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India isn't one cuisine but dozens, each state cooking with its own spices, grains and grand ideas about a good meal. If you're planning a first trip, here are ten dishes that show off that glorious range and that you should hunt down while you're there.
Few dishes travel as well as butter chicken (murgh makhani), born in the kitchens of Old Delhi. Tandoor-cooked chicken is simmered in a silky tomato and cream sauce, gently spiced rather than fiery, and mopped up with hot naan straight from the clay oven.
In Punjab and the north you'll also meet its cousins:
These are the comforting, buttery flavours most Britons already half-know from home – but tasted at source they're a revelation.
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Biryani is the dish people argue about most, and every region swears its own is best. Fragrant basmati rice is layered with marinated meat or vegetables, saffron, fried onions and whole spices, then sealed and cooked so the grains stay separate and perfumed.
The Hyderabadi version is famous for its dum (slow-steam) technique and its punch of chilli and mint. In Lucknow the Awadhi style is subtler and more perfumed. Order it with a cooling bowl of raita and you have a meal fit for a Nizam.
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Head south and the whole menu changes. Breakfast becomes a joy of fermented rice and lentil batter:
Eaten off a banana leaf with endless refills, a South Indian thali is one of the best-value feasts on earth.
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No list is complete without India's snacking culture. Pani puri (also called golgappa) – crisp hollow shells filled with spiced water – detonate with flavour in a single bite. Pav bhaji, a buttery mashed-vegetable curry with soft rolls, is Mumbai's beloved fast food. And samosas, those golden pastry triangles, need no introduction to anyone who's walked a British high street.
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Indians take their sweets, or mithai, seriously. Try warm gulab jamun (fried milk dumplings in rose syrup), creamy rasgulla, or a scoop of kulfi, the dense, slow-churned Indian ice cream flavoured with cardamom and pistachio. A cup of masala chai alongside makes the perfect full stop to any meal.
Reading about these dishes is one thing; eating a fresh dosa at a roadside stall or a home-cooked thali with a local family is quite another. On our small-group journeys through India we build in the meals that matter – the markets, the family kitchens and the regional specialities you'd struggle to find alone. Come hungry, and let us show you the India behind the flavours.
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