20 December 2013 / leggypeggy

Our first tea/chai stop in India

chai, desserts, India, overland travel, Prayaan India Overland, sweets, tea, travel

A tray of sugar overload—jalebis

Indians love their chai (tea) and sweets. In fact, they love food in general. Every village has a chai stall or two. While most stalls are basic, open-air operations, many are fleshed out with a vast array of sweet and savoury temptations to go with a cup of sweet, milky tea.

Samosas frying

Our first chia stop came on the first morning of our overland journey. We’d had a good breakfast in Jabalpur, but by mid-morning our tummies were rumbling and grumbling.

So Anand and Deepti pulled over in a small village and we hopped out to try some of the offerings. Jalebis are showy and give a great sugar hit. They’re doughy, orange, deep-fried and then put in a kind of sugar syrup. Makes them good and sticky. They look like giant pretzels.

I should confess that I’m not a big sweet eater, but think that jalebis are quite tasty—in strict moderation—and very pretty. I think Australia supermarkets sell a make-it-yourself version of jalebis. I wonder whether I could colour them with red and green for Christmas? Probably—the shopkeeper was making some green and red concoctions to colour another treat.

We tried the deep-fried samosas, sugary jalebis (just a taste), a few other sweet and savoury treats and, of course, the chai. Never got a pic of the chai this time. Too busy ogling at all the other treats.

If you’re a sweet, or food, lover in general, be sure to check out my recipe blog.