Ooty travel guide

Ooty homemade chocolates

The Nilgiri's colonial chocolate culture—Ooty's family-run chocolate shops on Commercial Road have made handmade bars, truffles and chocolate-coated fruits since the British hill station era; cooler temperatures allow butter-chocolate work impossible in the plains

Varkey biscuits

Kerala's butter-rich flat biscuits—unleavened wheat, butter and sugar baked into rustic flat rounds; a traditional tea-time accompaniment in Kerala homes; sold by weight at bakeries in Thrissur, Ernakulam and Kozhikode; both sweet and mildly salty versions exist

Fresh carrots

Ootys Nilgiri Highland seasonal carrots—grown at 2,200m in the specific volcanic red soil of the Nilgiris, these tender, sweet, non-woody carrots are sold 1kg for Rs 30 from farm stalls; local juice carts press them fresh; incomparably sweeter than plains-grown carrots

Filter coffee

South India's great ritual—100% arabica coffee beans slow-dripped into thick decoction, combined with hot milk in a brass tumbler and davara; poured from height to cool the temperature and create a froth; the MTR or Darshini chain version sets the standard

Nilgiri tea

The Nilgiri Hills year-round black tea—brisk, bright and brothy with a distinctive flavour from the specific altitude (1,500-2,500m) and moderate humidity; used as the base for chai in South India; Coonoor's Korakundah estate organic Nilgiri tea is available at the estate shop