Sunday, January 23, 2011

Fresh Coconuts & Thali Lunches

Pune is filled with people selling fresh coconuts. In fact there are a couple of guys who have cleverly parked themselves right outside the yoga center, and after class the coconut cart is quite a scene. I'm not a regular customer (despite the vendor's best efforts), but I've given into his sales efforts a few times. First, he takes a huge machete and skillfully (and frighteningly) hacks away at the coconut, until just the right moment when a little hole is made - but without spilling the coconut water all over the place. Then you get a straw and sip it all up.

After you are done drinking it, you can hand the coconut back to him. He'll first chop a little slice off the side of the coconut, which will become your "spoon." Then he hacks the whole thing in half and hands it back to you so that you can eat the fresh young coconut meat inside. I am not so into this part, but my roomie & pal Jane most certainly is. So, she was the lucky recipient of my coconut innards.

Also, Last week Jane & I were out and about... and needed to eat some lunch before class. We ended up at a popular South Indian spot and decided to share a thali lunch together. Thali meals are awesome because you get so many different dishes and flavors and textures, and the whole thing was less than $1.50. Hell Yeah! We opted for these little fried poof breads (poori), but you can also choose roti, which is probably healthier, but really now... how often are you in India sharing a thali lunch with a friend? Everything was vegan except for that anonymous white stuff in the back of the plate, which I avoided. It was crazy delicious and lots of fun. I think we'll go out for thali one more time before we leave. We've got a week to eat until we pop!

Papadum! (POP a dum!)

6 comments:

  1. The thali lunch looks incredible! I wouldn't want to share :)

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  2. What a great lookin spread!

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  3. Wow, the food looks sooooo good! And I LOVE fresh coconut!

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  4. That first pic is super adorable, and the food looks great!

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  5. The next time you order a thali, you could request a replacement for the "anonymous white stuff" with one of your favorite subzis or curry. That what i always used to do.

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