I was probably the happiest person in the world when the Indian border with Pakistan was reopened. Now was my chance to fulfil my fantasies of savouring the delights that lay on the other side of the border, which, till a century ago still formed part of the great subcontinent of India.

I was making a list, a mental list and then sheets of paper. As the list increased, the sheets of paper rolled into reams. Apparently I had wanted to do everything possible. Visit the ancient sites of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa where the world’s probably first tandoors were discovered, eat at the food stalls in Karachi near the big mosque and visit the regions of Baluchistan where the Balti cuisine is said to have originated (actually the origins are a rather non descript Indian food restaurant in Birmingham, England).

Now I was just being gluttonous and after I had whittled my journey down to the bare essentials (like eating, eating and more eating and a visit to the Shan spice factory), I set off on what was to be my epic journey.

In Delhi, I stopped at a small wayside inn. It was tiny; a hovel would be an apt term in this case. The tandoor area was placed precisely near the entrance so a person was forced to squeeze past the hot flames licking out of the tandoor and a hot, obviously overheated and sweaty tandoor chef licking his fingers. On a normal day, under normal circumstances, I would have probably just walked past a restaurant such as this without a second glance. This was not a normal day; the fabulous aroma of food wafting out of that dingy dark dungeon was irresistible.

The rough benches that made up the sitting area were smothered and plastered with dried cow dung and the fuel being used to fire the tandoor…..you guessed right, dried cow dung cakes.

From my seat I could see the tandoor chef break a couple of dried cow dung cakes, toss them in the tandoor, then without washing his hands he returned to the breads that he was baking for me. A normal person would have probably gagged at the sight, but I knew better.

Cow dung, in Ayurveda, holds a very important position as a pesticide/ insect repellent (so I knew that the worms in my belly would be sent off to Neverland), as a healthy fuel and a curative for a variety of skin ailments. It is also used to purify areas prior to a Hindu religious ceremony.

Lucky for me that I did not walk out of the restaurant or I would have missed out on the best ‘Paneer Dilbari’, ‘Dal Amritsari’ and ‘tandoori kulchas’ that I had ever eaten in my life. The owner being from Bihar and after seeing my enormous appetite generously offered to bake me some ‘littis’, a bread very typical to Bihar. I readily agreed and he happily compiled with the wishes of what he must have regarded as one heck of a hungry monster out of hell.

Of course by the time I meandered my way through Delhi, eating up half their reserves. I reached the border when the two countries decided to cut down their diplomatic ties and restrict travel between the two borders. I guess that I will have to wait a while longer for another chance of eating Pakistan to a famine status and savouring my cow dung enhanced kulchas.

Buy Zubin’s All-India Vegetarian Cookbook: A Subzi Sutra Containing the Secrets of India’s Vegetarian Cuisine at Amazon.

With thanks to Elisa of Elisa’s Journeys from http://www.elisasjourneys.com for the cow dung image!

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