When you’re craving a meal loaded with contrasting flavors and textures, we recommend you turn to Indian cuisine.
It’s a really great way to stimulate your taste buds, and that’s exactly why we created a selection of the most popular Indian dishes you should try. Let’s go into detail!
Is Indian Food Healthy?
Before we introduce you to the most popular Indian dishes that you should try, allow us to say a few words about the culinary experience itself. Indian food is rich in spices, vegetable oriented, and extremely healthy.
Northern Provinces:
- All kinds of spices and vegetables prevail
- It offers the most vegetarian options of any other province
- Milder spices
- Creamier dishes.
Western Provinces:
- Much hotter spices
- Vegetables are less represented, focusing on rice and lentils
- Focus on seafood and coconut
Ok, let’s take a look at the most popular Indian dishes that you should try.
The Most Popular Indian Dishes You Should Try
Biryani
Brought from Persia by the Mughals, Biryani is one of the most popular Indian dishes you should try. As for cooking, rice and meat or vegetables are initially prepared separately and only then combined in the oven. Most often, it is a combination of basmati rice and goat, chicken, or mutton meat. Spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom make this dish more special than others.
Tandoori Chicken
When it comes to dishes you have to try at least once, in your life, the tandoori chicken should be at the top of the list.
The meat is first marinated for several hours in yogurt and a mixture of spices and then grilled in a tandoor clay oven.
The dish is so juicy and tasty and therefore an excellent choice for the main course. Speaking of chicken, check out this Vijayawada chicken recipe.
We believe it will knock you off your feet.
Vindaloo
Love the heat? Well, we have a winner!
Vindaloo is one of the hottest Indian curries, we can say that it is a timeless classic.
Its main ingredients are chicken or lamb as the meat part and garlic, hot chili, and wine or vinegar. HOT! HOT! HOT! Try it, but don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Samosa
Samosa is a fried or baked pastry that is usually filled with some kind of ground meat such as lamb, beef, or chicken, and vegetables such as potatoes, peas, and onions.
Of course, there are also a lot of vegetarian options, and therefore, this dish can satisfy everyone’s taste buds.
Gulab Jamun
Let’s not forget that every meal should end with something sweet, so Gulab Jamun is one of the most popular Indian dishes you should try.
Dessert is based on two flavors, gulab and jamun, i.e. rose and purple berries.
It is prepared from milk and flour and consists of small dough balls soaked in a syrup made of rose water and green cardamom, something like donuts with syrup, but much tastier.
Chaat
This type of street snack originates from the Indian north. In translation, it means to lick, which is not surprising because it is really finger-licking delicious.
There are many versions of this dish, and they all have something in common, which is a starchy base, vegetables, and chutney.
Take a look at this version:
Dilli Ki Fried Aloo Chaat
Ingredients
- 2 potatoes
- 1 onion
- 1 green chili
- A handful of fresh coriander leaves
- 4 tablespoons of fresh tamarind chutney
- 2 tablespoons of hot mint chutney
- 1 lime
- 1 spring onion
- A pinch of chaat masala
- Salt (to taste)
Instructions
Step #1: Wash, peel, and boil potatoes in hot water. Then fry the drained potatoes in deep oil until they get a nice golden brown color. Place kitchen paper on them to absorb excess oil and set them aside.
Step #2: Chop the onion, green chili, coriander leaves as well as tamarind, and mint chutney into small pieces and combine with the potatoes.
Step #3: Drizzle liberally with lime juice.
Step #4: Add chaat masala, spring onion, and finally salt to your taste.
Step #5: Mix thoroughly to infuse the flavors.
Step #6: Serve while still hot or warm.
To Conclude
Food is undoubtedly one of the most important parts of any nation’s identity. The vibrant and bold flavors of Indian cuisine have inspired chefs around the world, and we hope they will inspire you too. We hope that this list of the most popular Indian dishes you should try will be useful to you.
Do you like this cuisine, that is, can you list your favorite dishes for us? You can let us know in the comments section below!
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Author’s bio Karen Rutherford is founder and editor in chief at Anias Vibrant Kitchen. You will often find her in the kitchen trying out some new recipes. As a pâtissière and baking enthusiast, Karen has decided to share her knowledge with the internet audience and provide the best tips and recipes for baking and decorating your favorite sweets.
