Food: in search of the mild and safe in Rajasthan and the tourist places of India

novice1000

Dear 'IM's

As your newest member I'd like to ask a question about food. I guess there are two broad aspects to eating in India. The first is food safety, which has been covered very well elsewhere: these include rather common sense things and some more exotic ways of preventing 'Delhi belly'. The second is that of what a tourist who has a soul but shits in tonnes when spice hits the stomach and has a very poor gut for spicy/exotic foods could eat in India. I of course COULD eat burgers, but I'd like to enjoy the culture including the food. Im going to typical places: Delhi, Agra, Udaipur, Pushkar, Ajmer, Jaipur. Could someone give advice on what foods are mild and might not offend a weak stomach so much? I mean foods that are not excessivley spicy and more likely to be digestable/safe for the guttless tourist with a soul. please educate me on what the main food tyoes are that are along these types especially in this area, and also if theer are anythings to definately avoid due to excessive spice/famous nausea effects!

Many thanks, this is such a great resource! I agree with various people on here that its party about the psychology, but I think if u feel ur eating good stuff then it helps!!

Cheers! x

zoltan

I find the best way is to go to restaurants that look clean and have locals eating within (if it's only westerners, forget it).

You could always ask the waiter to make the food non-spicy or not hot (garam naheen) or, ensure you have curd (yoghurt) with the meal. Mix this in with the food (if it is spicey) and it will temper the heat.

Cheers
Zoltan

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nayan

Some Indian food you could order

1. plain dosa or masala dosa(try if you can tolerate the mild stuffing)

2. alu paratha with yogurt

3. rice/ roti with dal fry

skk

There's a concept called upaas ( in Marathi ), which means fasting; women in particular do it one day or more a week; except just like "No Parking" means PARK HERE ( ) in many towns in India, so fasting doesn't mean you don't EAT. It means you avoid certain foods on that day.

Many food items are avoided on such a day and particular foods are eaten on these days ( I only know the Marathi names which won't help you in Rajasthan ) - but invariably these foods are very lightly spiced and not at all chilli hot and STILL freaking tasty.

So, your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to just say I follow the Indian fasting rules in Rajasthan and seek restaurants that offer that(ask, you won't have any problem - you MIGHT even get invites to homes and home prepared stuff)- and eat those things - if you want to eat Indian stuff that is; a cold salad and cheese sandwich( Amul cheese, yuck at that ) gets very very boring otherwise.

Wacky idea - let me know if it works.

-skk

SitaParityaga

skk....loved your post! Great info!

And novice1000, welcome to IM You're going to do just fine in Rajasthan: this area has been on the travelers circuit for many years, and the places you'll visit will likely be able to accommodate your preferences. I'm on the opposite spectrum of spice tolerance, given the spicey food I'm used to here in California.

I had to ask people in Rajasthan to make my food "like the locals eat" in order to get the taste I'm used to, having had my taste buds burned off by chillis many years ago, and developing an iron stomach to match...If you follow the usual guidelines about what to eat, what to avoid, you'll do just fine. I broke the rules and ate lots of cucumber and tomato salads in Rajasthan, and never had a problem. Despite the bad press, I've found many people to have visited India repeatedly without getting sick, like me.

But tell us: you live in London, home of many great Indian restaurants...are you able to tolerate the spice level eating out in London? Can you do tandoori? Does naan give you problems? Lets get the real low down!

In Udaipur, I recommend "The Park" restaurant. Its away from the main tourist area, and has a great selection on their menu. Although I didn't eat it, they had chinese food as well...also a good option when you see it offered on a menu. Chinese in India often = lack of spice.

In Pushkar, you'll find many restaurants serving tasty non-spicey food. Didn't go to Ajmer, so can't comment about where to go there. Certainly in Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, you'll find just what you want, just ask for it.

One of the many great things about India: you can ask for what you want and they will do their best to make you happy.

PS. I wish San Francisco had the quality Indian restaurants of London and NYC.

kristinm

Curd or yoghurt goes a long way to soothing the tummy and you
can get that with everything..& rice, or in Rajasthan more commonly breads of all kinds.. yummy little bananas and delicious honey.. my favourite breakfast was hot paranthas, honey, curd and banana - I could have eaten that 3 times a day!

There are mild potato dishes.. I didn't actually find anything very hot except the street food.

I thought I had a sensitive tummy before I went to India - and I certainly wouldn't have called myself a person who enjoyed hot (chilli) food.. I hated the burning lips and runny nose.

Strangely enough - by the time I left India after 5 weeks I was chowing down on street food like nobody's business - even chilli pakoras and other hot delicacies...always following the freshly cooked, well patronised, no water or salad etc rules of course

We had no tummy problems to speak of apart from a short bout of gastro (1 day only).

I am one of those people that gags if someone near me vomits, or if I see something or smell something disgusting..even on a movie (I cannot watch Jackass for instance without dry retching). Yet in India this hypersensitivity seemed to disappear....even in the midst of the smelliest or most challenging situations involving things like raw sewage I was fine, the only thing that got to me was walking past the official and unofficial public urinals, and one very early morning making the mistake of walking over to the train tracks while on a platform at New Delhi Station and looking down - I will not describe what I saw!

Amazing how your body just adapts so quickly.

novice1000

Dear All

Thanks very much!

As for my food habits in Indian restaurants in London, I rarely go. However I recently went becuase of a friends party. I think u know what I mean when I say i considered taking immodium with me! I had a korma, which was lovely, and washed it down with a lot of beer.

a couple of qs, is beer widely available? (i think its a good general disinfectant for the gut) and also as please excuse my ignorance, but will waiters and most people i meet speak English...so I can say 'not spicy'??

If so, then i can just go for the stuff in the LP, and just keep saying not spicy!!!

Thanks!!

kristinm

You will usually find people who speak English everywhere - the trouble is getting them to not bland down the food too much for tourists in most cases!

As far as the LP goes - I wouldn't rely too much on it, many places seem to have fallen victim to LP Syndrome whereby once they get the listing the standards plummet accordingly - and we found a couple of LP places to be very bland and boring - far worse than your average London Indian restaurant and certainly no guarantee of not getting sick & its weird eating in another country but with no other patrons from that country in the restaurant.

Go by the recommendations on IM for good places to eat, or if not try and ask Indians rather than tourists - although many will send you to the tourist places anyway...

Many restaurants do not serve alcohol... you can buy it outside in the 'English beer shops' though

skk

Re: beer

As a general rule, if its a vegetarian, abbreviated to Veg. restaurant, and an awful LOT of restaurants will advertise themselves as such, no beer for you, if its veg and non-veg (exclusively non-veg are rare, I've never seen one), there's a good chance - look for words like PERMIT ROOM.

Always insist that the beer you get is a cold one - don't really know why - nobody would dare serve it warm (unlike the UK ) - but its seldom as cold as in the US. Anyway, my brother always asked so I do so too - I've heard its to check that their refreigeration system works, but that sounds as plausible and made up as the explanation for the phrase "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey".

-skk

zoltan

Just on a side-note, when you go to India, don't take the immodium (or like tablets), unless you are on the move (eg. going on public transport to your next location).

These tablets only act as a stopper (ie. it will block your back passage) - the infection will still be working overtime in your gut.

The best option is to stay near a toilet and let nature run its course.

Cheers
Zoltan