IndiaFest Milwaukee 2014

Yum! — What am I eating?

God I love Indian food. But I admittedly never know what anything is called. I choose my meals by sight. At IndiaFest this past weekend, a woman standing next to me in line for Bombay Sweets tried making small talk about some scrumptious something whose name I couldn't repeat if you paid me. "Oh I don't know what that is," I said. "But the yellow stuff is amazing!"

Did you even know Milwaukee has an IndiaFest? Thank goodness I'm dating a half-Indian who knows other Indians who know things about IndiaFests! The fest took place at Humbolt Park with the main stage shining a spotlight on Indian dance, music, and fashion. Along the lawn's perimeter: the food, the henna, the eyebrow threading. But mostly the food. We visited the Bombay Sweets tent twice — once for a sort of combo plate of everything they had to offer, then again for some of Adam's favorite Indian sweets. 

I don't even think Adam knows what these crisp, orange, syrupy Indian funnel cakes are called — but he loves them with good reason. They're unlike anything I've ever tasted. It seems that when it comes to Indian sweets, the default technique is to soak fried dough in syrup. Sign me up for more of that!

"Be careful not to spill — I paid good money for that Lassi," said Mom.

After we'd eaten our fill (but not really, because one always wants to keep shoveling Indian food into one's mouth no matter how full one is), our friend Joel came to join us. Joel is like me — he doesn't know quite where to begin with Indian food, but he will eagerly try and enjoy most of it. 

So Adam and I stood in line a third time at Bombay Sweets and insisted Joel spend his last $10 on the combo plate. We pooled our singles to buy him a Mango Lassi, too. Adam ordered for him and carried his plate to the lawn; I snagged his plastic utensils and napkins and warned him to be careful not to spill his Mango Lassi. For all of five minutes, Joel was basically our child. Once we realized it, a good laugh followed. I do hope that visiting IndiaFest becomes a yearly ritual for our little family.