In a Pickle

Your correspondent was fed a green chilli pickle today.

"Pickle" in India is very different from the Stateside variety.  As a kid I used to buy a giant, juicy pickled cucumber every evening at summercamp, and manage to finish only about half before feeling stuffed.  Indian pickle is more like what we call "relish", and it's made with a number of different ingredients (all of them pungent and/or "flavorful").  This morning, I had sour mango pickle for breakfast with my parantha.  I will probably have ginger pickle with dinner.  But green chilli pickle...?

"Try one!" I was urged as we sat down for lunch.

I glanced around the table and noticed a conspicuous absence of curd, or yogurt--India's dairy of choice--and grimaced.  "I think I'd better not.  I wouldn't have anything to cool off with."

Everyone smiled understandingly, and nodded.  Yankee taste buds, after all.  No match for Indian chillis.

A few minutes later, we were joined by another editor, who briskly helped himself to a pickle.  (I should note that, in most cases, I will take a whole spoonful of pickle as part of my meal.  This editor, no slouch when it comes to spice, took a single chilli, about half the size of my pinky, for himself.)

"Try one!" he urged, holding out the jar.

I repeated my curd excuse, but he gestured to the parantha on the table and motioned for his wife to spoon me some dal.  "Just roll it up, like this, And take small bites."

Gamely encouraged, I did as I was told.  My tastebuds survived, for the most part, but apparently the look on my face was such that several concerned editors practically catapulted over the table at me.  "Do you want a Coke!?! Do you want water!?! More dal! Smaller bites! Smaller bites!!!"

ADVENTURE!