Due to India’s great geographical diversity, it has variety in the climatic conditions and hence every state has its own staple food crops which produce a variety of food cultures.

In India, there is a belief that every good work starts with sweetness. So let’s start the article by exploring some famous Indian sweets –

Indian Sweets-

There are uncountable sweets found in India. Different states have different tastes and have given different sweets to India. Some famous sweets/ sweet dishes of India are-

1. Jalebi – It’s a sweet orange curvy dish, taken in breakfast and evening in most parts of India. Jalebi can be eaten with samosa, puri, curd, and rabdi. It is tastier when taken hot. Gujarati people eat jalebi with fafda (It’s a rectangular yellowish salty snack).

2. Rasmalai – Ras means ‘juice’ and malai means ‘cream’. It’s an Indian festival dessert made-up of spongy chhena balls and milk, saffron is added to give a grassy and earthy flavor.

3. Kheer – It’s a kind of pudding in Indian culture. Made by boiling rice in milk and sugar then flavored and decorated with dry fruits such as coconut, cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashews, almonds and many other nuts.

4. Rasogulla – It’s a famous Bengali syrupy dessert. White in color, made-up of ball-shaped chhena cooked in the syrup of sugar.

5. Fudge (Walnut Sweet) – A Kashmiri dessert made by crushed walnuts baked with chocolate and sugar-syrup. 

6. Halva – It’s a common dessert that can be found in every Indian kitchen. There are many types of halva, wheat flour halva, suji (semolina) halva, carrot halva, and besan (gram flour) halva. Prepared by adding water or milk and sugar to the above-mentioned items and decorated with dry fruits and nuts. 

Now some Tasty and Tangy State food –

7. Misal Pav – All the way from Mumbai Maharashtra, misal pav is one of the famous Indian snacks. Misal is a spicy curry-based dish made by adding raw chopped onions, pohay, chivda, farsaan, and tomato to Usal (a curry-based dish cooked out of sprouts ). It’s served with Indian round bread called Pav. You can roast the bread with some desi ghee to add more taste to it.

8. Makki Di Roti & Sarson Da Saag – Apart from Bhangra and Giddah Punjab is also known for Sarson ka saag (a cooked preparation of mustard leaves) and Makki ki roti (chapatti made from corn flour). Both of them have their own nutritional values. You cannot miss this if you ever get a chance to visit Punjab.

9. Kosha Mangsho – Kosha Mangsho is a famous Bengali dish. It’s a dry preparation of meat. Kosha Mangsho is made with goat meat and can be eaten with rice or parantha or poori.

10. Dhokla – Dhokla is a delicious steamed snack having origin in Gujarat. Its batter is made with rice or besan and split chickpeas, served with coriander chutney and sauces.

11. Rogan Josh – A famous Kashmiri dish prepared in Kashmiri style. It’s an aromatic curry meat dish. Rogan Josh is made with traditional goat meat and alkanet’s flower or root is added to give color and Kashmiri chilies to add a spicy taste to it.

12. Pongal – Pongal is a pride of Tamil Nadu’s kitchen. It’s prepared in the same way as kheer but in South Indian style and taste. Pongal is a dish prepared in South Indian homes as an offering to the goddess.

13. Papaya Khar – A dish from Assam prepared in a different manner. Papaya Khar is an unusual combination of red rice, raw papaya, boiled beaten pulses and with traditional Assamese spices.

14. Litti Chowkha – Litti Chowkha is the heart and soul of Bihar. Litti is baked or sometimes directly cooked in fire (made with a whole wheat ball stuffed with a dry preparation of gram flour called sattu). It is served with chowkha (spicy mashed potato). Pickle and some chutney can add more taste to it. The best part is that Litthi Chowkha is a traveling partner of many locals of Bihar.

15. Dham – It is a traditional dish of Himachal Pradesh cooked and served as Himachali cuisine on auspicious occasions. It is made with different dairy products like ghee, curd, paneer, buttermilk, and lentils.

16. Pootha Rekulu – It is a popular sweet from Andhra Pradesh made from a particular type of rice batter known as Jaya biyyam mixed with sugar and ghee wrapped with jaggery, dry fruits, and nuts.

17. Biryani – A famous dish traditionally made with long-grained rice, flavored with exotic spices layered with vegetables and meat(optional). The dish is covered with a lid and then cooked over low flame. Biryani is famous in Hyderabad and as known as Hyderabadi Biryani.

18. Fish Curry – A popular Bengali dish in which pre-baked fish dressed in onion, garlic, ginger, and cashew paste topped with sauce, flavored with spices, and served with chopped cilantro.

19. Chakhwi – Traditional cuisine of Tripura is a non-vegetarian dish. In Tripura most of the dishes are made from pork and chicken. Chakhwi is made from pork and bamboo shoots by boiling water in a pan and adding baking soda, spices, bamboo shoots, and jackfruit seeds and boiled. Pork and papaya are added with rice flour paste and lemon and cooked on medium flame.

20. Kafuli – Most popular and loved Pahadi dish originated in Uttarakhand. It is commonly served as main-dish made using spinach, garlic, ginger, chilies, rice paste, curd, and a mélange of spices served with rice or chapati.

21. Bhutte Ka Kees – It is a popular and delicious street food of Indore. It is a grated corn snack cooked with spices and milk on low flame. Then topped with freshly grated coconut and at last drizzled with lemon juice on top.

22.  Appam – Appam or palappam is a famous Indian breakfast of Kerala that can be described as a pancake with a soft center and crisp sides made by sugar, rice flour, coconut, and dry yeast. It is an easy-to-make dish.

23. Jadoh – It is a widely loved and gobbled dish of Meghalaya made of red rice cooked with a generous amount of pork and sometimes with chicken or fish mixed with spices. It shouldn’t be missed by the people who love pork.

24. Kangshoi – It is a famous dish of Manipur that is basically a vegetable stew consisting of boiled seasonal vegetables and flavored with ginger, garlic, and spices, served with fish or rice and is supposed to be served piping hot.

25. Dal Baati Churma – It is one of the traditional Rajasthani delicacy made from the wheat ball (churma), dal and wheat rolls (bati) generally served for lunch or dinner. It is consumed by mixing dal with crushed baati and ghee topped on it. It is popular in the Malwa region of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh also.

26. Puran poli – Puran Poli is a sweet flatbread. The bread dough is prepared with roasted chana dal and jaggery. Mostly prepared and enjoyed during festivals in Maharashtra.

27. Thukpa – Thukpa is an Arunachal Pradesh dish. It’s basically a type of noddles mixed with various vegetables and meat along with traditional spices.

28. Momos – A steamed dish with some vegetable fillings in it, served with chili-based dip. Momos are famous in Sikkim.

29. Bisi Bele Bath – Originated from Karnataka it’s a spicy rice dish prepared in Kannada style. In Kannada language, bisi means ‘hot’ hence it’s basically a hot lentil rice dish.

30. Pork with Bamboo Shoots – A traditional dish of Nagaland which is cooked with dry bamboo shoots and pork. It is flavored by adding some traditional spices and herbs. Served with boiled rice.

31. Misa Mash Poora ­­- Misa Mash Poora is a north-east Indian dish. It is mainly a seafood dish. Misa Mash Poora mainly found in coastal areas and has great popularity there. Grab it by tossing with rice and a lemon squeeze over it to enhance the delicacy of the dish.

32. Chenna Poda – Chenna poda is a well-known Indian dessert. It is a dish from Odisha well known by the local people there. A sweet dessert made of kneaded homemade fresh cheese chenna.

33. Chila – Chila is originated from Chhattisgarh. Chila is a flat-based easy to made food just like chapati. Chila is made of rice batter mixed with urad dal. It can also be made by adding some fillings of vegetables to glorify the taste.

34. Rugda – Rugda is a local dish from Jharkhand which contains a variety of mushrooms. A spicy dish mainly liked in combination with rice and poori.

35. Kabab – Kabab is a simple food used as starters and widely liked by many Indians in their daily meals. It is famous among North Indians and also in South India. Kababs are deeply fried minced meat with a strong and spicy flavored golden strip.

INDIAN SNACKS AND STREET FOODS

36. Samosa – One of the popular Indian spicy snacks. Samosa is a triangular-shaped fried or baked snack; its dough is prepared with white flour and it is mostly filled with spicy potatoes and onion mixture. It is served hot with sauces.

37. Dahi vada – Originated from the Indian subcontinent, Dahi Vada is a type of chat. Dahi means ‘curd’ and vada is fried snack made of urad dal batter. Salty and spicy curd is poured over vada and topped with different types of sauces to give it a tangy taste.

38. Khandvi – Khandvi is a popular dish of Gujarat. Khandvi is a rolled steamed snack made with gram flour, yogurt, turmeric, and ginger paste. It is served with sour and spicy sauces.

39. Manchurian – Manchurian is a very spicy and mouth watery dish. It is a deep-fried cauliflower dish. Cauliflower is dipped into corn flour batter and fried.  These cauliflower balls are again dipped in a sauce prepared with garlic, onion, tomato sauce, soya sauce, and green-red chili sauce. Manchurian can be made with baby corn and paneer too.

40. Chole Bhature – It is one of the famous traditional street food of north India. Chole is a curry made of boiled chickpea mixed with spicy gravy and bhature is a fried bread made up of white flour (maida). It is a delicious, spicy, and mouth-watering food. 

41. Truffles pudding – Truffle is a creamy cocktail of many fruits like strawberry, kiwi, pineapple (more can be added to satisfy your taste buds). It is easy to prepare at home by adding fruits and cream layer by layer in a transparent bowl or glass. The colorful blend is enough to attract your insights.

INDIAN MAIN COURSE DISHES

42. Dosa – Dosa is a famous South Indian dish. Dosa is the most liked food in the south as well as in the north. Common dosa is a flatbread (batter is prepared with rice and urad dal) filled with spicy potato and served with sambar (salty-sour curry of pulses and vegetables) and coconut chutney. There are more than 50 types of Dosa prepared and served in different styles such as paper dosa, plain dosa, masala dosa, cheese dosa, and many more.

43. Kashmiri Pulao – A delicious rice food from Kashmir. It is prepared by boiling rice in milk and flavored with saffron. It is loaded with fruits and dry fruits.  

44. Mutton Gushtaba – Gushtaba is minced mutton prepared in curd. Mutton gushtaba is basically a curd-based curry in which mutton pieces are mixed with ginger and cardamom pods. It’s a Kashmiri dish.

45. Veg Kolhapuri – It is a mixed vegetable thick and spicy gravy curry which is famous all over India. Veg Kolhapuri is named over a city called Kolhapur in Maharashtra from where it is originated.

46. Paratha – It’s a roasted flatbread prepared often in every Indian kitchen. Its dough is prepared by wheat flour mostly and sometimes ajwain (Trachelospermum Ammi) and mangrail are added to give a different taste. There are various types of paratha some of them are stuffed paratha, kulcha, masala paratha, theple (sweet and sour), and many more.

47. Dal makhani – It is one of the popular Punjabi lentil recipes made with rajma, urad dal, butter, and spices. This dish tastes great when it is served with jeera rice or roti. It is a classic Indian dish made in most North Indian households.

48. Navratan Korma – It is a creamy nutty curry that literally translates to the nine-gem curry. It is an Indian vegetable korma in which the gems are nuts, fruits, paneer, and vegetables. It is a royal dish that is very delicious.

49. Khichadi – It is the Indian comfort food easy to make. It is a rice and moong lentil dish that is considered as one of the solid foods for babies and referred to sick people. It is commonly eaten in the whole country and also has traditional values on special occasions like Makar Sankranti.

50.Veg Avial – It is a quintessential dish that is an integral part of Sadya (feast) in Kerala. It is basically a curry mixed with spiced coconut and yogurt sauce. It is typically made from assorted vegetables like cucumber, potatoes, carrots, beans, unripe green mango, etc. It is generally eaten with rice.

Hope You must be feeling hungry after reading this article!