Food and Family in India!

Hello to everyone!

I am enjoying my new life and as always love being in India! The weather is great and the food is better!

Speaking of food, I had an epiphany four days after reaching Mumbai! We left Mumbai and traveled to the city of Pune for my niece's wedding. On my third day in Pune, I woke up extremely early.  I did not sleep well and I couldn’t put my finger on the problem, but I really did not feel well.

We were in our hotel in Pune, celebrating the second day of the wedding. I went down to breakfast, which is included in the room stay. The breakfast was wonderful as always! Upma and Dosa with Sambhar.

For those of you unfamiliar with Indian food, Upma is a wonderful vegetarian dish that I can only describe as the vegetarian breakfast version of Thanksgiving dressing. It is not sweet, but is rather spicy and just plain good! Dosa is a South Indian food. It is basically a paper-thin crispy crepe that is made of either chickpea flour or rice flour depending on who is making it. Dosa is plate sized and has the texture of a very thinly sliced potato chip! Sambhar is a tomato-based soup that is served with the dosa along with coconut chutney! Both dishes are to die for! I was extremely happy to see them because although I love spicy food, my poor stomach has to have a least a one spicy meal break per day! For that reason, I usually skip the Sambhar at breakfast.

I finish breakfast and we are asked to go out for another breakfast with my brother-in-law Pradeep’s family. They may have to roll me off of the airplane and through the airport on the way home :). The ceremony for today does not begin until 6pm.  I am really not feeling well, so I opt out and go back to the room. Then I do the unheard of….. I get back in bed! For those of you who know me, you know that this is something that I NEVER do! I am up at 0500 and go, go, go, until bedtime!

I wake at 3:30pm. I am aching all over as if I have worked out and taken a long distance run the day before. My stomach feels strange and I have terrible heartburn. It hurts to move my fingers. My feet and ankles are so swollen that my toes don’t touch the floor. What is wrong with me? I go to Shank’s sister Sujata’s hotel room and find Shank there, talking to her and Pradeep’s sister Sema. Sema is an Aruyedic physician. She immediately gets up and returns a few minutes later with medicine. My heartburn stops but not the body aches.

We get dressed for the next ceremony. After the ceremony is over, we have a formal sit down dinner. The food is wonderful, however, after dinner, I begin to feel worse! I immediately panic. Do I have an acquired tropical disease? What is wrong with me?  The bridal couple cut the wedding cake and I am offered a piece. I immediately respond” No thanks”, due to my……then it dawns on me! GLUTEN!!!! I have been eating vegetarian all week but I forgot about the hidden wheat that I have been eating. WHEAT!!!!

After recovering from the shock and relief that I am not dying, I have a talk with Shank and decide that instead of announcing the problem, and making everyone uncomfortable, he will check out the menus ahead of time so that I can choose only the gluten free selections.

I am very thankful and relieved to know that I am not dying, however, I am a little disappointed that I have to cut out some of my favorite foods. No more Upma! However, I think that with a little experimentation, I can make it at home with gluten free flour!

I have to admit, I really had no clue that gluten affected me so severely until I began eating it again! I will NEVER knowingly eat it again! For those of you who wonder about body aches and pains of unknown origin, I encourage you to try to cut out wheat and gluten for a week or so and see if you feel better. What I had always assumed was arthritis or old age :), I now realize is inflammation caused by gluten.

I am now learning to eat gluten free in India. I will keep you apprised of my progress!

Check out the photos of the wonderful food that I have been enjoying!

                                              Dosa with Sambhar and Coconut Chutney!

      

                                A typical Thali Vegetarian meal! This is all you can                                                                                            eat! YUM!!!

Until next time!