where to buy food items like...

Nick-H

Bread: try Nilgiris' '6-Grain' bread. It tastes a lot like Western wholemeal bread, albeit the mass-produced variety, and is heaps better than the horrible, plastic, yellow, sweet stuff you've described already.

Oven: A microwave is handy, unless you want to do serious baking or roasting.

Herbs: A lot of stuff is available if you can only find out the tamil name for it. But a lot isn't: I'd love to be able to get paprika, but I suspect that S. Indian people would would copnsider a mild, sweet pepper to be a waste of space

There's a shop called Nuts and Spices. Branches in Adyar, Nungambakam High Road (and Spencer Plaza?). Well worth a visit: I couldn't get a tea masala I liked until I tried theirs.

As to South Indian food... my stomach was tghe very last part of me to fall for India, and I still have a lot of sympathy for your viewpoint (or tastepoint? ). But it does grow on you! Don't give up!

I didn't realise I'd lost 21 pounds weight until I put my trousers on to fly to UK. I certainly have to sort out my diet a bit when I get back!

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Gayamom

Have you chatted with the household cooks of other European expats? I bet they would have heaps of suggestions. Also, have you looked into on-line purveyors of your comfort foods (dark bread, cold cuts, etc.)? Based either in Europe or in Bangalore, Mumbai or Delhi?

Some links that may or may not be useful (and I didn't do a very thorough search):

Mumbai cold cuts

Mumbai bread

Chennai deli

Sausage etc.

Bangalore bread

icetea

Oh my god, they make salami here too!!! :-OOO
I was reluctant to buy salami from Food World..i thought they bring it from who knows where..and keep it for who knows how long...coz nobody is buying it. But seems it's produced right here near Chennai...ayy

Thank you!!

abhishek2k90

ice tea,
well i think here food is much more oiler. Anyways, other things of concern for me is they mostly use coconut oil even for cooking, uuuuah.....n they'l put coriander leaves in whtever they make.....one thing tht has happened good to me is , iv learnt alot abt cooking...its really fun cooking ...

usha

U r rite..
South Indian food always less oily...
(ofcourse provided if u prepare it in treditional way)..
After staying almost equal amount of years in both... south and north .. i dont have any doubt abt this..i have experienced it

Have a great time..is anybody talking about dieting? me running away

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icetea

yes here food it definitely is cooked with very little oil. And it's about 5 times less oily than in my home country....it's funny....ppl here still seem a bit worried that they might be putting too much oil :-)) Where I come from....a dish is not seen as "nutritious" and "healthy" enough if it's not swiming in a pool of oil or grease :-)) One of the most delicious things is eating bread with pork grease spread, salt and onion...most Indians would instantly puke if they would see any of that :-))

But I guess colder weather always asks for more fuel....and thus ppl tend to cook oilier food.

MeCasa

Not a lot of southern fried chicken in south India, huh. ;-)

Haha, I've heard rumors, but how hot is the food?

GoanCanuck

The spicy food in Hyderabad makes Mexican food look bland.

MeCasa

I was afraid you'd say that. Is it all hot?

GoanCanuck

You will find the spiciest food in Andhra Pradesh. Karnataka and Kerala are not so bad. The curries in Hyderabad are coloured red with chillies. Stick to North Indian food even while visiting South India jsut to be safe.

usha

Kerala food - Ya some curry are hot i do agree with this. There is this typical Red colour Fish curry..it is yummy hot & spicy

MeCasa

I like hot food, but it err, uhh, don't know the right way to say this

but it uh

burns my butt

GoanCanuck

Before burning your butt it will burn your tongue so bad you will need to eat some rasgolla or gulab jamun.

Nick-H

I went to a fried chicken place in Chennai one day. Wouldn't normally touch the stuff in London, but I just had a craving. It was disgusting. Lots of bone, lots of batter and there might have been some chicken in there somewhere

Tamil food is hot, but not usually so hot that it hurts to eat it. Of course if you hapen to bitre on the one chilly in a mild dish (happened to me last week: I was gasping for 5 minutes. It was so strong I didn;t even immiediately recognise it as chilly!)

sezegnin

Funnily enough, the basil plant is actually native to India, where it grows perennially, unlike in Europe, where it is an annual, temperamental, and disappears at the first frost. You shouldn't have any trouble growing it.

There are certainly people in south India who export all the European herbs (marjoram etc), so they obviously grow, perhaps in the hills. Eg.

http://www.indiamart.com/bestexports/

If Romanian food is the desired object, just buy a chicken, boil it and add a few carrots: presto, chicken ghiveci. This should keep you happy all summer. For an exotic flavour, add a few noodles and you have a Polish soup.

What are people's favourite south Indian vegetarian restaurants? I can think of Sagar or Saravana Bhavan in Delhi.

Rohan