Food & Drink

Food & drink will be an exciting part of your trip! Your food choices will be much more than a typical Indian restaurant in the US. South Indian food can be spicy.

Alcohol is not commonly served in all restaurants. Drunkenness is not looked upon favorably in India, Don't create a 'LochMess' :)

Vegetarians, Vegans: You are in heaven!

Food safety:
- Always drink bottled water
- Most food is usually served hot i.e.  boiled are usually safe
- Most food issues are caused by water

In most restaurants, dishes will be served in plates and bowls. And, you can request cutlery (forks, spoons) if not already provided.

Prabha encourages everyone to eat with their hands, it is a wonderful experience. You will be adding the 'tactile' sense to enjoying food along with the taste, smell and  visual senses. Here is a funny, informational  video on How to eat with hands.


Breakfast: Common south Indian breakfast dishes are Idli, Dosa, Pongal, Vada, etc. These dishes are commonly referred to as 'tiffin' items. Think of them as small pate 'tapa' like dishes.

Idli - Steamed cakes from rice, lentil batter served with sambhar (lentil stew) and coconut chutney

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Dosa - Crispy pancakes lentil batter served with sambhar (lentil stew) and coconut chutney. They can come with various fillings. Masala Dosa (dosa with savory mashed potato filling) was Prabha's favorite dish growing up. The coconut chutney is Jen's favorite dip.

Lunch: Lunch in Tamil Nadu and in most of South India is the big meal of the day. You will hear the term 'meal' used - all this means is that  it is a multi course dish, think combo meal on steroids! In many restaurants, this will be served on a banana leaf!

Here is a good video of the American Consulate officers and family enjoying a South Indian lunch meal in Chennai/Madras.


Dinner: Tiffin items (see breakfast) are commonly eaten for dinner as well. Another common dinner is North Indian breads such as Naan, Roti and meat, vegetarian dishes that go along with the bread.
'Indian Chinese' food is quite popular and tasty - it's a confluence of 2 different cuisines and quite different from Chinese food in the US. Jen's favorite Indian Chinese dish is Cauliflower(Gobi) Manchurian.

Snacks/Fruit: You will find a plethora of snacks and lots of fruit for sale in 'smaller' grocery stores. Whole fruit are usually safe to consume, washing before consumption is recommended.

Coffee/Tea: Coffee, tea will mostly come pre-mixed with milk and sugar. You can ask for the sugar to be on the side. Prabha highly recommends 'filter coffee'. There are many street side stalls serving tea or coffee. Here is a video of one and the people in this video are speaking Tamil i.e. this is from somewhere in Tamil Nadu. They are served scalding hot and are mostly safe (boiled!).