Okay, I’m not becoming vegetarian, but I will be a part time one for the next eight weeks! Our cook in the volunteer house, Rinku, only does vegetarian and so I have not eaten meat in four days. I think that’s some kind of record in this meatarian’s life. I have to say though, it’s freaking good veggies! LOL. I think I don’t miss meat because the veggies are so delicious and come in many forms, rather than salad (boring), steamed (yuck) or pan fried (not that bad haha).

These veggies are soaked in yummy curries that are made with fresh ingredients and mouthwatering spices that cannot be replicated in a pre-packaged sauce from PC! The food is amazing, and Rinku is an awesome cook. I told her that I hoped the cook in Jaipur was as good as her, not only food-wise but personality wise! Rinku was a riot to talk to—so full of energy and enthusiasm. She was so cheerful, even in the early mornings and just had a happy energy coming from her. She told me that she has no menu, she just makes what she feels like that day, and does everything from scratch, including the chapattis which we ate everyday! She said she would teach me, but it ended up being too busy and I didn’t get a chance to see her at work. Maybe when I return to Delhi for my flight to Nepal, I’ll be able to learn her secrets to yummy vegetarian cooking.

I loved that everything had a bit of spice to it, even for breakfast. One of my favourites was something called poha, made from flattened rice and had some sort of nut in it with green onions and tomatoes. It kind of looked like rice. It was sooo good. I didn’t take any photos, but you can see what it is here. She also made yummy potatoes. They were so simple, but spiced perfectly and I went back for seconds. And of course all the curries. Sooo good.

My roomie, who said she doesn’t miss meat, told me that when she went to Sri Lanka and ate like that for three weeks, she went back home to Holland and lost five kilograms! I hope I can be that lucky, especially since Sudha and her niece both called me fat. When we were doing a sari workshop, and I tried on one, she asked me if I was pregnant. Nope, just fat thanks. And then we went to her family’s house for a host family dinner and her very cute seven year old niece pointed to me and said, “You are very fat.” Thanks! And, when I went shopping to get some Indian clothing, I could not fit in anything because the clothes were made for 70-pound skinny Indian girls. 😛 Sudha asked me if I ate meat, and I said yes. She said that’s why I have a gigantic stomach. 😛 I do love my meat, but am hoping at the end of these eight weeks (we get meat at the Jaipur volunteer house twice or three times a week, apparently, and Nepal is completely veggie) that I will have lost some weight by becoming a vegetarian! A girl can hope. 🙂

The one thing I do find interesting is that the default seems to be vegetarian, because in normal speech and menus, people point out “non-vegetarian” dishes whereas back home, we would point out the vegetarian dish! Anyway, I’m sure I’ll be ordering some meat at a restaurant or two, but for the most part, vegetarianism isn’t that bad!

–Bea