Food on Travel

Namrata Garu,

Your mail takes me back 10 years down the memory lane. My family was also on a similar trip when I carried a rice cooker, a small cutting board, knife and two vessels - one for curdling of milk and other to keep the cooked dal / curry. I also carried Lemon pickle. We purchased the grocery items and diposable ware locally. Believe me, we enjoyed the trip and were in the pink of our health. The reasons are as follows :

We ate for our survival the optimum qauntity, i.e. no over eating because of ration

I used to prepare Pulaos or Kitchidis mostly. The spices put were in wholes i.e no grinding etc. Of course I took basic powders of dhaniya, jeera, mirch

I made it a point to have curd every day so that it balanced the imbalances of eating outside in the afternoons.

Mornings we had curd rice with lemon pickle as breakfast, Afternoons we relied on outside food and in the evening Pulaos or Kitchidi with Raita.While returning back to the nest we used to get a few assorted vegetables. Entire family used to congregate around the rice cooker, eagerly waiting for the dish to come out and enjoyed the dishes piping hot.

If you want to use Dal, use green gram and soak it in the morning and use it in the evening.

We are planning for a similar trip after two months and are eagerly waiting for that food. The secret of what is so great about that food is - we were really tired and hungry for which each morsel was tasting great. The same food prepared at home and repeated within a week would not be appreciated. Its actually the hunger which makes the food tasty.

Often while at home, we elders seldom eat when we are hungry - we eat because we need to go to office or because it is lunch or dinner time. It is only the children who feel the hunger after their play and eat. They rarely complain about the food. Similarly for us too, it is only on such trips after the day's strenuous outing we elders also enjoy such Pulaos and Kitchidis.