Indian Food Hot spots for the Hungry Traveler – North East

North Eastern parts of India is known for it absolutely enthralling locales, exquisite natural beauty, extreme cultural richness, amazingly hospitable people, and awesome delicacies.

Starting with Assam, Assam is known for its rice consumption and most savories are made of rice. They make lovely food items with puffed rice and such the must haves are “ Chira” “Komal Chaul” and there is very little oil and spices used. They have a wide variety of delicacies with fish and Duck’s eggs for the non veggies. You will always find most meals with a combination of “Khar” and “Tenga” the Khar is normally done with raw papaya , pulses etc, the Khar is usually a number of preparations with a key ingredient and will be called so “Kola Khar” is with banana in it.

“Tenga” is a sour fish dish, and the side dishes are called “Pitika” eg – “Aloo Pitika”. The famous sweet dishes are “ Pitha” which is a rice cake.

If you were to go to the gorgeous locales of Arunachal Pradesh you must not miss the rice beer there called “ Apang”.

Then if you were to go to the culturally rich Manipur you must have their “ Eromba” which is a stew with boiled vegetables and potatoes. You must also try the “Chamthong” which is a preparation with boiled vegetables and onion and ginger, along with a topping of dried fried fish.

In Meghalaya the non veggies get more options than the veggies, their favourite meat is pork and the must have dishes include “ Jadoh” a spicey dish , with pork and rice. And do not miss the “Kyat” which is a brew made with rice and every celebration in Meghalaya is followed by having this.

Mizoram also is predominantly non vegetarian and the absolute must haves are “ Bai” which is a dish with pork and spinach and eaten with rice. Another must have is “Sawchair” which is made of rice cooked with chicken or pork.

Now moving to the most beautiful state of Sikkim, known for its gorgeous mountain ranges, lovely trekking routes, travelers heaven a photographers delight this heaven also gives a lot for the culinary enthusiasts, of all the things that you just must have in Sikkim the unmistakable numero Uno on the list is “Tchang” a beer that is made from millet and usually served in a bamboo mug. The food must haves are “Thupka” and “Momos”

Tripura has a lot of Bengali influence when it comes to food and has many varieties od delicacies for the non vegetarians mainly.

Indian Food Hot spots for the Hungry Traveler – North India

As we have been talking about the food hot spots of the South now lets turn our attention to the North. When I say North I am basically going to cover the entire North.

We had stopped at Andhra for the south, Lets start the north food Hot Spots with Maharashtra Bombay or Mumbai as its known today has always been known for its street food, its vada pavs, its pani puris and such … But what actually is the thing that you shouldn’t miss when in Maharashtra ? “Batata Vada” and “Kande Pohe”.

 Okay now moving a little to the east and Northwards, many of you might not know is that oriya food is one of the best in India, though it isn’t as hyped as Andhra food, Rajasthani or Bengali food, it has its charm and some of the best delicacies are found here. Whether you are going to the Puri Jagannath Temple or to Bhubaneshwar or to Konarak make sure you eat some of these “Mitha Dali” which is cooked Toor Dal in Jaggery , ghee and bay leaf, and non vegetarian delights like “Chungdi Malai” which is fresh water prawn cooked in coconut milk and added spices. And along with these do have some famous Sherbaths like “ Bel Pana” made with the pulp of Aegle Marmelos along with milk, sugar and black pepper. 

Lets go to the west side of the country to Gujarat, whether you have those famous Thalis or not make sure you eat enough and more Guajarati Snacks the best of them are “Khandvi”, “Dhokla”, “Dhahi Vada” and “Kachori” and the sweets you should hve after all this is “ Sutarfeni” and “Basundi”.

Now moving on to the centre or the heart of India , state wise atleast, Madhyapradesh, when you plan your visit to Khajuraho, the ancient city of “Ujjain” or even to “Bhandhavgargh National Park”you make sure you taste these “Sabudane ki kichiri”, and the non veg must haves are “Rogan Gosh” “Biryani Pilaf” and “Keema” and Ujjain, Indore and Ratlam are known for their “Samosa” and”Kachoris”.

And now going to the wonderful Rajasthan let me tell you it is the vegetarian heaven. There is so many varieties of food , that you will not be left wanting more. But here are a few things that you just must have “ Lassi” in Jodhpur, a very spicy version of “Bhelpuri” and don’t miss having a wholesome Rajasthani Thali, and if you do come across “Mewaa Roti” do try it it’s a sweet tasting roti that is absolutely delicious when hot and with ghee on top, sinful ? yes…

Okay who doesn’t know that Delhi is a foodie’s Mecca? So the obvious things you just must do are go to Chandni Chowk and have “Jalebi” and “lassi” and have the famous Mughalai Style Biryani anywhere in delhi, also try a variety of milk teas that you get there , if you are there in winter you will remember having it all your life.

And now we are at UttarPradesh the yummiest concoctions are “ Zamin Doz Machli” and “Shami Kabab” for the Non Veggies and “Paneer Pakora” for the veggies, it is known that Chaat has its roots in UttarPradesh.

And going all the way to the Northmost and one of the most beautiful places on earth Kashmir, the must have veggie delights are “ Ladyar Tsaman” and “Nadeir Yakhean” which is lotus stem in yogurt base, and the simply must have non veggie food is “Rogan Gosh” and “Syun Qaliya”.

That is the slurpy list of must have in the hopt spots for a hungry in India in the North, the next blog will cover in detail the eccentric varieties in the North east …

Parinitha Konanur

Indian Food Hot spots for the Hungry Traveler – South India

We are all visual creatures and hence we travel and most of us visual creatures are also big foodies. India is known for its cultural variations and with cultural variations comes a huge variety of food. Every state has a unique cuisine and what is better is that even the smaller towns and cities have their own versions of food.

Now I thought I will map out the food Hot spots for all the “Hungry” Travelers –

If you were to start from Karnataka – If you were to go to North Karnataka don’t miss the “Jolad Rotti” which is Roti made of maize, If you were to go to Hassan side then do drink those tender coconuts in a countryside and ofcourse eat the “Ragi Mudde” or the Ragi Balls with Chicken or Mutton Curry, for the veggies Ragi mudde is awesome with “Soppina Saaru” which is a curry with greens, then if you were to go to Mysore then have the “Mysore Masala Dosa”, and “Pineapple KesariBath” and yeah how can I forget “Davangere Benne Dose” in davangere ofcourse though it is available even in Bangalore.

Then there is Coorgi specials like “Pandi Curry” which basically an awesome pork curry.  Mangalore, Udupi  and its surroundings are known for their lovely vegetarian food remember the “Udupi Krishna Bhavan” ? and do not miss the “Gud Bud” ice cream in Mangalore. 

Now if you go to Tamil Nadu you got to try out as many varieties of “Rasams” as you can, it is also known for Dosa , let me tell you the Tamil Nadu Dosa tastes quite different from its Karnataka counterparts. Then there is the famous “kotthu parota” that you get in most parts of Tamilnadu. And then there is the very very famous spicy “Chettinad” food from TamilNadu.

Then moving a little more down south if you go to kerala , it is mostly a non vegetarians heaven, the must tries are “Neer dosa and Prawn curry” or even fish curry, sea food is major here for obvious reasons and they are delicious.

Now let us map our way up a little to the North and enter  Andhrapradesh, now this is a state that satisfies both vegetarians and non vegetarians equally so you will do yourself good if you order a “Andhra style” Biryani, Andhra style Chilli Chicken or even a wholesome South Indian Thali that comes with chutney pudi, papad, rice, roti, sambar, rasam and loads of “Pallya”/ side dishes . Hyderabad as most of you know is a hot spot for Biryani and it has a lovely mixture of both Andhra spices mixed with Nizam or the Muslim influences.

Now moving a little more to the west coast is the world famous travel destination Goa. What most travelers do is that they prefer to lie back on the beach and eat at the restaurants adjacent to the shacks, this is a good idea, but you need to remember to have that “Cashew nut Fenny” and along with this a must not miss is eating a “Pav bun along with chicken curry”, this is usually not available at shacks, and you might want to spend an evening at Mapusa for that. It is totally worth it. Goa is also known for its “Pork Vindaloo”.

My Next Blog will be about all the delicacies of Northern and Eastern Indian ... slurp Slurp !!!