Food!!!!!!!!!!!

O yea. I forgot to talk about the food. It is pretty fucking good. The Indian food that I got on the plane coming here was better than 90 percent of the stuff they try to pawn off in the states. Usually American Indian food is just improperly cooked slosh with curry in it. The food that I get for 20 cents at a street side stall is very good. The samosas, which are deep fried savory pastries filled with a spiced potato mixture, is always accompanied with a chickpea sauce. There are many varieties and they differ in their color and spiciness. They also like to use yogurt and curd a lot here. I am not always a fan but sometimes if they put some on the food it balances the spiciness. They also like to use a sweet chutney for balance. In Almora the chutney they use is made from apricot because that grows locally. I am actually not a fan of the chutney but in a jam the apricot is fantastic.
Most restaurants offer what is called a Thalis. It is basically a sampler platter that comes with bread, rice, and a yogurt dessert. You can get it veg or non-veg. I have had some good ones and some bad ones. It also always comes with Dal. Dal comes in a enormous amount of varieties and is lentils cooked in a spiced sauce. Some are more spicy than others and some are more soupy than others. It is all based on preference, region, and variety of lentil.
The bread is also something to marvel at. Of course Naan is always readily available but it must be cooked in a tandoori oven. A tandoori is the Indian version of a grill but it is basically a large concrete cylinder which has either coals or wood as the heating element. It adds a great flavor to the meat or bread. You cook bread by sticking it on the side of the oven, and you cook meat on skewers(I think). There is also roti. Which is a cheap small round bread that is cooked on a skillet. And there is pratha that is basically a large version of roti with a stuffing.
The eating experience itself can be an adventure. All the chai shops and street side vendors look dirty as hell, but my policy is “if its hot its good to eat”. I went to a awesome street side hole in the wall, and squeezed on a old wooden bench next to a bunch of haggard looking Indian men. I had dal with alo pratha (potatoes inside). It was delicious and to my surprise the cook keeps coming over and filling your plate free of charge. I spent 30 rupees on lunch (75 cents) and it was all you can eat and delicious. Overall the food is great. I hope I learn how to cook some of it. (I’m working on that)