Learn India before you go

10 phrases to learn

In Hindi. Capital letters show the stressed part. Tap the heart to practise a phrase later.

At the table

• Many Indians eat with their hand, and only with the right one. The left hand stays dry and is used for passing dishes or holding a glass of water.
• Wash your hands before and after the meal. Tear roti with the fingers of your right hand and use it to scoop up food; rice is mixed with curry and eaten with the fingertips.
• Do not put food, a spoon or fingers that have touched your mouth back into a shared dish. Food that has touched someone's mouth is called jootha and should not be shared.
• Whole spices such as cloves, bay leaves and cinnamon sticks are not eaten. Set them aside on your plate.
• At a Kerala feast (sadya) on a banana leaf, the leaf is folded at the end of the meal. Which way you fold it is a message to the host, so watch what your neighbours do.
• Many Hindus do not eat beef, many Muslims do not eat pork and many people are vegetarian. Ask before offering food, and expect separate spoons for vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

Local tips

Dishes to try

• Masala dosa (मसाला दोसा): A large, thin, crisp pancake made from a fermented batter of rice and lentils, rolled around a spiced potato filling and served with coconut chutney and sambar, a lentil and vegetable stew. A favourite breakfast across the south.
• Idli (इडली): Soft, round, steamed cakes made from fermented rice and black lentils, about four parts rice to one part lentils. They are mild on their own and are eaten for breakfast with sambar and chutney.
• Dal tadka (दाल तड़का): Dal means dried split lentils, peas or beans, and the soup made from them. For dal tadka, cooked lentils are finished with a tadka: spices, garlic and onion fried in hot ghee or oil and poured over the top. Eaten with rice or roti, it is one of India's everyday staples.
• Butter chicken (मुर्ग़ मखनी (murgh makhani)): Pieces of tandoori chicken in a smooth, mild sauce of tomatoes, butter and cream, flavoured with garam masala and dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi). Usually eaten with naan.
• Hyderabadi biryani (हैदराबादी बिरयानी): Long-grain rice and meat, often goat or chicken, layered with spices, saffron, fried onions and mint. In the kacchi style the meat goes into the pot raw, after marinating in yoghurt and spices, and cooks together with the rice in a pot sealed with dough, a slow method called dum.
• Rogan josh (रोगन जोश): Lamb or goat braised slowly with garlic, ginger, cloves, bay leaves, cardamom and cinnamon. Its deep red colour comes from mild Kashmiri chillies or from ratan jot, a dried root.
• Chole bhature (छोले भटूरे): Spiced chickpeas in a thick gravy, served with bhature: large, puffy breads of fermented dough, deep-fried until they balloon. Mainly a hearty breakfast, and a favourite street food.
• Pav bhaji (पाव भाजी): A thick, buttery mash of vegetables cooked with spices on a big griddle, eaten with soft bread rolls (pav) toasted in butter, with chopped onion and lime.

Cities to see

• New Delhi (capital): Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President's palace, India Gate, The Red Fort and Old Delhi.
• Mumbai: Bollywood films, The Gateway of India, Vada pav and pav bhaji.
• Kolkata: The Howrah Bridge, The Victoria Memorial, Durga Puja.
• Chennai: Marina Beach, Fort St George, Car factories.
• Bengaluru: Information technology, The nickname Garden City, A mild climate.
• Hyderabad: The Charminar, Hyderabadi biryani, Pearls.

Landmarks and the city map are on the India trip