A couple of years ago, I spent three months in India working at my (publishing) employer’s small Delhi office.  Apart from the amazing people, just about the very best part of this experience was of course the food.  Some of the very best food I had there was the simplest and cheapest.  Most days when I was in the office I had a tiffin of home-cooked food delivered.  It was never too oily, never too heavy and always delicious (and very safe for foreign guts…no Delhi Belly from this great stuff).

Here’s a little photo series of the experience to get you going.  If you don’t like Indian food, you can just go somewhere else right now.

Greetings from the Delhi cafeteria! Please note my purple tiffin, delivered warm at lunchtime each day for 25 rupees (about 50 cents), in the lower right hand corner.

What might be inside today?

No, it’s not food porn…it’s my lunch! Yes, only 25 rupees for two veg dishes, rice, four roti, a few slices of raw onion and a sweet! It’s all homemade. I don’t know in whose home it was made, but nevertheless I could taste that it was made with love. The dishes change every day and they’re always excellent.

Everybody shares a bit of his own homemade lunch with me, too, so my tiffin is only half the story. I know it looks like there’s some kind of party or celebration going on, but this is actually just a typical lunch.

It never lasts long.  But the portion size is truly perfect.  Much better than overeating.

After lunch, we all take a walk down to the pan shop. Cigarettes, betel nut and sweet mints will carry us through the rest of the steamy afternoon. There’s Ashish in back holding up the Gold Flake cigarette he just bought for me. Thanks, Ashish!

And then it’s back to work…

…where I continue to amaze by demonstrating my adaptability and sensitivity to cultural differences.

Just hope there’s not too much traffic on the commute home…

Can’t get enough?  Like looking at other people’s vacation pics?  Feel free to check out my top India snaps, complete with captions for your general edification.

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