Finding Dinner in Udaipur
Udaipur is part of the Indus Valley, one of the cradles of civilization, dating back five thousand years. And as I stood at a little chapati stall, it looked to me the samosa the character in the grimy once white T shirt took from his smoking black wok was at least that old. It was like some sort of calcified shard from antiquity, hard aschert and about as tasty. The cook in grimy shirt just waggled his head and headed back out to the throbbing streets of Jaipur n search of good eats. Auto rickshaws blew past me, a cow bleated it way down the street, a sea of traffic confronted me and I wondered if I could make the traffic part the way it will in Rome if you just walk out in a small break int he traffic and they all slow down for you on the way to the Colosseum. I doubt that would work here. But that was OK as it forced me to find the Gujarti restaurant just down the way, a vegetarian joint which I came back to several times during my stay in a hotel in Udaipur.
Still smarting from my blackened wok experience (I was generally a good judge of a restaurant form the outside and the general vibe, but not that time. Perhaps I was too hungry) and cautiously ordered what turned out to be a typical Thali plate of lentils, the ever present and wonderfully fragrant Basmati rice, and vegetables curried including I think eggplant and cauliflower in a kind of nut sauce. Pure heaven. I felt so much better after this light nutritious meal I walked out on a cloud of happiness, turning back to remember where the place was. Just then I saw old greasy T shirt, the cook from the other place, walk in and sit down to order himself a plate. Looks like he could not stand his own food.