15 Most Popular Food Dishes in India

India is the united states of different cultures, traditions, languages, etiquettes and most importantly food. Of all the differences, love for the best food dishes, cakes and recipes, united us all. Be it street food serving pani puri or zillion variations of dals and roti found in different corners of India, we fall for the best cooked meal anywhere we can find. It makes it worthwhile to live another day to taste another masala dosa or naan served with chana masala.

Keeping the consensus of different popular food in different parts of India, we’ve compiled a list of most popular food dishes in various corners of India. From dal to dosa, we’ve a bucket list for your next food adventure.

Table of Contents

1. Biryani
2. Roti
3. Dosa
4. Aloo Gobi
5. Samosa
6. Tandoori Chicken
7. Naan
8. Chana Masala
9. Dal
10. Tikka
11. Korma
12. Paratha
13. Idli
14. Appam
15. Pani Puri

1. Biryani

   

   Biryani is an Indian delicacy prepared with seasoned rice and meat such as chicken, goat, lamb, prawn or fish. The varieties include Ambur biryani, Bhatkali biryani, Chettinad biryani, Delhi biryani, Hyderabadi biryani, Kolkata biryani. Outside of India, it's also consumed in Turkey, Indonesia, Myanmar, Mauritius, Thailand and the Philippines. In India, Paradise Biryani offers a wide range of menu and varieties.

2. Roti

   

   Roti also known as Chapati is a staple food common in the Indian, South Asian and Caribbean cuisines. It is a round flatbread made from wheat flour. Common roti variants are Kerala style parotta, chapati, tandori roti, bajra roti, banana stuffed roti and rumali roti.

3. Dosa

   

   Dosa is a rice flour and lentil based pancake commonly served in Southern India. Dosa is traditionally served with Sambar or chutney. Like other staple foods, dosa comes in number of variants such as Masala dosa, Oats dosa, Set dosa, Plain dosa, Ghee dosa, Egg dosa, paneer dosa, Rava dosa, Mysore masala dosa, Benne dosa, Neer dosa and more. Masala dosa is quite a popular variant which has spices potato mash is tucked inside and served with chutney and sambar.

4. Aloo Gobi

   

   Aloo Gobi is Potato and Cauliflower based vegetarian dish in Indian and South Asian cuisines. Apart from turmeric which gives a distinct yellow color, other ingredients in Aloo Gobi include cumins, peas, tomato, coriander, onion, ginger and garlic. Aloo Gobi is usually served as a side dish with other main food dishes in India.

5. Samosa

   

   Samosa triangular shaped deep fried pastry filled with potato, onions, spices and meat or other vegetable ingredients. It's usually served with Chutney. It's also consumed as snacks or appetizers in South Asian cuisines.

6. Tandoori Chicken

   

   Tandoori Chicken is a roasted marinated chicken dish popular in India. The name comes from cylindrical clay used in preparing the marinated chicken. To prepare Tandoori chicken, big pieces of raw skinless chicken are marinated in yogurt and a spice blend called tandoori masala. These chicken pieces are placed on skewers and cooked inside tandoor oven heated with charcoal or wood giving smokey flavor.

7. Naan

   

   Naan is clay oven cooked leavened flatbread, a common staple food in Caribbean and Asia except Eastern Asia. It is a common staple food in many Central and Western Asia countries as well as many states in North India. Naan comes in a number of variants such as tandoori naan, nawabi naan, aloo naan, Kashmiri naan, paneer naan and butter garlic naan.

8. Chana Masala

   

   Chana Masala also known as choley masala is an Indian dish prepared from Chickpea and is commonly served as a side dish along with naan, roti or rice. Chana Masala is made from Chickpea, onion, garlic and chillies and spice mix known as garam masala. Chana masala with the right spice mix makes it an exquisite side dish to eat with naan, roti or any other Indian staple food.

9. Dal

   

   Dal is a common staple side dish common in South Asia and made from dried split pulses like lentils, beans and peas. Dal is usually served with roti, chapati or rice. Based on the dried split pulse used, the ingredients and cooking style of various different types of dals are prepared. Commonly prepared dal includes dhaba dal, sultan dal, tadka dal, dal fry, masoor dal tadka, panchratna dal.

10. Tikka

    

    Tikka is a popular Indian dish made by marinating meat or paneer in spice mixture and cooking them in a traditional clay oven. Tikka is prepared using boneless chicken, lamb or paneer. Its marinated in yogurt and spice mixture and then cooked in a traditional clay oven and served with garnish. Common variants of tikka dish include paneer tikka and chicken tikka.

11. Korma

    

    Korma is a curry dish in Indian cuisine prepared by marinating meat, chicken or fish in curd. Common variants are chicken korma and fish korma. To prepare korma, the meat or vegetable is braised first using high heat. Then it is cooked slow cooked on low heat along with spice and other ingredient mixture.

12. Paratha

    Paratha is another flatbed similar to roti and chapati prepared by baking whole wheat dough on a flat pan. It’s popular in South Asian countries like India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Parathas are usually served as a breakfast or refreshment dish and consumed with side dishes such as koorma, sambar, and chana masala.

13. Idli

    

    Idli is a rice cake type of South Indian breakfast dish usually eaten with chutney, sambar or koorma. Common variants include Idli vada sambar, rava Idli, Kotte Kadubu Idli, Moode idli. To prepare idli, rice and dal is soaked in water overnight and grounded to prepare idli batter. It is added with grounded rice and fermented overnight. The batter is placed in idli trays or moulds and steamed in idli pots. Once baked enough, it is removed from the mold and served with sambar, chutney or curry.

14. Appam

    

    Appam is another South Indian pancake type dish prepared with coconut milk and fermented rice batter. Variants of appam include Vattayappam, Plain Appam, Pesaha appam, Neyyappam, Kuzhalappam and Egg appam. It's usually served with curry or sambar.

15. Pani Puri

    

    Pani Puri is a popular street food commonly eaten in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Pani puri consist of small deep fried bulged flatbread filled with potato mash mix and served with flavored water containing tamarind chutney, masala. It is known by various names such as pani patashi, Gup-chup, Phuchka and gol gappa. Sibling dishes similar to this include Bhel puri, chotpoti, dahi puri and sev puri.