I've often heard India described as pungent or vibrant. Those words are particularly useful because they contain no value judgment. Vibrant could be a scantily dressed young girl in heavy makeup offering herself for pictures or massage. Pungent could describe the powerful combination of exhaust fumes, burning trash, sewage, and cow dung. Or not.
In a Bangalore produce market we were immersed in just the opposite. The air held the aroma of freshly cut flowers. The colors of the women's saris were second only to the flower chains they were making, purchasing and wearing. Red carrots, green okra, yellow jaggery, magenta bindi powders - I couldn't stop snapping pictures. Check it out:
Slightly less photo-friendly, but equally "pungent and vibrant" was our meal at Mavalli Tiffin Rooms. A 14-course all-you-can-eat thali included our best parantha and curry combination to date, a great vegetable biryani, fresh-squeezed pomegratnite juice, and excellent curd and radish (yes, I'm eating uncooked food in India. With my hands. Pray for me, throw salt over your shoulder, cross your fingers, knock on wood, invest in Cipro, do it all). The place was packed with locals and the whole feast totalled about $2 a piece. Legendary.
xoxo Jessie
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