What’s the best local dish you’ve ever eaten while traveling?
What’s the best local dish you’ve ever eaten while traveling?
Local food while travelling is one of my favourite parts of any trip. And this is such a difficult question for an Indian. 😄
Because honestly, the list is way too long. If I start writing about everything delicious I’ve eaten while travelling, one blog post definitely won’t be enough. I might have to start a separate food blog! 😂
We don’t just travel to see places.
We travel with one eye on the view and the other on “Yahan kya famous hai?” (What’s famous here?) 😂
Local Food While Travelling in India
I’ve had those huge, buttery aloo parathas in Murthal, with pickle on the side and a steaming cup of chai. If you ever go there, pakke se try karna! (You absolutely must try them!) You may plan to eat just one. Good luck with that. 😄
Then there’s Lonavala in the rain.
The wet roads, the clouds passing almost at eye level, the thick mist, the little waterfalls appearing all along the way, the beautiful ghats…
And then, after all that, reaching Lonavala and having a hot bhutta (roasted corn).
Honestly, the bhutta probably tasted better because of everything that came before it. ❤️
If you ever plan a trip to Lonavala, go during the rains. That whole journey is an experience in itself.
And then there were the chole bhature near the Golden Temple in Amritsar—because apparently visiting a holy place and then immediately looking for good food can peacefully coexist. 😂
But if I absolutely had to choose one…
I would probably pick that samosa I ate in Varanasi.
Nothing fancy. No beautiful restaurant. No elaborate presentation.
Just a simple, hot, perfectly crisp samosa.
But that first bite did something unexpected.
It reminded me of my hometown.
Of the samosas I had been eating since childhood. The kind of food you grow up with, without ever realising that one day, a simple bite of it might bring back so many memories.
Maybe that’s why it tasted so special.
It wasn’t just a samosa.
For a moment, it felt like home. ❤️
And maybe that’s the magic of food.
You can travel miles away from home, discover new places, try unfamiliar flavours—and then, suddenly, one familiar taste can take you right back to where you started.
We remember the places we visited, the photographs we took and the things we saw.
But sometimes, it’s a smell, a flavour or that first bite that stays with us the longest.
Maybe that’s what I love about travelling.
You go looking for beautiful places, monuments and new experiences…
and sometimes, years later, what you remember most clearly is that one thing you ate somewhere. ❤️
And yes, I do have a picture of one of our thali meals in Varanasi. 😄
But honestly, I’m usually so busy eating that I completely forget to take pictures of the food. 😂
Maybe that’s why my travel gallery has plenty of roads, rain, clouds, temples and places…
and surprisingly few pictures of the food that I remember so well!
Now tell me—what’s the best local dish you’ve ever eaten while travelling?
Or better yet, what’s that one dish you’d happily travel all over again just to eat? 😄❤️
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Until the next whisper,
—Rajeshwari 🧿💕
© Nihshabd by Rajeshwari
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If you enjoy little stories about travel, food and the memories we bring back home, you might also like this one:
This Is Not Hunger. This Is a Samosa Situation.
A Tradition Woven With Love: Our Tirupati Story
Coffee Is Not My Favorite Drink. It’s My Quiet Beginning.
I Don’t Have a Favorite Restaurant… But This One Wins Every Time!
🦋 A Little Something to Keep
Some food memories deserve a little more than a place in our camera roll.
I made a little printable quote from today’s story for you. 🦋