General advice

Here’s some general advice when it comes to food in India:

• Stick to freshly cooked, hot food and avoid anything that looks like it’s been sitting out too long.
• Be careful with street food – if you wanna try it, choose vendors with a high turnover rate and good hygiene.
• Avoid raw fruits and vegetables unless you can peel them yourself.
• Always drink bottled or filtered water, and avoid ice.
• Depending on the region, food in India can be quite spicy. Hyderabad is known for its spicy food. You can ask for no chilli or less spicy food, but in my experience, it’s a bit of a gamble, it works sometimes, but mostly it doesn’t.
• Some of the naturally mild food items are rotis, naan, paratha, rice, Malai Kofta (malai means cream), and Dahi vada (Dahi means yoghurt).
• Curd is the Indian yoghurt, so if the food is too spicy, try to order some curd.
• Clean your hands before eating, especially if eating with your fingers, which is common practice in India.

Restaurant recommendations for Hyderabad

• Chutneys: one of my favourites, they have a good variety of chutneys! 
• Dadus: Primarily a sweet store, but they have a restaurant at some locations. They have amazing sweets to eat there or takeaway, however, the savoury food can be quite spicy.
• Theobroma: A great bakery selling amazing brownies! They also sell a veg quiche (which has zero chilli).
• Wow Momos: a chain you will mostly find in malls. The veg Himalayan momos (without sauce/dip) also don’t contain any chilli.
• Haldirams: A store + restaurant selling a variety of snacks and street food (chaats). It’s by an old and famous brand whose packaged snacks are sold all over India. The chaats with “Dahi” are less spicy. If you eat chaat and want it less spicy, ask for it to be prepared without Pudina (Mint) Chutney, which is usually the spicy component.
• Almond House: It’s a chain of stores and restaurants with a nice range of sweets and snacks. All the chaats that say “dahi” are generally less spicy. Their “Super crispy aloo tikki” is really nice, but can be a bit spicy, depending on how much of the spicy chutney they add. If you eat chaat and want it less spicy, ask for it to be prepared without Pudina (Mint) Chutney, which is usually the spicy component.