Time for Breakfast

I think it's about time I do a post specifically designated to food!  Don't you think?  For once in my life, breakfast is my favorite meal.  Sure, I can go for bacon and omelettes at 3 am, who can't?  And let's be real, Village Inn breakfast is always the best option.  But here in India, against all of my willpower, I am forced to eat breakfast every day at 7:30.  Honestly, I really like it.  Given yoga from 6-7 am Mon-Thurs, by 7:30 I am ready to EAT!

Breakfast is my favorite meal for many reasons.  First, it is the only breakfast that serves us coffee and tea.  Second, there are always lots of options.  Third, lunch and dinner are typically really similar.  So, I like breakfast. 

Here is my breakfast from Thursday morning (Sept. 2).  So, starting at the bottom we have toast, and going left, we have coconut chutney, a rice dosa with local honey (harvested last week!), a hard-boiled egg, and fresh papaya.  Oh and you can see my teeny cup o' coffee in the upper right hand corner.

We get hard-boiled eggs, toast, papaya, and cereal every morning.  And then the main course changes.  Sometimes it is upme, which is kind of a like cous-cous; rice noodles; masala dosa (one of my favorites); potatos; or any other number of things.  A man named Manu brings us breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day.  All of the food comes from his farm, he is the one who harvested the honey for us.  And he told us that in November and December there will be even more honey, but the bees pollinate different flowers, so the flavor will change.  Manu's wife, Lalita, cooks all of the food, and sometimes she comes in to help serve it.  He works so hard for us, and sometimes I think my group members forget it, like when they sleep through meals. 

I love cooking for myself, and sometimes I miss it.  But I figure that I'm here in Mysore for 8 weeks, and I have access to three healthy, vegetarian, local, Indian meals everyday, why not take advantage?  I mean... how lucky am I???

Love,
Julia

P.S. I fully intend to learn to make most of these dishes at home!