where to buy food items like...

Hello,

some food-related tips needed, please :)
Does anyone know if there is any supermarket in Chennai where the following items can be bought?:
-mediterranean spices, like basil, oregano, parsley and so?
-sour cream? cheese varieties?
-DECENT bread (one that isn't sweet and doesn't go to pieces when you put butter on it)
-salami, sausages, bacon and the sort, preferably not having been kept in the freezer for the last decade...(I've seen some at Food World...but I didn't dare buy them...as they were probably there for a looong time)

I browsed through some supermarkets (Food World, Nilgiris), but no sign of these spices. But maybe some of you are more familiar than me with Chennai's supermarkets :)

And by the way...what do you long-term-ers eat.....supposing you don't eat 3 meals a day at a restaurant...I personaly didn't get used to the average Tamil family's food (rice with sambar, rasam...idli, dosai, all the chutneys and the curries..)...even after 4 months. And I still didn't find suitable alternatives....when I want to cook there's either some quite essential ingredient missing ...or there's no oven where to cook it. I've been on a totally different diet so far, obviously....with salami as a "staple" food :))...so I am having a difficult time with food here. Any similar experiences? What these ppl call food - a huge amount of rice...with a bunch of vegetable boiled to pieces...in a heap of spices.... - I honestly cannot call food in the first place... :(

Thanks!

ok, I've just found most of the answers in a previous thread..."groceries in chennai"... :)

That Amma Nana must be the answer...although unlike the poster in that thread, what I miss most is rather basil and cheese, not beans...these people cook all sorts of beans every other day :))

So I see that some of you live on eggs, chips and tomatoes, huh? It doesn't sound too good, I must say :)) And that sure won't work for me....for I will be here for a looong time (for good...and worse).

You may get these items at

1. Nilgiris on Radha Krishna Salai
2. Foodworld chain of outlets...there are many in Chennai. Enquire in your locality, where the nearest outlet is.

Also, you will get these at Amma Nana. This outlet is in Poes Garden area, opposite Park Sheraton hotel..

Never heard India food described this way before.

If you have difficulty finding your ingredieent, you could try checking with the chef at the local five star hotel.

My sympathies are with you.... I too hate Sambar, rasam etc all the time. You should be really Food sick!!!! I clearly remember my stay in Venuzuela when I was stuck with two of my vegiterian colleagues. They wouldnt allow me to even boil an egg in the appartment!!!! I had to cope with different versions of Sambar, Rasam etc. But one way it was good.... I tried the local food and liked it a lot. As you are in Chennai, you have a wide vareity of choices at your disposal. Not all Indian food are like Sambar or Rasam. You can try different regional food there. Try the rotis, porottas, appams etc with different nonveg curries. Pleas check our Cuisine and Restaurants forum. Chennai gives a lot of chineese restaurants... you can try it out too!!

icetea - sorry buddy to hear all that!! my sympathies too.... i m no cook by any means... but once you find decent sausages or meat products, how abt cutting them up and adding them in a pack of Maggi or Ramen noodles??? just a thought....

Check the local market for fresh basil. When I stayed in Bombay last year it was always available in our market. Opens a whole world of cooking possibilities :-)

This is one of my mild descriptions. I usually describe at length to my european friends how Indian cooking always seems to start with putting together one bowl of masala...grind it until a paste is made....then soak and boil the poor vegetables (doesnt matter which vegetables or how many types, they all end up tasting the same in the end) in that spicy stuff....n when everything tastes like one and has the same color (that of turmeric)....pour it on a plate full of rice...add some curd....n call it food. Bon apetit.......

I mostly avoid talking about food with foreigners...because I presume that they have rarely eaten real Indian food...the one cooked at home by the average housewifes. They either eat canned food, chips or eat at restaurants.

The problem is basically with south indian food, I think. Up north they seem to have a better understanding of what food is really about. I love chapaties, naan, puri and the sort. Down here...hmm..the only item i like is putthu..how do u spell it? Coconut and rice powder..with sugar and sometimes babanas...And yes, rasam also can be good, but only when it stops being rasam and turns into a spicy tomato soup :-))

thanks all for the tips and sympathies :-)) I realise now that it's probably the second that I needed most! :-))

mmm...there was no basil. In fact they don't know what that is except if you mention Tulsi..but then they insist that that is only for prayers. Well I wish they prayed some next to their cooking pots also.....yes...maybe then the result would be a more "heart-felt" food.

But I was fairly excited when I discovered Mint at the market. I bought a lot n dried it for tea. I got odd looks, of course, but ehh... This is an "ayurvedic nation" that doesn't value herbal teas :-))

Its spelled puttu or putt. Since you like putt you can try out other kerala dishes like appam, Kerala porotta, idiyappam, kerala beef fry, Kozhi roast, fish fry, fish molee etc available at some of the kerala restaurants in Chennai.

Think about Amma Nanna...they do have lots of ingredients that Food World does not have. Its not a spiced Indian version either...Please check out this thread:


Western Groceries in Chennai...

Hope this helps...also as the other person suggested, five star hotel chefs get all the ingredients you describe. It wouldnt hurt to go and ask them while you dine there...

Bye!

P.S. oops I reread the thread, you have already found Amma Nanna...thats the best you are going to get in Chennai...Most are imported ingredients..not spiced up "Chatpatta" noodles...Noodles do tend to be what some Indians think "Western food" is about..Chatpatta noodless yech.

Why dont you grow some basil? and/or other herbs you like? its not hard... infact, i would think that its hard to stop herbs from growing the chennai climate.

good suggestions, thanks, will give it a try!

Good that this thread started. I am from north india, and i am having alot of problems with food. Its almost been 6 months for me here and i have'nt yet settled with food. I am not a good cook, but i can cook some basic stuffs. Mostly i have been eating junk(not because i like, but coz i hv not much option).
If someone can suggest me some recepie tht is easy to cook and is not oily.I like europen food( pasta n other stuffs and ofcourse italian food). I really want to avoid oil, which is not possible when i am eating out.
Hope somebody can help

Abhishek, I thought north indian food is much oilier than south indian food! There is barely any oil in these ppl's food, at least in my experience!

Try the "Cuisine and Restaurants" thread in this forum, they will be able to help you.