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Indian Foods There can be a huge difference between what you will get in most restaurants in India and what is cooked in an Indian family’s home. The food in an Indian home is usually excellent, while most restaurant food is fair at best. In the smaller cities or while doing some heavy traveling, it can be difficult to get decent food. You will often only be able to get low-quality rice, dhal, and overcooked and over-spiced vegetables. In big cities, however, the restaurants can be excellent. In South India, Bengal, and Orissa the main food is rice. The average Bengali would not know how to eat without rice. In the North, they eat much more breads and wheat preparations. South India is famous for its cuisine. The main delicacies are dosas, masala dosas, idlis, and uttapam. I would highly suggest trying a masala dosa and idli. You might find them to be one of your favorite foods in India. The coconut chutney that comes with them can be great. A thali meal usually consists of a number of preparations, sometimes ten or more, and often you can eat all you like for a set price. It is usually the most economical and filling thing to get on the menu, and they can be very tasty. In a very cheap place a thali can be Rs 20. A thali meal in a normal place may be around Rs 40 for vegetarian and Rs 60 for non-vegetarian. In an expensive place a thali can be Rs 150 or more and they are usually excellent. To get good western food in India is difficult. Getting a good pizza or veggie-burger is unlikely. Most attempts are not even close to being good by western standards. It is usually best to eat the Indian style food in most restaurants. Now many of the western chains are coming into India, such as, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Baskin Robbins, and Domino’s Pizza. They can be found in many of the major cities and are very popular. Chinese and Tibetan food are popular in India, and can often be quite good in middle class and expensive places. In the less-expensive places, Chinese food is usually not very good. There are Tibetan restaurants in Dharamsala, Manali, Leh, Gangtok and Darjeeling. In the five-star hotels in the big cities there are often Thai, French and Italian restaurants. These places are usually very good and very expensive. It can be difficult to communicate that you do not want chilies, onions or heavy spicing in your food. You have to make this desire very clear to the waiter. Tandoori
food, from North India, refers to food cooked in a clay oven. Sometimes
the food is boiled or fried first, and then cooked in a tandoori oven.
Tandoori food can be very good. Chapatis, flat unleavened wheat bread, are the most commonly eaten and the healthiest bread for you. The deep-fried variety of chapatis are called puris. A nan is bread that you bake in a clay tandoori oven and is often excellent. Dhal is a lentil (pea) soup, which is included in most meals. In some small towns dhal and rice may be the only thing you will find on the menu or the only thing worth eating, as everything else may be too spicy. A meal will usually also include one or two subjis, or vegetable preparations. A normal side dish is raita, cucumber mixed with curd (yogurt). Dahi (curd or yogurt) is also a normal addition to a meal. Samosas
are the most commonly eaten snack. It is vegetable covered by pastry
bread and deep-fried. It is a good food to carry while traveling, as
it does not go bad right away. Bhelpuri is a famous Mumbai snack and
is very good. Channa means chickpeas. Green coconuts and pineapples are mainly only found in South India and in West Bengal. Peaches, grapes, strawberries, plums, and apricots can be found in certain seasons, but before buying these fruits you should eat one to test it, as often they can be substandard. Chiku is a dark colored fruit, which looks like a kiwi. It is usually a fruit that one likes or doesn’t like. Many people consider chiku lassi to be one of their favorite. Banana, pineapples, papaya, melons, pomegranate and oranges are usually safe to eat. Grapes and apples are usually heavily sprayed with pesticides, so it may be a good idea to avoid them. It is definitely a good idea to peal an apple and not to eat its skin. Remember that there are pesticides used in India that have been banned in Western countries for years. Chickoos and guavas should be washed before eating. Vegetables
and carrots to be used for juices or salads should be sterilized by
either boiling them for a short time, or washing them with a solution
that contains potassium, which can be gotten at pharmacies. WARNING! Meat in India can be extremely low quality. There are no legal health standards regarding meat in India, so meat can be a major cause of disease. Often meat is transported unrefrigerated. It is a good idea to only eat meat in respectable places. If you know of a informationthat is not correct or if you would like to help update our listings, please e-mail us at:
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