Food And Drink

Indian cuisine is immensely varied, and almost none of it is the "curry" of restaurant menus abroad. Each region has its own style and staples: rice, wheat flour, a huge variety of pulses, vegetables, fruits and spices, with fish and meat in many regional kitchens. Cooking fats vary by region too: ghee, peanut oil, mustard oil, coconut oil or gingelly (sesame) oil. Around a third of Indians are strict vegetarians, which makes India the easiest country on earth to eat vegetarian; every restaurant marks veg and non-veg clearly.

Yes, the food is generally spicy. Spices were used here thousands of years ago for both flavour and medicine: turmeric, cloves and cardamom are antiseptic, ginger and cloves help digestion, pepper soothes the throat. Indian food theory counts six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter and astringent, and a good meal balances them.

Street food

Street food is reasonably safe if you follow these guidelines: eat where the vendor has a crowd. Eat only food that is boiled or served hot. Water is what gets you into trouble, so avoid dishes like pani puri. Idlis, dosas and vadas are always safe bets. You can request the vendor to cut the spice, and most times he will oblige. Avoid sweets from the street; you can always get the same sweet from a bigger, clean, quality-checked sweet shop.