I asked Yael, our Mumbai guide, what religion I would be if I lived here, considering my dairy prohibition. There seems to be an unending number of sects, each with their own beliefs, practices and dietary restrictions. Most familiar and intriguing to me are the people known as Bene Yisrael, or Yehudis. Shipwrecked off the Mumbai coast over two thousand years ago while refugees from a foreign occupied very pre-Israel strip of land. They were also called Shanivar Teli, meaning Saturday oil-pressers since they abstained from working on Saturdays and since oil pressing was their game. They are the dis-connected, now reconnected Jews before Jewish meant anything. But they eat dairy, so I guess that makes me a bit more religious...maybe.

The major religious muscle includes Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus, the vast majority, many of whom are vegetarian but simply called 'veg.' A new (for me) interesting religion is Jainism, an offshoot of Hinduism. There are special items on many restaurant menus catering to Jain standards. I thought at first that notations saying that certain dishes can be made without garlic or onions were for tourists. Not so - Jains revere the earth and dirt and believe that all therein is holy and therefore refrain from eating that stuff. Actually all root vegetables. Some kid's clever attempt to avoid eating vegetables if you ask me.

Somewhat opposite from the Jains are the Farsis, who worship the sky and air, ground too I think. They have mysterious traditions, as their temples and practices are open only to their faithful. Little known fact: the creator of 'Members Only' jackets was a Farsi. Yet is is more commonly known that they have a certain area of Mumbai that is cordoned off in which is kept their Temple of Silence. I don't know how tall the tower reaches, but I did learn that it was definitely silent: they hang their dead so the body can be with the holiness of the air. I guess that was thought to be paramount to the destruction of the body over the course of a few hours by hungry vultures, buzzards and vicious parrots. Ok maybe not the parrots but that really sounds quite unappealing and morbid when thinking of how to execute one's last will and testament. I'd think the family's grief might be a bit expounded by seeing a bird eat mommy...