A Food and Drink Guide to India: Signature Dishes, Street Food and Chai

Why India is a feast

India is not one cuisine but dozens. The food changes every few hundred kilometres: wheat and ghee in the Punjabi north, coconut and rice in the south, mustard oil in Bengal, fiery Chettinad spice in Tamil Nadu. Eating here is the best way to understand the country.

Signature dishes to seek out

• Butter chicken and dal makhani in Delhi and Punjab, rich with tomato, cream and slow-cooked black lentils
• Masala dosa in the south, a crisp fermented rice crepe folded over spiced potato, served with coconut chutney and sambar
• Hyderabadi biryani, layered basmati and meat sealed with dough, eaten with mirchi ka salan
• Rogan josh in Kashmir, aromatic with fennel and Kashmiri chilli
• Thali, a steel plate of small dishes that is the easiest way to taste a whole region in one sitting

Street food you cannot miss

• Vada pav in Mumbai, the spiced potato fritter in a bun, for around 20 rupees
• Pani puri (also called golgappa or puchka), crisp shells filled with spiced water
• Chaat in all forms, from papdi chaat to aloo tikki, tangy with tamarind and yoghurt
• Kathi rolls in Kolkata and pav bhaji on Mumbai's beaches

What to drink

• Masala chai, sweet milky tea boiled with ginger and cardamom, sold everywhere for 10 to 20 rupees
• Filter coffee in the south, frothy and strong, served in a steel tumbler
• Lassi, a yoghurt drink that is sweet, salty or topped with cream (the Lassiwala in Jaipur is legendary)
• Nimbu pani (fresh lime soda) and tender coconut water to cool down

Practical dining tips and etiquette

• Eat with your right hand; the left is considered unclean
• Stick to busy stalls with high turnover and freshly fried or boiled food
• Drink bottled or filtered water and skip ice if you are unsure
• Tell waiters "kam masala" for less spice; Indian medium is hotter than you expect
• Many restaurants are pure vegetarian, marked with a green dot; non-veg carries a brown or red dot
• Tipping around 10 percent is normal in sit-down restaurants

Stay connected in India

A HelloSIM eSIM keeps you online for maps, translation and restaurant bookings across India with no roaming bills, so you can find that legendary dosa stall the moment you land.