In many of my old blogs, I have shared cultural differences between the UK and India and how both countries are unique in their own way. One thing is for sure: both countries, though having a history together, are very different in terms of lifestyle, clothing and most importantly food. Well, I have enjoyed the best of both worlds, so I thought this week I would write a ‘what I eat in a day’ blog and compare my eating habits depending on where I am…
Breakfast
One thing that is typical for me for breakfast, no matter where I am, is coffee. I need my daily caffeine intake to start with, so that doesn’t change anywhere in the world. When it comes to actual breakfast in the UK, my breakfast usually could be a croissant (plain or chocolate), cereal, bacon/sausage butty or, if it’s my off day and I am really craving it, an English breakfast.
Coming to when I’m in India, I’m not going to lie, I am spoiled with choices, and it is sometimes tough to pick. India has so many popular breakfast choices, It could also depend on region to region, but I love them all. Some of the names you could google later are Poha, Stuffed Paratha, Aloo Puri, Jalebi, Idli Sambar, Dosa Sambar, Cheela, etc. My mouth is salivating just writing these, and these are only a few of them. If you are lucky, some restaurants serve Indian breakfast, so if you want, try it out!
Lunch
Lunch is not something I have every day usually during my work hours. I don’t get the time, and when I am on holiday after having a heavy breakfast, I rarely feel hungry. If I plan on having lunch on a few occasions, I usually have something light because I don’t want to feel lethargic. Typical lunch in the UK is generally staff meals we get on our breaks, and it could be anything like pasta, grilled chicken with rice, a stew or anything which can be eaten quickly. For me it’s also a chocolate oat bar from corner shops most days and a coffee.
In India, a typical lunch comprises a lentil, a sabzi (a dry vegetable dish on the side), roti (a type of Indian bread) and rice. Well, I usually don’t have this big a meal. Depending on my mood that day, I typically have some lentils and rice or roti with some vegetables.
Dinner
Dinner for me varies a lot. A typical dinner in India is the same as lunch but different variety and maybe one more element added to it, but the most important for dinner in India is family time as we all sit together and eat; that’s what I cherish more than the food itself. In India, since I am on holiday, it could also result in going out with family and friends for dinner and eating whatever everyone fancies, which could be a fine dining restaurant or even fast food. Dinner outside usually comprises some of the known Indian dishes like butter chicken, chicken tikka, paneer tikka, tadka dal and an assortment of breads.
My dinner in the UK is usually a frozen pizza, prepped supermarket meals, a takeaway or the most common one and my favourite, instant ramen. I know, very healthy, don’t come for me but that’s chef life for you. At the end of the day you just want to eat something quick and go to bed as you have a long shift again tomorrow, so we don’t have time to cook for ourselves. And if you are wondering about off days, I am out with friends and hanging out, so it’s friends getting together and dinner time.
Well, there you have it, my ‘what I eat in day’ comparing the two countries. Hopefully it gives you guys more of an idea how different foods can be and how meals could be so different depending on the country you are living in. If you like it, I am happy to share more about the differences between both countries from my perspective, and maybe some of you can relate!