India is growing fast as a gastronomy tourism destination. As we all know India is a diverse country, with a diversity of culture and tradition, and as well as the region, comes diversity of taste and food.
North India
In the North side of India, the key ingredient of their food is lots of spices. The famous dishes are chole bhature, Kashmiri ragan josh, butter chicken, kadhai paneer, tandoori chicken, rajma chawal, dal makhini, etc. These dishes are enjoyed sometimes with rice but mostly with famous Indian breads like naan, roti, and paratha, and are preferred over rice. And not to forget their delicious desserts and dairy products which you can’t miss at all. The famous lassi of Punjab, Alwar’s milk sweets, gajar ka halwa, kulfi, the fruit sweets of Kashmir, etc.
Western India
The western region of India includes the following states: Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Goa. Hence this region has the most diverse style of food. It varies from the spicy food of Rajasthan to cuisines with the rich taste of coconut and seafood of Goa. Cuisines of western India- Rajasthan’s Dal bati churma, laas maas, ghevar, etc. Gujarat’s Dhokla, khandvi, Gujarati samosa, etc. Maharashtra’s pav bhaji, vada pav, bhel puri, modak, etc. Goa’s pork vindaloo, goan fish curry, sannas, bebinca, etc.
East India and Northeast India
The famous dishes of East India are- Litti chokha of Bihar and Jharkhand, mishti doi and rasgulla, the iconic foods of Kolkata, and petha of Odisha. They enjoy both rice and Indian bread for their daily meal. Whereas northeastern states have foods with unique tastes. They also enjoy fermented ingredients in their food like fermented soybean, fermented pork, fermented fish, etc. And also not to forget their very loved ingredient, bamboo shoots. Famous dishes of Northeast India- smoked pork of Nagaland, Pike pilla and apong drink of Arunachal Pradesh, jadoh of Meghalaya, pitha of Assam, sanpiau of Mizoram, iromba of Manipur, chikhvi of Tripura, sha paley of Sikkim. Rice is the staple food of Northeast India.
South India
When we think of South Indian dishes what comes to our mind? Idli and dosa? Yes, it is famous for idli and dosa but there is so much more than just idli and dosa. They have the hottest food of all the regions. South Indian meal is incomplete without rice in some form or other. When we talk about South Indian food we can’t leave behind the chutneys that are served on the side. The famous coconut chutney is to die for. Some of the famous cuisines are- malabar fish curry, chetinad chicken, medu vada, masala dosa, upma, idli, appam, sambhar, Hyderabadi biryani, etc.
It’s so hard to decide on what has to be our favorite Indian cuisine. There are so many delicious dishes that we have missed out here. It will take you forever to taste whole Indian dishes. You may call India a flavorful country.