People have been asking me to write about the food I had in India. I should begin by saying that I rarely ate in really fancy restaurants (really only once IÂll get to that later), and only ate street food a couple of times. The first was due to budget restraints and the second because 1) I like to eat sitting down, and 2) I hate having beggars, touts and salesmen crowding around me while I eat (in the more touristy parts of India simply stopping in the street will attract all three, plus some gawkers). I didnÂt get recipes from anyone, but I did buy a couple of cookbooks and I do plan to try to recreate some of the dishes I tried.

Since I stayed with Indian families for about 2 weeks out of a total of 5 I didn't just get to eat the restaurant versions of the local food, but also real Indian home cooking. In the north it was mostly dals (lentil dishes), stews and curries of various kinds, both vegetarian and chicken based. Everything was good, but two things stand out: a chicken biryani my friend's mother made, and the chapatis (flat bread) made by my friend's servant, the best I have tasted. Rotis or chapatis often turn out a bit tough, but his were light, crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside and served right off the griddle. In the south I also had good lamb and fish dishes.

In Bombay I stayed with a Catholic Goan family, and they served both Goan specialities like an excellent stew made of lambÂs tongues with onions and spices, and Bombay favourites like deep-fried bombil (a fish, known as Bombay Duck when salted and dried) and kingfish curry (judging from the taste, kingfish is a type of mackerel).

Breakfast was always a treat. At the first home I stayed in it would usually be rotis, dahi (curds), rice and a mild vegetable curry or dal, and tea. In restaurants in the north I would order curds, a potato or onion paratha (flat bread) and masala chai (spiced milk tea). In Udaipur I discovered a restaurant that served home-made curds (yogurt) with bananas and honey and I had that for breakfast every morning while I was there. In Bangalore and Mysore breakfast would be idlis, fluffy savoury cakes made from a batter of fermented rice and lentils and steamed in special moulds so they turn out lentil-shaped, served with coconut chutney and a spicy red dipping sauce I never got the name of. Alternatively I would have a masala dosa. Dosas are made from a batter similar to that used to make idlis, but the dosas are fried (on one side only if they are to be stuffed) in a special griddle called a tava. I usually ordered a masala dosa, which is wrapped around a filling of potatoes and onions with mild spices and served with one or more dipping sauces (usually a coconut chutney and often some other dip, such as a pickle of some kind). I especially liked it when the dosa was spread with chutney before the potato filling was added. Vadas, a type of savoury doughnut, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vada) made a great snack, and so did the fruit, especially the small, sweet bananas sold on every street corner and soooo much tastier than the ubiquitous Chiquita variety sold at home. Unfortunately it wasnÂt the season for mangoes, or I would have had them every day.

Standout restaurant dishes were (besides those I mention above) tandoori chicken (no sauce in sight), chicken tikka (they also had the British bastardised version, chicken tikka masala, which I made a point of not ordering), Kashmiri biryani (http://www.khanakhazana.com/recipes/view.aspx?id=732 Â this recipe is similar to what I had, except there was no chili in it) and the excellent Seekh Kebab I had at the Royal Orchid Metropole Hotel in Mysore. Incidentally, I heartily recommend that restaurant for food, service and ambience and have no doubt that the restaurants at the other Royal Orchid Hotels are equally good.

Most of the restaurants that cater to budget and mid-level tourists tend to have the same menu, shuffled in a slightly different order, or so it seems. The Indian food on those menus tends to be good (and genuine), but the western dishes range from excellent to dreary. Banana pancakes, omelettes and French toast are generally good, while pizzas tend to be dreadful and anything can happen if you order a hamburger. Indian interpretations of Chinese food can be just plain weird (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Chinese_cuisine).

As for drinks, I liked the only Indian beer I tasted: Kingfisher, which is a lager, slightly fruity and very refreshing when served properly chilled. Another Indian drink not to be missed is lassi. Tourists tend to go for sweet lassi or the banana or mango varieties, which taste like fruity milk shakes, but I recommend ordering salty lassi with food, especially if you suspect it is going to contain lots of chili. It tastes better with spicy dishes than the sweet and fruity varieties. Masala chai I think I need not mention  it has been discussed so much here. In north India street stall and train station coffee is generally hot milk with a few grains of Nescafé  you have been warned. However, café culture has made its way to India, and two chains are especially noteworthy: Barista and Café Coffee Day. Both serve good coffee and can be counted on for air conditioning and clean toilets when need for either arises.

I may add more to this thread when and if I remember something worth mentioning.