2. Scrumptious food A second reason to visit India is for its food. India’s cuisine varies by region, with meat and breads more popular in the north and hot curries and rice dishes more common in the south. Numerous delicious dishes tempt vegetarians. While spices flavour many foods, their heat isn’t always overwhelming. Hotel restaurants serve bountiful buffets of continental, Chinese and Indian cuisine. Try the tandoori (clay oven)-baked breads and marinated meats, mulligatawny soup, turmeric-spiced chicken broth flavoured with fresh coconut milk and lime, rogan josh (curried lamb), kofta (spicy meatballs often stuffed with fillings and cooked in a rich sauce) and thali, a platter of saucy meat and vegetable dishes for scooping up with torn pieces of deep-fried poori bread. Restaurants and street vendors sell mouth-watering sweets. Our favourites? Jalebi (deep-fried sweet pretzels in syrup), ladoos (spherical sweets) and rasgullas (cheese balls flavoured with rosewater syrup). Mesmerized, we watched people gather on serene riverbank ghats (stone steps) to purify themselves by bathing and drinking the water. Wispy clouds of pewter-coloured smoke arose from cremations on the burning ghats. Pilgrims made flower garland offerings in temples. It’s not surprising that a country with six major religions and a pantheon of deities, saints and prophets has a festival or fair nearly every day of the year. One of the most famous is Diwali – the early-winter Festival of Lights – marking the beginning of the Hindu New Year. Millions of candles and electric lights illuminate homes and public buildings. During our trip, children invited us to join them by floating candles in curled leaf boats on the river. In the northwest state of Rajasthan’s desert, livestock owners buy, sell and herdmore than 50,000 camels and cattle during the annual autumn Pushkar Fair. Camel competitions, food stalls, music and folk dancing draw 400,000 tourists, including locals dressed in their finest apparel and jewellery. Classical, folk and tribal dances highlight most festivals. The variety of musical instruments, costumes, makeup and jewellery amazed us. CSANews | WINTER 2022 | 25 Travel
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