Taste of North India

What to Eat in North India – Top 50 Foods

North Indian cuisine – from Punjab and Delhi to Kashmir, Lucknow and Rajasthan – is rich, warming and built around wheat breads, dairy, slow-cooked curries and the clay tandoor. Expect buttery gravies, smoky kebabs, Mughal-inspired biryanis, fiery desert curries and some of the world’s best street food. For dosas, idlis and coconut curries, see our Taste of South India post.

Indian Feast: Butter Chicken, Palak Paneer, Biryani, Naan, Samosas, Pakoras and Gulab Jamun

Mains, Street Food & Savory Dishes

Punjab & Delhi

1. Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani) – Smoky tandoori chicken simmered in a velvety tomato, butter and cream gravy with fenugreek – invented in Delhi and loved worldwide.

Butter chicken (murgh makhani) with almonds and cilantro

2. Tandoor Flatbread (Naan) – Soft, pillowy leavened bread slapped onto the walls of the tandoor, brushed with butter or garlic.

3. Tandoori Chicken – Chicken marinated in yogurt, ginger, garlic and Kashmiri chili, roasted in a blazing clay tandoor until charred and juicy.

Tandoori chicken drumsticks with lemon

4. Spicy Chickpeas with Fried Bread (Chole Bhature) – Tangy, dark chickpea curry served with huge, puffed, deep-fried bhature – Delhi’s favorite weekend breakfast.

5. Creamy Black Lentils (Dal Makhani) – Black lentils and kidney beans simmered overnight with butter and cream until rich and silky.

Dal makhani with cream and coriander

6. Mustard Greens with Corn Flatbread (Sarson da Saag and Makki di Roti) – Punjab’s winter classic: slow-cooked mustard greens topped with white butter, eaten with golden cornmeal flatbread.

7. Stuffed Tandoor Bread (Amritsari Kulcha) – Crisp, flaky bread stuffed with spiced potato and baked in the tandoor, served with chole and pickled onions.

8. Spinach with Cottage Cheese (Palak Paneer) – Cubes of soft paneer in a smooth, garlicky spinach purée.

Palak paneer with naan and saffron rice

9. Kidney Bean Curry with Rice (Rajma Chawal) – Comfort in a bowl: red kidney beans in a thick onion-tomato gravy over steamed basmati.

10. Chicken Tikka Masala – Chargrilled chicken tikka in a creamy, spiced tomato sauce – a restaurant favorite.

Chicken Tikka Masala

11. Grilled Cottage Cheese (Paneer Tikka) – Paneer and peppers marinated in spiced yogurt and charred on skewers in the tandoor.

12. Potato-Stuffed Flatbread (Aloo Paratha) – Griddled whole-wheat bread stuffed with spiced potato, served with butter, yogurt and pickle.

13. Fried Fish (Amritsari Fish) – Fish fillets in a tangy, spiced gram-flour batter, deep-fried until crisp.

14. Cottage Cheese in Wok Masala (Kadhai Paneer) – Paneer, peppers and onions tossed in a coarse, freshly ground kadhai spice mix.

    
    

Old Delhi Street Food

15. Samosa – Crisp, flaky pastry triangles stuffed with spiced potatoes and peas, served with tamarind and mint chutneys.

16. Potato Patty Chaat (Aloo Tikki Chaat) – Crisp potato patties smothered in yogurt, chutneys, sev and pomegranate – sweet, sour and spicy at once.

17. Crisp Hollow Puris (Pani Puri / Golgappa) – Tiny crisp shells filled with potato and chickpeas, then flooded with tangy, spicy mint water – eaten in one bite.

18. Lentil Dumplings in Yogurt (Dahi Bhalla) – Soft lentil dumplings soaked in cool, sweetened yogurt with chutneys and roasted cumin.

19. Slow-Cooked Meat Stew (Nihari) – Old Delhi’s legendary breakfast: lamb shank and bone marrow simmered overnight in a rich, spiced gravy.

Nihari (Slow-Cooked Lamb Shank Stew)

20. Minced Meat Skewers (Seekh Kebab) – Spiced minced lamb pressed onto skewers and grilled over charcoal around the Jama Masjid.

21. Korma – meat or vegetables braised with yogurt, water or stock, and spices to produce a thick sauce or gravy

Chicken Korma in a mildly spiced creamy sauce

Kashmir

22. Rogan Josh – Kashmir’s signature lamb curry, colored deep red with Kashmiri chilies and scented with fennel and ginger.

Rogan Josh (Kashmiri Lamb Curry) with Rice

23. Lamb in Yogurt Gravy (Yakhni) – A delicate, pale lamb curry cooked in yogurt with fennel, cardamom and dried mint.

24. Pounded Meatballs in Yogurt (Gushtaba) – Silky, hand-pounded lamb meatballs in a creamy yogurt sauce – the final dish of a Kashmiri feast.

25. Kashmiri Dum Aloo – Baby potatoes slow-cooked in a fiery, fragrant yogurt and Kashmiri chili gravy.

26. Kashmiri Feast (Wazwan) – A multi-course celebration of up to 36 dishes, mostly lamb, cooked by master chefs (wazas) for weddings.

    
    

Lucknow & Awadh

27. Melt-in-the-Mouth Kebabs (Galouti Kebab) – Lucknow’s royal kebabs of finely minced meat and dozens of spices, so tender they melt on the tongue.

28. Lucknowi Biryani – A delicate dum-cooked biryani with fragrant rice and tender meat, subtle and aromatic.

Chicken Biryani

29. Saffron Flatbread (Sheermal) – A soft, slightly sweet saffron-milk bread, perfect with kebabs and korma.

30. Kakori Kebab – Long, silky skewered kebabs from the town of Kakori, scented with rose and saffron.

    
    

Rajasthan

31. Baked Wheat Balls with Lentils (Dal Baati Churma) – Hard-baked wheat dumplings drenched in ghee, served with spicy lentils and sweet crushed churma.

32. Fiery Red Mutton Curry (Laal Maas) – Rajasthan’s famous royal hunting dish of mutton in a blazing red Mathania chili gravy.

33. Gram Flour Dumplings in Curry (Gatte ki Sabzi) – Steamed gram-flour dumplings simmered in a tangy, spiced yogurt gravy.

Rajasthani gatte ki sabzi – gram-flour dumplings in yogurt curry, with paratha

34. Desert Beans and Berries (Ker Sangri) – A unique desert dish of dried wild beans and berries cooked with spices.

35. Onion-Stuffed Pastry (Pyaaz Kachori) – Flaky deep-fried pastries filled with spicy onion masala, a Jodhpur breakfast favorite.

    
    

Home-Style Favorites

36. Potato and Cauliflower (Aloo Gobi) – A simple, dry curry of potatoes and cauliflower with turmeric, cumin and ginger.

37. Minced Meat with Peas (Keema Matar) – Spiced minced lamb cooked with green peas, eaten with roti or pav.

38. Platter Meal (Thali) – A full meal on one platter: dal, curries, vegetables, rice, roti, raita, pickles and a sweet.

Vegetarian thali with rice, paneer, dal and chutneys

39. Yogurt Curry with Rice (Kadhi Chawal) – A tangy yogurt and gram-flour curry with fritters (pakoras), poured over rice.

    
    

Desserts, Sweets & Drinks

40. Gulab Jamun – Soft, deep-fried milk dumplings soaked in rose-cardamom syrup.

41. Jalebi – Crisp, pretzel-shaped spirals of fried batter soaked in saffron syrup, best hot from the pan.

42. Rice Pudding (Kheer) – Rice slow-cooked in milk with cardamom, saffron, nuts and raisins.

Kheer – rice pudding with nuts and raisins

43. Rasmalai – Soft cottage-cheese dumplings soaked in sweet, saffron-scented thickened milk with pistachios.

Festive Indian sweets – laddoo, gujiya, rasmalai and namkeen

44. Indian Ice Cream (Kulfi) – Dense, creamy frozen dessert of reduced milk flavored with cardamom, saffron and pistachio.

45. Carrot Pudding (Gajar ka Halwa) – Grated carrots slow-cooked in milk, ghee and sugar – a winter favorite in Punjab.

46. Milk Fudge (Barfi) – Dense, sweet squares of milk solids, often topped with nuts or silver leaf.

Indian Sweets (Mithai) and Laddoos

47. Honeycomb Disc Sweet (Ghewar) – A lacy, crunchy Rajasthani disc of fried batter soaked in syrup and topped with cream.

48. Yogurt Drink (Lassi) – Thick, frothy yogurt drink, sweet, salty or mango, served in clay cups in Amritsar.

49. Spiced Tea (Masala Chai) – Strong black tea boiled with milk, sugar, ginger and cardamom, sold at every corner.

Masala chai with cinnamon, star anise, cardamom and ginger

50. Kashmiri Green Tea (Kahwa) – Saffron-scented green tea with cardamom, cinnamon and almonds.

    
    

Tips: Eat street food in Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, try a dhaba (roadside eatery) on a Punjab highway, save room for kebabs in Lucknow, and ask for “less spicy” in Rajasthan, where laal maas lives up to its fiery name.