Thanksgiving Day lunch

Here's what was on the menu for lunch at my company cafeteria -- they call it a canteen here -- on Thanksgiving Day:

White rice
Chapatti
Mango rice
Jeera rice
Lobia gravy
Yem poriyal
Sambar
Fruits
Papad
Rasam
Buttermilk
Laddu
Curd
Salad

For those of you who don't know South Indian food, a chapatti is a kind of bread, sambar is a sauce you pour over white rice to make it tastier and more nutritious, a papad is flat and crispy, almost like a giant tortilla chip; rasam is a spicy, nutrient-packed soup and curd is yogurt. Laddu is a ball-shaped dessert.

I'm not sure what yem poriyal is.

The menu above is typical for a cafeteria lunch. I did not and would not expect turkey with all the trimmings on Thanksgiving because there are very few Americans in the office and a large number of staffers are vegetarians.

However, there are enough Americans in Bangalore that at least two restaurants laid on special menus for the holiday.

Diane, Jay and I did have Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's house. The turkey was killed and plucked that morning at the market.