Indian Thanksgiving

Over the last 24 hours, in honor of Thanksgiving, we shared and exchanged our electronic vibrations of gratitude with family and friends. But one thing you cannot share over the Internet is food. (Brad and I decided that of all this holiday's traditional treats, we missed the pies the most!)

In honor of all the eating that has just concluded, we give you a few of the Indian delights that we have enjoyed in Pune:

1. Indian sweets - Jaggery and ghee are combined with other ingredients like milk, coconut, cashews, chocolate, and mango to create incredibly rich nuggets of sweetness. Our tolerance for sweetness has definitely increased over the weeks!

2. Fresh papaya - We've had papaya in our oatmeal every day this month and every one has been absolutely perfect! How are we so lucky, you ask? First of all, they are local and abundant. But the real secret is that I have help choosing the right one. I just ask the fruit walla (i.e. vendor) to pick a papaya that will be ready for the next morning. So far they've never been wrong!

3. Homemade samosas - One day our housekeeper, Kamil, was asked to prepare samosas for some guests from out of town. I'm not sure how old Kamil is, but she has at least 50 years of cooking experience under her belt. I've attempted to made samosas before and needless to say they did not come out looking anything like Kamil's perfect little packages. I marveled at how easily she rolled the dough into round circles in just a few strokes -- and how those circles were just the right size and thickness! We were very happy when she gave us a couple to try :)