Edible India – A Culinary Pilgrimage

Take the overnight flight from wherever you are to New Delhi.

We will meet you at the airport and drive you to your hotel in Delhi. Put your feet up and get ready for the culinary adventure.

This morning we will take you out to explore the famous street food of old Delhi, also stopping at the renowned Karim’s restaurant for a Nihari breakfast. Later on we will show you around more of Delhi’s best sites, like the sandstone tomb of the emperor Humayun and the medieval tower at the Qutab Minar.

Dinner this evening will be at a proper Punjabi restaurant where you get to taste the hearty and flavourful cuisine of the Punjabi people who have added so much to Delhi’s culture.

We will take you to the railway station to board the Shatabdi Express to the royal city of Lucknow (06:15/12:30). After checking in to your hotel we will take you around some of Lucknow’s best sites like the Muslim Bara Imambara and the British Residency.

Dinner this evening is at a Nawab’s home. Nawabs are the erstwhile rulers of this former princely state of Awadh, and this is the place to sample the local Awadhi cuisine. These might just be the best kebabs and biryani you ever taste.

Spend your morning at leisure before we take you out to sample Lucknow’s famous street food, particularly the barbecued tikkas and kebabs.

We will drive you to the airport for your 1h40m flight to Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). Check into your hotel and spend the day at leisure. The best Bengali food is served in people’s homes rather than in restaurants, so tonight’s dinner will be in the form of a cooking demonstration in a traditional Bengali home. Many preparations are made with mustard oil and a 5-spice mix, and the region is also famous for its fish dishes and sweets.

There has been a Chinese population in Kolkata since the mid19th century, and breakfast today is a traditional Chinese one in China Town. In the afternoon we will show you around more of Kolkata to visit the Victoria Memorial, Botanical Gardens and the Indian Museum.

Today’s flight to Chennai (formerly Madras) in the south of India takes about two and a half hours. Spend the day at your leisure and work up a good appetite, as dinner this evening will be in a speciality Chettinad restaurant. Chettinad cuisine is mostly non-vegetarian and uses a variety of ground fresh spices, sun-dried meats and salted vegetables – it’s hot and pungent and often topped off with a boiled egg.

This morning we will show you around Chennai with its British churches and magnificent Hindu temples. Lunch will be in a local restaurant specialising in Tamil Brahmin cuisine, the traditional food of the regions priestly class. This food is pure vegetarian (no meat, fish or eggs), and uses lots of different rice preparations such as dosa and idli. Flavours to look out for which you might not have tasted up north include curry leaves, tamarind and coconut.

This morning we will take you to Chennai airport for the 1-hour flight to Cochin, from where it is a further 2 hours drive to your houseboat on the backwaters of Kerala. Spend the day cruising the backwaters, and meet your on-board chef to learn about and sample traditional Keralan cuisine. Thus satisfied, spend a peaceful night on your air-conditioned houseboat.

Disembark your houseboat and we will drive you 2 hours to Fort Cochin – on the way stop for a traditional lunch served on a banana leaf. Check in and enjoy a leisurely day exploring this charming old harbour town. In the evening we will take you for a performance of Kathakali, the region’s traditional music and dance form.

Enjoy a private guided tour of Cochin with its European churches, Jewish synagogues, Indian palaces, and Chinese fishing nets. The town is well known throughout India for its seafood, and this evening we will host a local seafood dinner for you.

This morning we will drive you 6 hours up the coastline of Kerala to the small coastal town of Tellicherry where you will check in to Ayesha Manzil, a beautiful colonial style mansion. Your hostess in this family-run homestay is Ms. Faiza Moosa, an expert in the famous Mopillah cuisine.

Today enjoy classes and demonstrations on North Keralan Mopillah cuisine, a local style strongly influenced by the influx of Arabs and Syrian Christians over the centuries.

We will drive you 2 hours to Calicut airport to board the 2-hour flight to Mumbai. Dinner this evening will be in Trishna Restaurant, a famous seafood restaurant where you can sample local preparations of crab, prawns and pomfret.

Enjoy a half-day tour of Mumbai and a leisurely lunch in Café Leopold, one of the oldest cafes in the city. Spend the rest of the day at leisure in Mumbai and do some last minute shopping. You might need some new spices for your kitchen at home.

We will pick you up from your hotel and drop you at the airport for your flight home.