What to Eat in Haridwar Today?

Breakfast is the main event

Pilgrims come off the morning bath hungry, and Haridwar's bazaars are built for them. Aloo puri is the classic: puffed, fried puris with a tangy potato curry, often with a sweet halwa on the side. Kachori with a spiced potato sabzi is the other favourite. Both are cooked in huge batches from early morning, and the best shops run through their first batches fast. Go early and eat where the queue is long and the oil looks fresh.

A thali for lunch

At midday, the pilgrim meal is a sattvic thali: dal, one or two vegetables, rice, rotis and a sweet like kheer. Sattvic cooking avoids onion and garlic, so flavours are lighter and depend on ginger, cumin, tomato and ghee. Many thali places refill the dal and rotis as you eat. If you want onion and garlic, ask; some kitchens keep a separate menu, others do not.

Evening snacks

After the aarti, the lanes near Har Ki Pauri fill with snack stalls. Aloo tikki chaat, crisp potato patties with yoghurt and chutneys, is the standard. Jalebi fried to order and served with thick rabri is the sweet to finish with. Kulfi and lassi sell well in the hot months.

No meat, no alcohol, no eggs

Meat, eggs and alcohol are not sold within about 5 km of Har Ki Pauri under long-standing local rules, and that covers the whole pilgrim centre. This is enforced, not a polite request. Do not bring your own to the ghats or hotels near them.

Eating safely

Street food here is cooked hot and turned over quickly, which helps. Drink bottled or filtered water, skip cut fruit that has been standing, and be careful with chutneys in the hottest months. See where to eat for the bazaar shops that do each dish best.