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Tips on Eating Food in India

Prior to your visit to India, discuss your health requirements with your local medical professional. Determine what vaccinations are required for the area you plan to visit—protection against typhoid, for example.
It may be useful to travel with oral rehydration salts sachets as recommended by the WHO/UNICEFⁱ. Your doctor or travel clinic will be able to advise you on this prior to your journey. It is vital to seek medical advice if you are suffering from severe symptoms like bloody diarrhea and fever. For further information, refer to traveldoctor.co.uk/diarrhoea.htm.
The main rule to remember is simple: BOIL IT, COOK IT, PEEL IT OR FORGET IT!
If the locals are avoiding a specific eatery, then perhaps you should, too. Anywhere with families eating is likely to be safer.
Avoid eating meat unless a place is reputable or busy.
Steer clear of street vendors selling juice unless absolutely convinced of their hygiene standards. Drink or use only boiled or bottled water, or pasteurized milk, and avoid ice in drinks. When drinking bottled water ensure the seal is unbroken or choose sparkling water to ensure the bottle has not been refilled.
Sliced fruit washed in dubious water is also a risk.
Keep a small supply of toilet paper with you at all times.
Only eat food that is freshly prepared, cooked and served piping hot, or fruit that you have peeled yourself, such as banana and mango.
Wash your hands frequently using soap and water, especially before eating or drinking and after using the toilet.

ⁱRehydration Project rehydrate.org

Some Like it Hot

The ICC Cricket World Cup is coming to India—giving you the perfect excuse to get to know this stunning country’s amazing food. India’s cuisine is shaped by its rich heritage, and represents a banquet of multiple colors, aromas, textures and flavors, with clear North/South variations on the central theme.

Western restaurants typically serve North Indian food—rich vegetable and meat dishes in a combination of onion, yoghurt and tomato sauces. South Indian food is vegetarian—spicy chili and coconut flavored and served with rice or pancakes known as dosa, iddli and uttapam.

This traditional Indian cuisine has evolved through 5000 years of foreign influences. The 16th century Mughal invasion of India introduced non-vegetarian dishes along with spices such as saffron. “Mughlai,” the resultant fusion cuisine, was a large part of extravagant Mughal royal banquets, and became the Korma, still popular today. Curiously, the 12th century recipe for roast black rat from the court of King Somesvara III appears to be extinct.

Curry Love

Following the British invasion, Anglo-Indian cuisine blossomed. The British fell in love with curry (the word may stem from the Tamil word “Kari” which means “spiced sauce,” a dish made with spices, cooked in oil with sauce made from onions, garlic and ginger)—to the extent that Chicken Tikka (roasted meat) Masala (gravy) is Britain's most popular dish. Debate still rages as to its origins. Mr Ali Ahmed Aslam, owner of the Shish Mahal restaurant in Park Road, Glasgow, Scotland, is said to have prepared a sauce using spices soaked in a tin of tomato soup when a customer complained that their meal was too dry.

Know Your Curry.

There are various types of curry, from the Vindaloo, the "hot" restaurant curry, to the Korma, a mild coconut-flavored curry.

The “Balti” is a type of curry presented in an iron wok. Invented in Birmingham, UK, it, too, may have its origins in the Mughal Empire. The Tandoori is a northern-style dish—the name refers to a deep clay oven in which food is cooked. The chicken is marinated in yoghurt, herbs and spices prior to cooking. Tikka is boneless meat, marinated and cooked in the same way, and served with medium masala, thickened with almonds (pasanda) or butter-rich sauce.

Curry is often eaten with rice or Indian breads. Chapati is the generic term for breads but refers to the simplest unleavened variety, while Roti describes thicker breads baked in tandoor (clay ovens). Puris are little fried puffballs, Pappadum is a crisp wafer made of lentil flour.

Making Curry at Home

If all this talk of food makes you want cook up your own curry, a good starting point may be the Web site of Sanjeev Kapoor, India's premier cook. Local supermarkets usually stock the main ingredients. Spices, the most important ingredients, fall into two groups - those that are mixed into the dish by the end cooking process, and those that are later removed. Coriander, Cumin, Turmeric and ground garam masala are part of the first group. The second group adds aroma to the dish and includes cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves.

Chili Hot Stuff

Although many of the spices used in curry appear to have health benefits, and Turmeric’s anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties have ensured its reputation as a cancer fighting food, there is a downside to hot curries. In 2008, the Times newspaper in London reported the death of a cook who had consumed red-hot chili sauce as a dare. While fatalities are rare, people with underlying health problems, such as hemophilia, should take care—large amounts of hot chilies, for instance, can cause stomach problems such as reflux, and aggravate underlying problems like stomach ulcers and haemorrhoids, resulting in bleeds.

Spicy foods, onions and curries are all implicated in halitosis, although good mouth hygiene should help to avoid it, and reduce the need for dental intervention, too. Overall, if you are unsure about the effects of ingredients in curry, you should consult a medical professional who will be able to advise you depending on your specific medical history before you indulge. The key is not to overdo it and perhaps to avoid consumption of excessively hot and spicy curries - a curry doesn’t have to be hot enough to burn at both ends to be enjoyable.