‘How is this?’ Luise wobbles her head from side to side, trying to get the Indian head shake right. It looks pretty convincing, or should I say confusing. It can mean ‘yes’, but it can also mean ‘okay, I hear you’, or even ‘no’. We are sitting on the plane on the way back from Trivandrum in southern India and are talking about all the things that we will miss. ‘I will definitely miss that it’s all right to eat with my hands,’ I admit. ‘Ha! That’s why you feel so at home there.’ Luise is right. I have always preferred eating with my hands instead of a fork and in India I can do so freely without anyone thinking I am weird. ‘I am going to miss the breakfast dosa,’ Luise sighs. We have had the spicy lentil pancakes filled with peas and potatoes for both breakfast and quick street food. We asked about the method and it involves a few rather complicated steps of soaking rice and lentils and then mixing them into a batter that you leave to ferment – not exactly a quick breakfast in our home. For this book, we have created a quicker version using chickpea and brown rice flour. — David