Sprouting tomatoes - Today Felix was deeply shocked to slice the top off his lunch tomato and find sprouts on the inside.  Actually I think he thought it was fauna and not flora and was revolted at his narrow escape from consuming some bug.  I find this fascinating.  My knowledge of getting tomato seeds to sprout led me to believe they need specific and quite complicated conditions. My compost pile, for instance is an ideal incubator for tomato seeds.  It makes me wonder about the storage conditions of Delhi's tomatoes.  How could the sprouts have been green at all inside the tomato?  Can light filter through a tomato?  Like a fool I was influenced by Felix's response to the sprouts and removed them before using the rest of the tomato - the sprouted seeds probably had extra nutrients we could have used.:)

Salt, rice, lentils, beans are all dried less than I am used to in other countries. I don't know why.  A teaspoon of salt here isn't as salty as I anticipate and the cup of lentils doesn't take as long to cook here as it would in Virginia.  Is it the cost of dehydration?  Sellers trying persuade consumers they are getting more than they think? Indian preference for faster cooking rice and pulses?

Local carrots are quite red with yellow or white cores.  This week I found dark, dark,almost black carrots that were deep purple when peeled and left tonight's curry looking pinkish purple!  Most of that delightful bruise-like stain on my hand did come off!

From a friend in the confection industry we learned that there is a tariff on importing cocoa.  Thus chocolate is expensive here. I have tried several Indian chocolate biscuits and some hot chocolate and although the colour is right, the flavour isn't.  I suppose it is because they don't put that much cocoa in.  Bert and Felix have ensured that the cupboard is never lacking Nutella (about $4 for the regular sized jar) so they are getting their regular chocolate dose.  Our hotel makes a superb chocolate biscuit with little chocolate chips and I enjoy at least one of these a week, so I too haven't felt deprived.

Prices continue to yo-yo dramatically.  Oranges and tomatoes seem the only steady staples at the moment.  Both are delicious but I do need to change things up a bit and splurge with a small portion of strawberries (from Australia) or pomegranates (from Afghanistan) or, even more rarely at present, a mango (from the south).

I have found that many packaged staples have recommended retail price stamped on them. Few stores, and certainly none that I shop at, offer these goods below that price.  Schlepping cartons of milk,  and juice and pots of yogurt from the Khan market gives me more of a workout than I want.  Although I am getting less bothered by it I still get embarrassed when the hotel staff rush out to help me carry bags that are so heavy they even make them wince and the staff probably relate tales of wonder about the volume of food we consume. :) Our hotel is next to a petrol station/service station/body shop with a convenience store and coffee shop attached.  Only relatively wealthy people have cars so these stores are not your motorway convenience stores - there are many business executives heading into these on their way home so the selection of goods varies from the odd imported child's toy to boxes of chocolates (high end item) and household staples and the equivalent of Starbucks (Coffee Day).  I send Felix out once or twice a week to transport in the heavy liquids from this shop and save my muscles for fresh fruit and vegetables from Khan market.