Darjeeling travel guide

Momos

The Himalayan dumpling beloved across North India—half-moon shaped steamed or fried wheat dough filled with pork, chicken, vegetable or cheese; the Tibetan-Nepali original is best at source in Gangtok, Darjeeling and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway towns

Thukpa

Tibetan noodle soup found throughout the Himalayas—hand-rolled wheat noodles in a clear or tomato broth with vegetables and sometimes meat; Sikkim and Darjeeling's versions use yak or pork; warming at altitude and available at 3am from street vendors during the cold months

Darjeeling tea

The world's most revered tea—grown on steep south-facing hillsides at 2,000m; the muscatel flavor note (from a particular insect's interaction with the leaves) is unique; First Flush (March-April) is the most prized; buy directly from Makaibari or Glenburn estate shops

Churpi (yak cheese)

Sikkim and Darjeeling's mountain preserved cheese—hard dried yak or cow milk curd in small brown cubes; chewed for hours like candy while trekking; the hard variety can take a full day to dissolve completely; soft churpi is also made fresh and eaten with thukpa

Aloo dum

Kashmiri slow-cooked potato curry—small whole potatoes simmered in a deep, red yogurt-based sauce thickened with ground fennel and ginger; the signature vegetarian dish of Kashmiri wazwan; the Kashmiri version is smokier and more complex than Bengali dum aloo