The "Humble" Samosa

Walking through the local market in Bundi, I came across a large crowd surrounding a little stall. Behind the "hungry" eyes were three men. Two of them were making fresh samosas, whilst the other guy was fishing out about 50 piping hot samosas from a huge wok of oil. He would then place a samosa on a piece of newspaper, squash it, then pour over 2 sauces, one a spicy, sweet, tangy one, the other a dahl.

One of these super fresh, swimming samosas cost only rps3 (AUS 0.08c). It was no wonder there was a huge crowd hanging around! It made me reflect on the take away food business, and how important it is in a place like India. It provides everyone with nutrition, great flavour, and all at an affordable price. I'm sure there are many people who look forward to this little stand opening every afternoon, and I was surely glad I had stumbled across it too!

The variety of snacks deep fried on the side of the road in India is immense. The flavour, freshness and price are the three things which stand out the most. All you need is some form of table, a wok and some oil, and your open for business. You can spend all day wandering and not set foot inside a restaurant, and still be well fed and entertained. This amusing side show starts early and finishes late, and will cost you only a handfull of rupees, plus your life story told on repeat.

Gopal Guesthouse, Jodhpur

There are 3 generations of family living and working in this heart warming, super friendly guesthouse. I was nursing a tender tummy(post 30 hours of the squirts) upon my arrival, and was given a family remedy to help my "iron gut" return to it's natural state.

Unfortunately I could only stay for a few days as I had a pre-arranged plan to meet friends in another town. Gopal is the type of place where 2 weeks would fly by before you realized, such is the friendliness of the family. When they found out I was a chef, I was in the kitchen immediately. They were desperate to improve their "western food" repertiore. My bare-footed lessons included spaghetti and tomato sugo, french toast, poached eggs, greek salad and roast chicken and roast vegies( the later been done in a gas tandoori oven!). In the meantime, I was in turn shown a few local treats.

The rooftop sitting area overlooks the magnificent Meherangarh Fort and is a wonderful place to sit, drink chai and discuss life with Mr. Shatki. Without sounding too cliche, it eally is that home away from home. When it was time to (begrudginly) leave, the family refused to accept any money for the food and drink my "back to normal stomach" had consumed. They also gave me a small gift for the few dishes I had showed them. The genuine hospitality shown at Gopal Guesthouse exemplifies Indian culture and it is the only place you should stay if you ever find yourself in the magical town of Jodhpur.