This is a list of Indian dishes. Indian cuisine encompasses a wide variety of regional cuisines native to India. Given the range of diversity in soil type, climate and occupations, these cuisines vary significantly from each other and use locally available spices, herbs, vegetables and fruits. The dishes are then served according to taste in either mild, medium or hot. Indian food is also heavily influenced by religious and cultural choices and traditions. Some Indian dishes are common in more than one region of India.
1. Biryani
Biryani, also known as biriyani, biriani, birani or briyani, is a South Asian mixed rice dish with its origins among the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. It is popular throughout the Indian subcontinent and among the diaspora from the region
What It Is: An aromatic rice dish cooked with several spices, notably saffron, and a protein (typically chicken or mutton) that's been marinated.
Perfect For: A huge family dinner.
Feels Like: Hearing the neighborhood mosque sound its azan for evening prayers.
2. Momos
What It Is: A variation on the traditional dimsum, native to the North Eastern states that border Nepal (where the dish originated), eaten with a fiery red chutney.
Perfect For: A quick mid-evening snack.
Feels Like: Kicking your shoes off after a long day and settling into your couch for hours of TV.
3. Idli
What It Is: A heavy South Indian breakfast food. A fermented batter of ground rice and lentils, steamed in little circular moulds.
Perfect For: When you're done sleeping in on a Saturday morning.
Feels Like: Being woken up by the smell of cooking.
4. Gulab jaamun
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What Is It: Small balls of dried milk, slow cooked and boiled in a sugar syrup.
Perfect For: When you've already had a delicious meal and have just enough room for dessert.
Feels Like: Playing hide-and-go-seek with your cousins at a family reunion way, way past your bedtime.
5. Chole bhature
Via tastyappetite.net
What It Is: A spiced, curried chickpea dish served with a fried flour bread.
Perfect For: A late Sunday breakfast.
Feels Like: Seeing your family all dressed in new clothes on a festival day.
6. Nethili varuval
Via myerecipecorner.blogspot.com
What It Is: Anchovies dipped in a paste of turmeric and red chilies and fried, native to the South Indian region Chettinad.
Perfect For: A crispy, spicy appetizer.
Feels Like: Temple bells.
7. Kati roll
What It Is: A traditional street food popular across India (and abroad). A wrap of kebabs, eggs, vegetables, and spices rolled into paratha (a type of flat bread).
Perfect For: When you need a meal on-the-go. Also a great way to use up leftovers.
Feels Like: Standing on a dusty Kolkata street-corner at dusk, watching families go home through rush hour traffic.
8. Rajma
What It Is: Kidney beans in a thick gravy popular across North India.
Perfect For: An accompaniment for rice, particularly delicious when served piping hot in the winter.
Feels Like: Summer holidays at your grandparents' house.
9. Pani puri
What It Is: A small crisp hollow round bread filled with spiced water, tamarind paste, potato, onion, and chickpeas.
Perfect For: When you're craving a thousand flavors at once.
Feels Like: Drunkenly challenging your best friend to a contest of who can eat more of these, and then feeling like your mouth is on fire.
10. Jalebi
Via en.wikipedia.org
What It Is: A wheat flour batter deep fried in coil-shapes and soaked in sugar syrup, served hot.
Perfect For: When you want something hot, but also sweet.
Feels Like: People-watching in a crowded bazaar while your mother haggles over sari prices.
11. Tandoori chicken
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What It Is: Chicken marinated for hours in a paste of yogurt and spices, and then roasted (traditionally) in a clay oven called a tandoor.
Perfect For: Wowing your dinner guests with minimal effort.
Feels Like: Making a pitstop at a roadside diner three hours into a family roadtrip.
12. Banana chips
What It Is: Thin slices of banana deep fried in savory spices.
Perfect For: Munching on while watching your favorite movie.
Feels Like: The wind flying through your hair as you sail down Kerala's backwaters in a houseboat.
13. Baingan bharta
Sabra Krock / Via nytimes.com
What It Is: Roasted eggplant mashed together with a variety of other vegetables and spices, served with flatbread.
Perfect For: An exciting and fancy vegetarian meal.
Feels Like: Going back for seconds at a family friend's house.
14. Dosa
Via manusmenu.com
What It Is: A crispy, flat bread (similar to a crepe or pancake) made of rice batter, served with a lentil sauce (sambar) and a variety of chutneys.
Perfect For: When you want breakfast to be the highlight of your day.
Feels Like: Recounting last night's events the morning after a sleepover.
15. Bhelpuri
en.wikipedia.org
What It Is: Puffed rice fried with vegetables, in a spicy and tangy tamarind sauce.
Perfect For: When you want a chilled savory snack.
Feels Like: Sitting in the back of a rickshaw at the peak of summer, thankful for the breeze.
16. Vada
What It Is: A South Indian snack staple made of a lentil or flour batter fried into a doughnut shape.
Perfect For: A neutral carb to accompany your craving for chutney and lentils.
Feels Like: A morning raga.
17. Bhindi masala fry
What It Is: Okra stuffed with spices, fried.
Perfect For: A vegetarian dish that's both exciting and comfort food.
Feels Like: Mom's cooking.
18. Rogan josh
en.wikipedia.org
What It Is: A lamb curry of Persian origin, now popular in the Kashmir area. In India, rogan josh is often made using goat meat instead of lamb.
Perfect For: When you don't just want a meal – you want a feast.
Feels Like: Strutting around in your nicest traditional finery and feeling like royalty.
19. Dhokla
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What It Is: A snack/breakfast food from the state of Gujurat, made of fermented rice and chickpea batter.
Perfect For: An very, very light yet very, very flavorful snack.
Feels Like: Gossiping with your aunts and cousins for hours.
20. Gaajar halwa
What It Is: An extremely popular dessert, made by cooking grated carrot with milk, sugar, and dried fruits.
Perfect For: A piping hot wintertime dessert.
Feels Like: Wrapping a shawl around yourself and sitting by a heater on a chilly Delhi evening.
21. Pakora
en.wikipedia.org
What It Is: A fritter native to the Indian state Uttar Pradesh – one or more basic ingredients (onion, eggplant, potato, cauliflower, and chili peppers are all options) are dipped in gram flour and deep fried.
Perfect For: Rainy days.
Feels Like: Sitting by a window during a monsoon afternoon, bonding with your family over hot chai.
22. Rumali roti
What It Is: The word "rumal" is Hindi for handkerchief, and this bread resembles one; it is large, as thin as cloth, and served folded like a napkin.
Perfect For: When you need bread but want something lighter than naan.
Feels Like: Watching with child-like awe as a chef tosses the dough up in the air and spins it in circles.
23. Papri chaat
Manuela Zangara / Via manusmenu.com
What It Is: Crispy, fried dough wafers served with boiled potatoes, boiled chick peas, chilis, yogurt, tamarind chutney, and several spices.
Perfect For: A healthy and multi-flavored snack.
Feels Like: Rewatching an old Bollywood movie with your mom, for the eighth time.
24. Kulfi
Via kurryleaves.blogspot.com
What It Is: An iced preparation made from thickened milk, almonds and pistachios.
Perfect For: When you're craving ice-cream but with an Indian touch.
Feels Like: A street fair.
25. Recheado masala fish
Via flavorsofmumbai.com
What It Is: A spicy paste made of chilies, tamarind, and garlic (amongst other spices) is rubbed onto whole fish which are then fried.
Perfect For: Satisfying your seafood craving and spice craving all at once.
Feels Like: Sitting on a beach in Goa, watching the waves roll in.
26. And, finally, samosas.
en.wikipedia.org
What It Is: A fried or baked triangular snackfood made of a potato stuffing, usually also containing onions and peas, served with a mint chutney.
Perfect For: Literally anytime, anywhere.