FoodZealot.com

This is the non-vegetarian in-flight meal from Jet Airways from Mumbai to Goa. It's chicken curry, rice, and a pea dish, as well as raita and a chapati. I'm sure Indians everywhere will scoff at this, but I have to say I thought it was a respectable snack. And actually most people cleaned their tiny tray. All this for a 1 hour flight, no less. We barely had time to get to altitude, be served, and eat it. Literally, the attendants were coming back down the aisle with the clearing cart as the plane had begun its descent, more or less drumming their fingers, waiting for people to finish in more or less the same order they got their food. In particular, I love two things about this meal, 1) although I am an avowed carnivore, I think it's cool that vegetarianism is entrenched enough in India to make the terminology veg and non-veg, whereas in the West we would normally say meat-less or meat-free or vegetarian (like it's a bad word), and 2) just like there might be tiny ketchup or mustard, there's a tiny disposable container of lime and mango pickle.

This is a dinner from a tiny family joint called Taste of Goa. I chose this place on a hunch, it was empty except for one South African family. And it definitely was cooked to order, because I waited about 45 minutes for it and almost nodded off in my Kingfisher beer. On the left is a fried pomfret (pompano), and on the right is pork vindaloo. It wasn't very spicy (I forgot to ask for it local style), but had a nice balance. Note the very authentic oil slick.