Ladakh travel guide

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

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

Skyu (Ladakhi pasta)

Ladakh's ancient cold-climate pasta—fingers of thumb-kneaded wheat dough simmered in a vegetable or mutton broth with root vegetables and dried spinach; a one-bowl mountain meal that sustains at 3,500m altitude; found at Leh's local restaurants as a warming lunch

Butter tea

Ladakh and Tibet's essential beverage—tea leaves boiled in water, filtered, then combined with yak butter and salt in a cylindrical churn; the result is a savory, creamy, high-calorie liquid that protects against cold and altitude; outsiders find it confronting, locals drink 40 cups daily

Apricot products

Ladakh's most emblematic food product—the Ladakhi hulman apricot variety is tiny, intensely sweet and grown in the world's highest fruit orchards; dried on rooftops for winter, pressed into apricot kernel oil; the jam and dried fruits sold in Leh market have exceptional flavor