Indian food is incredible and is consistently one of the world’s favorite cuisines. I’m fortunate enough to have been born into a Panjabi family so I grew up with delicious food and have been able to visit India often enough. If you’re visiting India, you may be getting well-meaning advice from other people about what to eat and drink, and what to never consume at all. You may be doing your own research and getting mixed results on the Internet. There are a lot of things you need to avoid eating or drinking in India. You might be starting to wonder: can I eat anything? The answer is yes.
If you’re traveling to the Indian subcontinent, you’re probably eager to wander through alleys and sample the street food, or dine in some of the finest restaurants in the world. Maybe you crave authenticity. Maybe you’re ready to try something new. But if you’re visiting for the first time or the fifth time, there are a few things you should avoid (either for the entire trip or at least during the first few days) to help your digestive system adjust before you go all in. Plus, I’ve put additional tips at the bottom.
Here are my seven things to avoid eating or drinking when visiting India.
Tap Water (And Anything Made With It)
You may have already come across this one but the tap water in India is one of the unsafest tap waters across the globe (a study), filled with contaminants and pollutants and other things you don’t want in your body. As a kid, we used to boil tap water before consuming it but this may not be possible if you’re backpacking or staying in hostels. Always, always, always drink bottled water. It will save you. Stock up at the airport or on the plane ride over, or purchase well-known bottled water brands at the supermarket. You should also avoid street foods like gol gappe/pani puri because the water they’re using for the ‘pani’ is going to be tap water. Some people may even tell you to avoid brushing your teeth with tap water but I have never had an issue; that’s up to your discretion.
Raw Fruits and Vegetables
The general rule of thumb when visiting India is that you should avoid any raw or undercooked foods. With raw fruits and vegetables, they likely weren’t washed or cleaned properly before being handed off to you. If they were washed, they were probably washed in that unclean tap water. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t eat fruits or veggies at all while you’re in India but you should exercise reasonable caution, focus on cooked veggies, and clean and peel your own fruits.
Meat & Seafood
If you’re a carnivore, I would recommend abstaining from meat and seafood while you’re in India, especially meat and seafood from street vendors. You don’t know what their cooking or cleaning process is like, or how sanitary their methods are. You can certainly take a risk if you want to but that’s up to you. If you don’t want to avoid meat or seafood completely (if you want to try Amritsari fish or murg tikka or something of that nature), make sure that whatever you’re eating is thoroughly cooked. You could also stick to classic dishes like biryani or kebab, or dine at restaurants or homes that you trust. Another method could be avoiding meat and seafood for the first few days of your trip, and then gradually consuming more as it goes on.
Dairy Products
You might be thinking: Namrita, India relies on dairy. How am I supposed to avoid it? Well, that’s up to you. It’s difficult to avoid but not impossible. The rationale for avoiding dairy products is that it’s easy for it to be contaminated and riddled with bacteria, especially if it’s at room temperature. If it’s boiled, cooked, or otherwise altered, you should be okay. As a kid, I loved going to the local ice cream shop for those vanilla ice cream cups with wooden spoons that were far superior to any other ice cream I’d ever had. My parents frequented Mother Dairy for their milk needs. Cows are sacred for Hindus and dairy is the fabric woven into the Indian quilt. Again, if you can’t avoid it all or don’t want to, abstain from consuming it the first few days and then gradually introduce it to your diet. You will thank me later.
Overindulging in Spicy Foods
Indian spice levels are vastly different from most other spice levels (minus Asian spice levels). Chilies and other peppers are commonly used in Indian cooking, and you will never have a bland meal on your trip. But your tolerance may differ from our tolerance. Enjoy spice food, sure, but go easy on them and your stomach will thank you. With a few other recommendations on this list, avoid overly spicy foods for the first few days of your trip while your stomach adjusts, and then add them later.
Street Food
Street food in India has a bad rep, justifiably so or not. I’m used to it so my stomach is no longer as sensitive to deep-fried foods and the like but for a first-time or infrequent visitor who may not be used to those types of foods, you may want to take it easy on the street food or be smarter about consumption. You don’t know what the sanitary practices are (if they’re implemented at all). You don’t know how things are washed, if utensils are used or not, if they use new oil to fry food in, or keep using the same one again and again. Fresh fruits are great if you can wash them and peel them yourself, or visit street vendors that are busy and located in populated areas. Avoid meat as well; stick to vegetarian and vegan-friendly offerings. Find out if India is vegan-friendly here.
Room Temperature Food
I’ve already given you plenty of items on this list and so far, you might be thinking, “okay, I can do that”. Here’s one more: avoid any food sitting at room temperature. This one isn’t just specific to India: any food that has been sitting around without being heated is a breeding ground for bacteria and is no longer safe to eat (on top of everything else listed above). Eat properly cooked food and make sure it’s hot when you do eat it.
That’s a lot of food to avoid. You might be thinking, “Can I eat anything?” Well, yes, of course, and take care of your digestive system too. Stick to a plant-based diet as much as possible, take probiotics, stay hydrated (bottled water and carbonated beverages), eat at places with foot traffic, carry Imodium tablets, and always wash your hands.
Not convinced? This last trip I took resulted in most of my immediate family getting sick. The only difference between us? I don’t eat meat, seafood, or dairy products! You’ll be much better off if you stick to a vegetarian or vegan diet or only occasionally consume cooked meat or seafood.
Anything I missed? Let me know below!
Looking for more travel tips? Check out this blog post.
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