healthy lunch when travelling

so you know i'm aiming to make my 27th year my fit year.

one of the tricks we've come up with to be both healthy and save a bit of cash is eating a home-made salad with fresh produce from the local market.

see, at least in india and sri lanka, cheap food you can buy on the go tends to be fried. fried, fried, fried. which sometimes hits the spot and too many times causes a break-out of spots.

so if your closest restaurant only offers a variety of samosas, sandwiches or pastries, pop down to the corner shop and then ask your guesthouse owner for a plate and a knife. now you're armed with all you need.

having a full-on sri lankan breakfast is both delicious and filling, so come lunch we buy whatever is going cheaply at our local fruit'n'veg and make a salad. today's was avo, tomato and cucumber. for some reason, avo's in india are super expensive, therefore here we're making up for lost time and cash by using any excuse to buy more of these vitamin-packed babies. (20lkr an avo, people, that's 0,33 cents of a euro!)

for desert, you ask? why, papaya on the beach, of course!

yum.

snacks on local buses

when arriving at a bus stop, sometimes even in the middle of an apparently deserted road, hawkers jump on the moving vehicle and, shouting their sing-song catchphrases, proceed up and down the aisle selling everything from chickpeas to lotto tickets, toys and kid's books to candy bars. of all these snacks to make a journey that little bit more delicious, these are the ones that get my taste buds going:

1. spicy, salty fruit chunks

since trying this popular snack in ooty, one of the tamil hill stations, I've been hooked. little bags packed with juicy mango or pineapple slices are peppered with salt and chilli flakes, combining the sweetness of the fruit with a bang of heat. easily one of my favourite things to eat on the go, especially when staring out of a local bus open window.

2. corn on the cob

i'm a sucker for corn on the cob, so easy to make; anytime, anywhere, and with anything - a bit like that loose friend of yours who's always up for a party.

on goan beaches they cook it for you right there and then, as the waves lap at your toes, beckoning the last dip before the sun kisses the horizon.

in sri lanka, they sell it on buses. somewhere between kandy and colombo, i tucked into this yellow beauty and enjoyed every bite.

3. onion bhajis

mmhmm. not usually a fan of the fried food group, bhajis make me bite the bullet and go unhealthy. the asian version of onion rings have me handing out rupees and snuggling against the open window to tuck into the oily goodness.

introducing: the jackfruit

originating in the rain forests of india, the jackfruit is a perplexing fruit. it's huge, for starters. i mean, it can weigh up to 35kg! this is approximately what i weighed at the age of 12. HUGE. 

along with the papaya, they are great friends to have along for the ride if, whilst on the road, one has the tendency to become constipated. 

where i live, in tamil nadu, it is one of three auspicious fruits: the mango, the banana and the jack. they grow everywhere, like apples in europe. 

and i love that everything is auspicious in india, not a single thing is left to chance. the newspapers carry lists and lists of auspicious numbers for a number of activities and days of the week. especially weddings, which are a massive deal! as massive as the jackfruit. 

and because everyone should have an additional jackfruit funfact: being a relative of the durian, they share the same gym-socks smell that can knock you over. so it's best to eat it when not yet completely ripe!

local fruit stall.

jackfruit!

it has a fleshy texture, and is in fact called "tree-mutton", cooked in curries as if it were chicken. flavour-wise it's kinda... blah, in my opinion. it's sweetish, a bit like a watery pineapple. in a world where the mango and raspberries exist, it doesn't really make the cut. but it's packed with vitamin a!

now i haven't tried this, but i understand that it's de.li.cious when baked and snacked on in the shape of chips!

the sri lankan breakfast

i'm a savoury over sweet kinda girl; chips over chocolate any day.

so sri lankan breakfasts are where it's at for me in the early morning.

in negombo, our breakkie consisted of fresh papaya, banana and pineapple juice, tea (we bought our own soy milk), a creamy dahl, string hoppers and pol sambola.

string hoppers are bouncy little bundles of rice noodles. usually eaten with dhal - a lentil curry stew type dish -, a sambol and a chutney. apparently they take quite a bit of expertise to make: the steamed rice flour is made into a dough which they push through a little mould-maker into strings. then they are steamed again. ideal to mop up the dahl, they are a fun food to eat; silly-looking and springy. 

the daal lentils are cooked slowly in coconut milk, absorbing all the delicate spice flavours, which are set off by the spicy pol sambola. pol sambola, in the photo below, is made with grated coconut, red onions, ground dry red chilli, salt, lemon and pepper. each cook will mix it up a little so more ingredients are optional, but that's the basic recipe. it's delicious and darned hot. 

pol sambola

string hoppers and dahl curry

overall, sri lankan breakfasts have scored top points in my international breakfast charts. tasty, healthy and filling.

soul full

as I lent back in foodie satisfaction after devouring a delicious rajasthani-style bean and rice dish, I sighed "i'm so full" to my close friend dimi.

he lent back beside me and said "you are soul full".

it's become my whispered offering of thanks for every meal i have. i sigh, savour the last bite and remind myself i'm soul full.