It has been a constant quest to find Indian food in Davao. Our Australian counterparts from our consortium partner, Leighton, love Indian food and told us that they couldn't find any quality restaurants in town. Since we currently have four B&V personnel from India (the number is expected to increase with the progress of the project) we thought that it would be fitting to find some familiar food for them.
We started on the internet, but the restaurants in Davao are not up-to-date on current marketing strategies. The only results to an "Indian restaurants in Davao City" search in Google were four restaurants: one was Italian food, another was Persian (close to India, I guess ...), one only served Indian snack foods, and the final was out of business. We even asked cab drivers if they knew of any places, but to no avail. Luckily, our gracious Indian friends volunteered to prepare a home-cooked meal for us before I took off for the States. It did not disappoint.
One of my few exposures to Indian food was in the movie Along Came Polly. An exaggeration on the spiciness of Indian food, I knew that it wasn't a fair representation of the cuisine. Last summer, the cafeteria at the Sprint campus where B&V was leasing office space had Indian food available. I was courageous enough to try a plate one time. Ironically, it was extremely spicy and I could barely finish it (I didn't sweat as much as Ben Stiller, though). Still, I was convinced that this was not true Indian food. So when the idea surfaced to find a local Indian restaurant in Davao, I was excited for the opportunity to try some Indian food close to India (assuming that it's more authentic the closer you are to the source). Having a native Indian cook the food was even better!
Our chef for the night was a mechanical engineer named Sachin. He was assisted by an electrical engineer named Lalit as well as his wife. We took off work an hour early to allow them time to prepare a delicious meal for us. And it was very delicious.
Like a good number of Indians, Lalit is a lacto vegetarian and doesn't consume any meat or eggs. He was in charge of the vegetarian dish for the night. His portion of the meal consisted of what I was told was prepared with "garam". It had various vegetables in a savory, yellow sauce. Sachin on the other hand prepared a spicy curry chicken dish for the group. With some rice and Indian chapati we had a small Indian feast.
The chapati are very similar to tortillas back in the States. For the Americans at the meal (out of habit I am sure), we folded the chapati in half and proceeded to fill it like a taco. However, we were shown the correct way to tear the chapati and dip it into the delicious sauces of each dish. Our friends found it funny that all of us did this is the exact same manner, without discussing it before hand. I thought it was funny as well, especially since Mexican food is an unsatisfied craving that I have had since day one here.
Everything else went smoothly. We all enjoyed the cuisine and had seconds until we were satisfied. Curry is a key part of Indian cuisine and I had never had it before. Both of our dishes were heavy in curry and I found it to be a delicious new taste. Here is a picture of my plate:
It is funny that an American is having his first real experience with Indian food in the Philippines while drinking some Chinese wine and enjoying it with an Indonesian. A juxtaposition of many interesting cultures that created a fun meal and a great night. This level of diversity just doesn't exist back in Kansas and I am going to miss readily sharing stories and ideas with the diverse group that is on the project. The food that I have eaten and the people I have met in the Philippines have both contributed so much to my growth since being here. I am thankful for people like my Indians friends for sharing a small part of their culture with me.
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