Eat My Way Across India Sept/Oct

I wonder if anyone can recommend a 3-4 week itinerary that focuses primarily on sampling cuisines in different areas and taking cooking classes? I'm traveling either alone or possibly with one other person. On a low-mid range budget. Not really a trekker kind of gal. Goa and Kerala look very appealing geographically, but I don't want to dismiss the idea of seeing some of the northern regions as well. Was thinking about loosely following the locations on this itinerary:

http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/HHKCC#itinerary

Any places I should include and/or leave off? Any must try restaurants? I love Indian food, but I have to admit that I'm not very familiar with names or types of dishes other than those that are pretty common. I'm pretty open to trying anything, although I can't handle anything with too much sugar so most sweets are out. Thanks a bunch!

The easiest and most effective in terms of the learning experience would be if you planned to do homestays, because there you could see how the hosting lady makes the dishes. Homestays normally offer food as well. For homestays check with tripadvisor or simply google for them.

The itinerary you mention keeps you too busy with the logistics of travelling, and is much too over-loaded for your purpose. Reduce it as far as possible, like to two places per week.

And also think of those who have nothing or little to eat in India and what sorts of recipes they use. I do not mean this sarcastically; just as a reality check for you, because hundreds of millions of people in India have to get by with very little diversity in food, if any at all. Many just eat rice all day.

That looks like an itinerary for superman!!! If you rush it like that itinerary, I guarantee one thing you'll leave with is a headache..

As Atala says, the logistics of such a trip are too complicated to allow you time to enjoy yourself unless you are on a tour that handles the transportation and hotels parts.

There's fine food everywhere in India; how about putting together a more reasonable itinerary and asking for comments and suggestions.

Thanks for the advice. It looked pretty extensive to me, but I thought it must be doable if it was being offered as a professional tour. Now it makes sense, though, if you aren't worried about dealing with hotels and transportation. I'll revise and resubmit. Thanks!

Ceashel, this might help you decide.

That looks great. I'll watch it first chance I get. Thanks!

If you pretty much like food and have an open mind, I don't think you can go wrong anywhere in India, unless you happen to be in the northeast and ask for 'bhoot jolokiya' (the hottest chillies on the planet) based dishes. Now that would be asking for trouble. I recently attempted a 7 for 7 at a local Wingdome and trust me, it's not something you want to get down your throat. I asked the waiter what they used for the sauce to make it so damn hot, and one of the ingredients was, you guessed it, the 'ghost chilly'.

That is a fantastic video wonderwomanusa posted. Another good one if you can find it...it has been removed from Youtube, is Andrew Zimmern Bizarre Foods, Delhi, India.

Finally got around to watching the video wonderwomanusa suggested. You were right. It is fantastic! It's got me wondering if I shouldn't try and incorporate Lucknow into my itinerary somehow. A month sounds like a long time for a single trip, but not when there is so much to see and do!

That is the most fun about India. Eating and people watching!!

I love Lucknow and would encourage anyone to go there; and yes, the food is good there! But you need to cut out some travel, not add more.

India is not just a once-in-a-lifetime trip; you can experience more if you go several times.

Do you have a new itinerary yet?

haha...Yeah, well that's true.

I think it looks a little better. Maybe? Still a work in progress. Hoping to leave first week in October now. Let me know what you think.

http://goo.gl/maps/VILac

Wecome to east India. If you get time, go through the following link :
Kolkata nostalgia & gastronomy

The guest houses at Bundi are pretty good, you stay in homes and you can have a look at how food is being prepared.
Then Leh also has plenty of such GH's. I did not find the Gh's in udaipur or jodhpur so personalised. The ones in the bigger cities like jaipur or delhi will probably not offer you the same, you'll have to go looking for places where people will be willing to teach you.
If you happen to come to pune, you can learn how to make marathi and gujarati food at my place.
You should visit (and other places in Madhya Pradesh), for the food, IMO it's the best you could get in India.