What to Eat in Ayodhya Today?

Breakfast in the temple lanes

Mornings in Ayodhya start with kachori and aloo sabzi: flaky fried bread served with a spiced potato curry, usually in a leaf bowl. The stalls around Hanuman Garhi fry them from early morning, and the best batches go by mid-morning. Eat them before a temple queue rather than after; the queues are long.

The pilgrim's thali

Lunch is usually a satvik thali, meaning it is cooked without onion, garlic, meat or eggs. Expect dal, one or two seasonal vegetables, rice, roti and a small sweet. It is plain food, meant to be easy on a long day of walking. Bhojnalayas, simple dining halls, serve it near Kanak Bhawan and along Ram Path, and some community kitchens hand out a free meal at lunchtime.

Food from the wider region

Litti chokha comes from the Purvanchal and Bihar side of the region: balls of wheat dough stuffed with sattu, roasted gram flour, and baked, served with a smoky mash of roasted aubergine, tomato and potato, and a spoon of ghee. It is filling and not very spicy. A tall lassi in a clay cup, topped with a thick layer of cream, is the drink between temples in the warm months.

Sweets and prasad

Besan laddoo, a round sweet of roasted gram flour, ghee and sugar, is the offering at Hanuman Garhi. Pilgrims buy a box at the foot of the steps, offer it at the shrine and take the rest home. Khoya peda, made from milk, is the other staple. Sweet shops pack both for travel.

What you will not find

Meat and alcohol are off the menu around the temples. The civic body has banned their sale along Ram Path and the parikrama roads, and hotels in the pilgrim area have been told not to serve them. See where to eat for places that cook these dishes well.