One thing I find myself doing as a blond in India is keeping moving. If I stop it always ends in a small croud of teeneage/twenty something boys staring and taking it in turns to stand vaguely near me while their friend snaps them on a mobile phone. I am proably as old as some of their mothers and it is pushes my newly developed sublime patience to the hilt. As such, Vishakapatnam's 2 mile promenade was perfect for keeping walking and came as sweet relief. I did the promenade in the early morning before tuk-tukking off to some buddhist hill monastries, at one of which I was harassed by a group of young males so hell-bent on stalking and jeering at me that the guard called the police! Dejected, I scuttled away but thankfully the second monastry was as peaceful as a pembokeshire dawn and a gentle sea breeze swayed the grass as I dealt with my contempt for the young men at the previous place through meditation!
My evening promenade was marvellous and I felt a part of the fun that everyone was clearly having by simply wandering, eating something, wandering, pausing and wandering some more. Most of the food stalls that set themselves up for sunset at around 4.30pm had attractively arranged fresh ingredients around a chopping block and huge containers of a kind of puffed rice that I had tried at the Haats in Chattisgarh. Everyone seemed to be happily filling themselves with the output of these stalls from a paper cone with the same gusto as a portion of chips goes down in Blackpool, so ever on the hunt for the next taste bud hit, I found a popular looking stall and when I reached the front was delighted that the waller spoke to me in English
My evening promenade was marvellous and I felt a part of the fun that everyone was clearly having by simply wandering, eating something, wandering, pausing and wandering some more. Most of the food stalls that set themselves up for sunset at around 4.30pm had attractively arranged fresh ingredients around a chopping block and huge containers of a kind of puffed rice that I had tried at the Haats in Chattisgarh. Everyone seemed to be happily filling themselves with the output of these stalls from a paper cone with the same gusto as a portion of chips goes down in Blackpool, so ever on the hunt for the next taste bud hit, I found a popular looking stall and when I reached the front was delighted that the waller spoke to me in English
"Ah lady you want Muri Mix sweet and little bit spicy" to which I added
"yes please and big lemon" pointing cheerfully at the pyramid of little lime shaped lemons
What ensued was healthy, delicious, wheat free, pure food genius ...given that I am so obsessed with chopping up veg at the best of times you should watch out friends because you will be trying this next time you visit me at home!! (Ellie's without the tomato centres though!)
Muri Mix (1 cone)
Mix the following by hand in a large bowl:
0.25 of a red onion finely chopped
0.5 of a tomato finely chopped
A small handful of corriander leaf and stalk
Half the amount above of finely chopped mint
A few cooked chickpeas
A few shelled peanuts
Several handfuls of puffed white rice
A spoon of masala
Some chilli powder to taste
Salt to taste (although a lot seemed to go in!)
Lemon juice to taste and to spreas the ingredients
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