India is known for its vast history, amazing culture and delicious cuisine. But for me, it has always been one word: home. Even though I have lived in America my whole life, my family has never stopped honoring our heritage and continuing to celebrate our culture. So this summer, I visited India with my family after five years to visit family, see amazing holiday rituals and eat wonderful food. Here is my experience.
When we first landed, we were in the city of Hyderabad, which is in South India. The whole day, we had so much amazing food. After breakfast prepared by my aunt, we first had amazing food at a restaurant. My aunt had ordered all the local specials there.
This is a picture of an aloo paratha and naan. Aloo paratha is a flatbread that is stuffed with potatoes between multiple dough layers. Naan is a soft fluffy flatbread made with wheat flour.
This pictures the curries we had with the flatbreads. The left pictures a curry called Malai Kofta. It is made with a mild sweet-spicy gravy with balls of potatoes and a fresh cheese made by curdling milk called paneer. The right pictures a curry called Butter Paneer Masala that is consists of fried paneer with a creamy spicy gravy mixed in.
A few hours after lunch, we went out again to get snacks. This is a photo of street-side snack in India called pani puri. It is a hollow crispy dough that is filled up to the top with flavored water, potatoes, tamarind chutney, chili sauce, onion, garnished with parsley. This is one of my favorite foods to eat in India because with my family we always have contests of who can eat the most!
Next, my family and I visited a place in an old city in South India called Charminar. Charminar is a famous landmark in India, where the oldest mosque resides.
This monument stands in the center of the city and has four arches facing every direction of the city. It was originally constructed to celebrate the end of the plague in the kingdom. This is a picture with me and my cousins standing at the front gate.
Since we were there when the Muslim holiday Ramadan was happening, the place was so lively with so many shops and people everywhere. Ramadan is a very famous holiday in Islam, and it’s to recognize the reading of the Quran to the prophet Muhammad. The most stunning part of the holiday is that when you look up in the sky, underneath the crescent moon you can see a star and it’s the most breathtaking experience to see.
Then, we had attended a wedding in my birth town, Kakinada, with my family. Usually for weddings, the bride and relatives all wear ceremonial temporary ink with beautiful designs called mehndi, or henna. This is a photo of the mehndi my cousins had put on the ink for us.
At the wedding, my family had taken a lot of photos of all my relatives. This is a picture of my sister, my mom, my aunt and my uncle after the wedding.
This picture is just me and my sister.
In a country that is so rich in culture and history, there is nothing that you can’t do. I had an unforgettable time in India sight-seeing, eating amazing food and catching up with my family. If you ever have wanted to visit India, I would highly recommend it, because of there no other place in the world where you would have this incredible experience.
All photos were taken by me!