One of the most distinctive things about India is the food. Yes, it's spicy! There is huge diversity. Religion plays a part in what most people eat.  I love it!
There is food on the street everywhere. Tea shops open very early in the morning and people gather  to chat with friends and get the news as they enjoy a cup. There are roadside stands, stalls and cafes everywhere, city and country.  Sadly I usually avoid street food because I just don't want to risk a case of 'Delhi Belly' with a hectic travel schedule. On this trip our guide set up some street food experiences we could safely enjoy. At one place he even brought paper plates and utensils for us from the hotel. We took tuk tuks and set out one evening to try some street cuisine. Another time he bought us a form of vada or fritters in a village that he knew would be OK for us to eat.
On our evening excursion we had masala milk, spicy and with chopped cashews, from a very opoular stall. the vendor boils the milk then cools and froths it by twirling around and sending it to a pouring jug. You can have froth or no froth just like at Starbucks. It was delicious.
My favorite was paratha. There is a fermented bread of the same name that is very tasty. It is chopped up and cooked into a grill fry with veggies and eggs and hot sauce. Six American tourist who showed up at night were quite a source of interest to the other customers in this little street cafe as we enjoyed the paratha off our own paper plates.

India is a country of great spirituality where people take their religious beliefs seriously and live them publicly. About 80% of the people are Hindu, 12-14% are Muslim, 5% or so are Christian and the rest are Buddhist, Jain, Sikh and a few Jews. Temples and mosques are everywhere. Hindus wear signs of devotion on their foreheads and days are punctuated by the call to prayer for Muslims broadcast over loudspeakers from nearby mosques. 
One of the earliest forms of religion is represented by a temple we visited in Kerala. It was an outdoor temple. We took our shoes off at the gate and walked about 300 yards to the altar area. The path was lined with large ceramic horses, painted and in various stated of deterioration. The horses are gifts from worshipers.  About 10 new horses are added every year and the most broken up are retired.
A focus of this temple is the five headed cobra and other mystical animal forms. The priest was welcoming and performed a small ceremony to give us the ashes for a blessing. Big festivals are held here and worship includes gifts of alcohol and tobacco to the deities. This temple and this early form of Hindu belief is primarily found outside the cities.