country Essentials · 15 foods
India Essentials
A considered first route through India: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all India foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
15 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
India
Tandoori Chicken
तंदूरी चिकन
Yogurt-and-spice marinated chicken roasted against fierce tandoor heat until smoky and charred at the edges.
Hyderabad, India
Hyderabadi Biryani
हैदराबादी बिरयानी
Meat and fragrant rice sealed for dum cooking with fried onion, herbs and saffron — Hyderabad's defining rice dish.
India
Masala Dosa
मसाला दोसा
Fermented rice-lentil crepe cooked crisp around spiced potato and served with sambar and coconut chutney.
Delhi, India
Butter Chicken
मुर्ग़ मक्खनी
Delhi tandoori chicken folded into a glossy tomato, butter and cream gravy with a smoky undertone.
Punjab, India
Dal Makhani
दाल मखनी
Whole black lentils and kidney beans simmered slowly with butter until dark, creamy and deeply savoury.
India
Idli
इडली
Soft steamed fermented rice-and-lentil cakes, eaten hot with sambar and fresh chutney.
Guadeloupe
Samosa
समोसा
Crisp triangular pastry around spiced potato and peas, sold hot with tamarind or green chutney.
India
Masala Chai
मसाला चाय
Strong tea boiled with milk, sugar and warming spice — an everyday drink from stalls to homes.
Bihar, India
Litti chokha
Aloo chokha
Bihar's coal-roasted sattu-filled dough balls, broken open with ghee beside smoky mashed vegetables.
Assam, India
Masor tenga
Tenga
Assamese fish curry kept light and sharpened with tomato, lemon or elephant apple rather than heavy spice.
Gujarat, India
Dhokla
ઢોકળા
Gujarat's airy steamed fermented cake, cut into squares and tempered with mustard seed and curry leaf.
Mumbai, India
Pav Bhaji
पाव भाजी
Mumbai griddle-mashed vegetables enriched with butter and eaten with toasted soft pav and chopped onion.
Jammu and Kashmir, India
Rogan Josh
रोगन जोश
Kashmiri red-hued lamb curry aromatic with fennel and dried ginger, with heat secondary to perfume.
Goa, India
Vindaloo
विंदालू
Goan meat curry whose vinegar, garlic and spice reveal its Portuguese-Indian history.
Odisha, India
Chhena poda (Baked cheese)
ଛେନା ପୋଡ଼
Odisha's caramel-edged baked fresh-cheese cake, browned outside and softly grainy within.