Bangalore: Noms for all beasts

March 23, 2016 • 10:30 am

Bangalore is not a city of great historic interest; it is the IT and science capital of India, and has grown spectacularly since I first came here in the 1980s. Because of that, the western influence on merchandising is much greater than in other places I’ve visited here. This is, for instance, the only Indian branch of Krispy Kreme donuts I’ve seen. If you’re Indian, you’d be really foolish to have a Krispy Kreme air-filled sugar bomb instead of, say, a luscious rasmalai.

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And some “health foods” in a local store:

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Now some real noms: dinner last night, which included squash, a fabulous South Indian spicy crab dish, chappatis, vegetables, potatoes, rice, and “mutton” (the Indian term for goat):

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A South Indian breakfast this morning: idlis, sambar, coconut chutney, vadas (the savory fried donut-shaped thing made from lentils), sweets, and a cup of strong Indian coffee.

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Bonde, a sweet made from gram flour and rice flour; it was very good (as they all are):

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As usual, all the beasts and fowls were fed. Here’s the bird-feeding section, which contains a huge tureen of rice and chicken for the pigeons, crows, and kites. It’s walled off from the cat-feeding section, and the door closed after food is put out, all so that the cats can’t get the birds:

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Lots of cats showed up for yesterday’s afternoon feeding, but this is by no means the whole lot:

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This is the cat I’m trying to persuade Mr. Das to name “Jerry”. Perhaps “Wary” would be a better name!

Jerry

14 thoughts on “Bangalore: Noms for all beasts

  1. All that Indian food, including the previous topics, looks delicious. A friend at the fencing club used to be a journalist for a few months in India. She has spoken often about the excellent food as well.

  2. While I love Indian food and eat it regularly, the sweets don’t do anything for me. The only one I really like is gulab jamun.

  3. Crab? Are they small soft-shelled type crabs or big meaty dungeness types? I’ve eaten a lot of Indian food, but never encountered crab.

    Everything looks mouthwatering.

      1. Soft-shells are just crabs caught during molting season (which is when they fatten up, so they’re especially succulent then).

  4. Ah, Pringles.

    Pringles, new-fangled, potato chips
    Not broken, fresh and crunchy too,
    The canister keeps them that way for you.

  5. I like wary or cautious.

    The old radio show Matt Dillon spoke similarly about the job of being a U.S. Marshall. After the introduction, William Conrad’s Matt would say “It’s a chancy job, and it makes a man watchful . . . and a little lonely.”

    So, maybe watchful is a possible name although that describes most cats.

  6. “Noms for all beasts” — isn’t that what the Lord God granted Adam the power to give in Genesis 2:19-20?

    There’re a couple of dishes in those photos that look so good the serpent wouldn’t have to tempt me much to take a bite.

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