10 Vegetarian Dishes To Try In Lucknow, India

Not many talk about it. However, you should make it your breakfast every time you are in Lucknow. These are deep fried pastries filled with lentils, served with sautéed and spiced potatoes and sweet chutneys. Of course, you can’t eat just one.

A winter food, its light and airy texture will make it feel like you are eating air. Lightly sweetened and garnished with dry fruits, it’s a must have during winters.

The Prakash kulfi selling only kulfi and falooda in Aminabad is already famous. However not many know the wonders of Chanakya Kulfi in Bhootnath market. So rich in flavor, it will leave you begging for more. Tip: always pack extras for later.

You can’t leave Lucknow without having kebabs. However, what if you don’t eat meat? Try the Lucknow invention which has now spread to Delhi and the National Capital Region. It’s flavorsome, filling and much cheaper than the meat version.

You get aaloo tikki in most of Northern India but nothing matches the taste of Lucknow. The crisp potato cakes, generous dollops of yoghurt, coarsely grounded spices and a garnishing of ginger, coriander and chillies sets it apart. Yes, it’s better than the Benaras version.

The kind of flavors you get in Lucknow are inimitable. Each flavor is painstakingly prepared. Jaljeera, khatta–meetha, lemon flavored, mint. You name it, it’s here. One of the best flavors is ‘heeng’ (Asafoetida).

An edible basket stuffed with potato cakes, vadas, assorted chutney, spices, namkeens, youghurt and garnished with ginger, pomegranate etc. What’s not to love? Be warned, this will leave you with no space to eat anything else.

It’s a no nonsense uncomplicated chat. Just the tawa roasted matar with some spices thrown in.

The dahi vada in Lucknow is soft, comes in a large size, garnished with dry fruits, and is not easy to buy (blame the queues).

There are paans and then there is Lucknawi paan. Though it sounds gimmicky, do try the ‘melt in mouth’ meetha paan in Lucknow.