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.
1. Samosa
A fried or baked triangular snackfood made of a potato stuffing, usually also containing onions and peas, served with a mint chutney.
2. Kati roll
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).
3. Jalebi
A wheat flour batter deep fried in coil-shapes and soaked in sugar syrup, served hot.
4. Chole bhature
A spiced, curried chickpea dish served with a fried flour bread.
5. Idli
A heavy South Indian breakfast food. A fermented batter of ground rice and lentils, steamed in little circular moulds.
6. Baingan bharta
Roasted eggplant mashed together with a variety of other vegetables and spices, served with flatbread.
7. Bhelpuri
Puffed rice fried with vegetables, in a spicy and tangy tamarind sauce.
8. Biryani
An aromatic rice dish cooked with several spices, notably saffron, and a protein (typically chicken or mutton) that’s been marinated.
9. Pakora
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.
10. Gaajar halwa
An extremely popular dessert, made by cooking grated carrot with milk, sugar, and dried fruits.
11. Gulab jaamun
Small balls of dried milk, slow cooked and boiled in a sugar syrup.
12. Dosa
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.
13. Pani puri
A small crisp hollow round bread filled with spiced water, tamarind paste, potato, onion, and chickpeas.
14. Papri chaat
Crispy, fried dough wafers served with boiled potatoes, boiled chick peas, chilis, yogurt, tamarind chutney, and several spices.
15. Tandoori chicken
Chicken marinated for hours in a paste of yogurt and spices, and then roasted (traditionally) in a clay oven called a tandoor.
16. Momos
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.