My daughter spent eleven months in India from July 2015 until June 2016 and we had the good fortune to visit her in January.
Everywhere we went, the food was, as expected, completely amazing. However, the best food of our entire trip was served to us by my daughter's host mothers, Sohangi and Segal. Sohangi and her family are vegetarian but Segal's family follows Jainism which brings their dietary restrictions to a whole other level; potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, and other plants grown underground are not allowed. This didn't keep her from providing us with phenomenal meals.
When you think of outstanding Indian cuisine, the first thing that comes to mind is the spices. Each cook has their proprietary blend so the same dish can taste differently depending on who made it.
One of our favorite stops was to the spice market in Old Delhi where spice dealers are bountiful and the prices are amazing.
As soon as I got to the market I wished I'd made a list of spices I needed before I left the U.S. but going from memory I picked up cardamom, turmeric, mango tea, chai tea, and other wonderful spices native to the country and those I knew I'd incorporate into my own proprietary blend.
The perfect souvenirs.
