McDhaba

My computer crashed when I landed in India. It was a stress inducing start to the trip and good Apple support was able to tell me where in Gurgaon to take the computer to have new RAM put in so there was nothing to do call A. to come fetch me. We drove around Gurgaon with A. helping me wade through the cultural delicacies of leaving my laptop at a support center that had not one Apple logo on it any where and then wait while the tech fixed the machine.

A. suggested going to have lunch at his favorite dhaba which are the McDonald's of real India. Dhabas are fast food, cheap as chips and everywhere. They are kind of like American truck stops--and the same criteria for deciding which dhaba to eat at applies: is the parking lot full, are there truckers there and does it look interesting.

The dhaba we went to was typical to what a dhaba is all about--the kitchen is open air and by US standards looks like a ptomaine incubating laboratory. The turn over for the food is so fast that it is safer than the five star hotels where on a recent trip here, DY got hit with Delhi belly after brunch. Most dhabas are open 23 hours a day, with the 24th hour for cleaning. They are all about the fresh food--bought that day and cooked during that same day and I have yet to have a problem eating at one. The total yum factor is high and watching the kitchen move is an amazement.

I laughed when we were given menu because what is on the menu and what they are cooking that day are two different things. A. ordered for us, and it was all tasty. Tandori chicken, aloo something and spinach something. Nothing was left at the end of the meal but a happy me. India is good that way.