Category Archives: India

We were rolling through India, heading north through never-ending drizzle, when our convoy pulled off onto the side of the road. The bleary eyed drivers got out to stretch their legs without a word. A toilet break, it seemed, or perhaps another random petrol stop where some stranger miraculously appears with a gerry can full [...]

I arrived in Jaisalmer on the overnight train, hair wild with desert sand. Jaisalmer feels like a frontier town, one last outpost on the precipice of forever. The major tourist activity here, aside from visits to the legal bhang shop, are camel rides out into the vast searing nothingness that lies past the edge of [...]

Secret of good mood Taste of Karim’s food Nihari is a Pakistani breakfast dish popular with Muslims in India. Extravagantly spiced beef shanks are slow cooked, often overnight and eaten after early morning prayers. A jumble of tender meat and rich bone marrow is served in a thick, exuberant gravy topped with a slick of flavourful [...]

I took the samosa tour of northern India. There were plenty of other treats on my (leaf) plate but the unassuming samosa quickly became my default snack. They were recognisable, self-contained and incredibly satisfying. I ate them when everything else was too difficult, too fly blown and when it was just too hot for a [...]

Kolkata, monsoonal, dirty and terrifying. I had just arrived in India and was completely overwhelmed, but we’ve all heard this story a hundred times or more (mine’s here). As the days passed I realised I’d have to brave the stares, sun and mud if I was going to eat something worthwhile in this country. It [...]