Typical looking chicken shop in India. www.flickr.com user Allerina & Glen MacLarty
Fortunately there’s no bird flu in Mumbai, so chicken is on the menu tonight. I’m going to do grilled marinated chicken breast using the electric grill that I “imported” — after paying all that customs duty on it, I’d better put it to very good use!
My sweetheart had to go out and get the chicken breast. I just can’t bring myself to do it. Although there are some sanitized places to get chicken around here, mostly it’s still a case of choose your live chicken. That’s something I just can’t cope with. I even struggled with knowing that the chicken breast he brought back was, only 10 minutes ago, part of a living chicken. The whole idea makes me feel so sad, especially how the chickens are locked up and treated.
Then he told me a funny story about what happened at the chicken-wallah, which just confirmed my revulsion for such places in India. Apparently, an Indian lady was also there. She was locked into detailed and serious negotiations about her chicken requirements. Not only did she want a whole chicken with eggs still inside it, she also wanted the head as well.
What? I just can’t even think about what she plans to do with it!
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds like you need to become a vegetarian. Then you won’t have to feel guilty.
It’s not a bad idea at all! I do prefer to eat more vegetables than meat.
Are there any upscale (but reasonably priced) beachside cafes in Mumbai that are strictly vegetarian?
I love to eat at breezy outdoor places but hate to the mixing of veg and non-veg. But usually such places are mixed.
Chicken heads can be tasty – at least the way they serve ‘em at Chinese Schezwan places.
How about Pav Bhaji of mumbai, have you tried it..??
I have tried it. I had some fresh at the snack stand stalls on Juhu beach once.
Pav bhaji is really easy to make too…I like to make a big pot of it and have leftovers to freeze and eat later, or to pack for lunch. My husband goes crazy over it!
As a vegetarian, I can spend all day in a wheat field and come home feeling perfectly at peace with myself.
Can any meat-eater spend all day in a slaughterhouse, and come home feeling perfectly at ease mentally ? I doubt it.
How can anyone eat a foodstuff, the process of production of which makes one feel disturbed ?
Live and let live !
When in India, one should not miss out on vegetarianism, because India does vegetarian like no place else on earth.
I used to spend days hounding in the jungle and get back to my camp quite at ease with myself. Can you spend all day at a flour mill and come home not feeling a ringing in your ears?
If u were to see how chickens were treated and genetically modified to grow bigger breasts in the west, you would think that Indian chickens are probably in paradise! Im not kidding, watch Food Inc. to see how these guys work!
Oh I know, it’s hideous. I’m really careful about buying organic chicken in the west. I’m actually kind of paranoid about what they may do to chickens in India too…