No other country in this world is going to offer you so much diversity in Cuisine that India does. Each state has its own unique cuisine. Each of them uses their vivid taste and vegetables exclusive to their climate and culture. In this article we present to you 29 delicious dishes from each of the 29 Indian states!
1.Bommidayila Pulusu, Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh’s cuisine is well known for its cooking with a lot of aromatics and spices. Bommidayila Pulusu, is a traditional fish curry that is cooked in a mixture of spices. It has a nice spicy and tangy taste to it. It is perfect to eat with plain rice. The preparation time is minimum and it’s not that difficult! You all you need to do are get the spice mixture right, and you can surely whip up a classic!
2.Thukpa, Arunachal Pradesh
Although Thukpa has a Tibetan origin, this soup is the local favourite of this north-eastern hilly region. Calling Thukpa a soup would be very wrong. It’s more of a watery noodle dish that comes with an array of assorted vegetables and meat. Thukpa derives its basic flavour from the small pieces of meat that is added along with garlic and ginger.
3.Aloo Pitika, Assam
‘Aloo Pitika’ is a marked side dish from the hills of Assam. It is made using mashed potatoes mixed along with a few ingredients that enhance the overall flavour. The three basic ingredients used are raw onions, uncooked mustard oil and salt. These three are enough to make the entire platter aromatic. Sometimes this dish can be garnished using finely chopped cilantro leaves, gourds, pumpkins or boiled eggs.
4.Malpua, Bihar
There is not even a single household in Bihar where the sweet smell of Malpua does not fill the air on the eve of Holi. It has been a Bihari tradition to serve Malpua during Holi. It is kind of a fried pancake made using flour. After frying them, they are dipped in sugar syrup and topped with cream or kesar.
5.Kusli, Chhattisgarh
Kusli is a special stuffed dish prepared by the people of Madhya Pradesh. It is made using Maida, ghee and semolina. This dish is really fast and easy to prepare. Kusli also has hints of cashew, almonds, kesar and coconut. If you are looking for any a dish to please your sweet tooth, this might be the one!
6.Sorpotel, Goa
Sorpotel is known for its Portuguese origin. But it is the most common local favourite in the Konkan state of Goa. Its ingredients include meat and offal and either beef or pork is used as the meat. This tasty curry can be eaten with Sanna, soft, sweet coconut bread.
7.Khandvi, Gujarat
Khandvi is a savory snack in the Gujarati cuisine. Sometimes it’s also known as Patuli and Dahivadi. It is primarily made up of gram flour and dahi (yoghurt). It is then rolled out and cut into bite sized proportions. You can enjoy this snack with Imli Chutney or ketchup.
8.Kacchi Lassi, Haryana
If you ever visit a Gurduwara on a hot summer day, you are bound to get a glass of this cool drink. This lassi commonly comes in two flavors- the rose flavoured and the normal salty one. Apart from being tasty, this drink also helps you deal with various gastric problems.
9.Siddu, Himachal Pradesh
Sidu (or Siddu) is a variety of bread made solely from wheat flour. It is kneaded along with yeast and then the dough is left to rise for about 4-5 hours. Sometimes this bread might also be stuffed with vegetabless or minced meat. This yeast bread is optimally eaten with ghee, dal or simply with hari chutney.
10.Rogan Josh, Jammu and Kashmir
Roghan Josh is one of the signature dishes of Jammu and Kashmir. It’s is originally of Persian origin and brought to Kashmir by the Mughals. Its main ingredients are braised mutton chunks, and an array of spices along with garlic and ginger. Its brilliant red hue comes from the dried Kashmiri chillies added to the brew.
11.Thekua, Jharkhand
Sweet, crusty and crunchy-thekua is one of the most famous sweet snacks of Jharkhand. The main ingredients are wheat flour, Jaggery and coconut. Dough is made using the three ingredients and then it is fried in oil. The thekua can be stored in container for months as well!
12.Akki roti, Karnataka
Akki Roti is rice based breakfast served in Karnataka. Akki Roti translates to ‘Rice Bread’ in Kannada. It is somewhat similar to Dosa, but they aren’t essentially the same. The rice dough is sprinkled with various kinds of spices, including coriander leaves, sliced onions, chillies and dill leaves. Akki Rotis are traditionally made by spreading the dough over a plantain leaf.
13.Beef fry, Kerala
Beef fry or as traditionally called Beef Ularthiyathu is a Malayalee’s favorite! It is beef cooked and sautéed in a mixture of spices, curry leaves and coconut. It goes the best with plain white rice.
14.Bhute ka Khees, Madhya Pradesh
Bhutta essentially means Corn. In this dish, sweet corn is coarsely grounded and then made into a spicy snack with a tangy flavour. The tangy flavour is essentially due to the hing (Asafoetida) and lemon juice added. It is very healthy, and you can enjoy this dish as a side dish.
15.Misal pav, Maharashtra
This Maharashtrian delicacy consists of sprouted moth beans cooked in a spicy gravy showered with coriander, onions, tomatoes and crunchy farsan. You can team this with pav toasted with butter and you might just end up saying Jai Maharashtra!
16.Kelli Chana, Manipur
Kelli Chana is a very popular street food found in Manipur. Legends say that an old lady named Kelli was the first to sell this addictive snack under a tree. Eventually people from all over started flocking around to buy the chana. She never ever disclosed this recipe to anybody and she took it to her grave. Kellli Chana is essentially soaked chickpeas fried with onions, tomatoes, sesame seeds and a Manipuri spice called “toningkhok”
17.Jadoh, Meghalaya
Jadoh is a Khasi delicacy made with meat and rice . It is somewhere between a khichdi and a puloa. But, it is neither of them! Jadoh is famous for it amazing aromatic quality. Preparation time for jadoh is not much and the use of oil is minimum! This is served with fermented soya sauce or a pork curry.
18.Sanpiau, Mizoram
The culture Mizoram is known to be rich when it comes to food. One of the most popular dishes from Mizoram is Sanpiau. It is a snack often served on the road side stalls and almost all homes. The dish rice porridge as its main ingredient. It is served with coriander paste, black pepper, onions, fish sauce and powdered rice.
19.Pork with bamboo shoots, Nagaland
Nagaland offers a variety of recipes that are simply mouth watering. The Nagas cook this dish with huge chunks of pork and often the pork is quite fatty and cubes of pork belly are mixed. Fermented bamboo shoot is the key to this dish, along with crushed spices. This is served with plain rice.
20.Chenna poda, Orrisa
Chhena poda is a cheese dessert from Odisha in the eastern India. Chhena poda quite literally translates to Roasted Cheese in Odia. It is made using well-kneaded cheese (chhena) sugar, various nuts and raisins. It is baked for several hours until it is brown. Chhena poda’s flavour is principally got from the caramelization of sugar.
21.Butter chicken, Punjab
This has to be the most famous North Indian dishes of all! This dish has its roots in Punjabi cuisine. Butter Chicken was first developed by the Moti Mahal a restaurant in Delhi, India. From then, it has become quite a favourite. The chicken used in this dish is first cooked in a tandoor and then cooked again in a mildly spiced curry sauce.
22.Pyaaz kachori, Rajasthan
Pyaaz ki Kachori is a Rajasthani snack. It is essentially a fried pastry stuffed with a very spicy onion filling. This glorious delicacy should not to be missed at all. This is the perfect tea-time snack or breakfast for all! Like all kachoris, they are eaten with a spicy tamarind chutney.
23.Momos, Sikkim
The dish is believed to have a Tibetan origin. It uses White flour for its dough and the filling consists of meat, vegetables or just cheese. There are typically two kinds of momos- steamed and fried. Momos are usually served with a very spicy dipping sauce. This sauce is locally known as “momo siway”. Soup or thukpa is also served along with momos.
24.Chicken 65, Tamil Nadu
This dish gets its name from the year it was invented! Chicken 65 is a very spicy, deep-fried chicken dish which originated in Chennai. It is eaten as an entrée, or a quick snack. The flavour of the dish is attributed to the red chillies used. Vegetarian use variants like paneer or gobi for the same dish.
25.Hyderabadi Biryani, Telangana
For all biriyani lovers, this is not an unknown dish! This dish has a Mughal origin and it’s of two types- kachay gosht ki biryani and dum ki biryani. The Kachchi biryani is prepared with marinated meat which is soaked in yogurt before cooking. This is a very challenging process for cooking as it requires detailed attention to time and the temperature to avoid under or over cooking of the meat. In Pakki biryani, the meat is marinated for a short period of time. It is also cooked before being covered with rice.
26.Chingri maach bhaja, Tripura
Chingri maach translates to prawns in Bengali. This is a very delicious dish and can be eaten as a snack or as a side dish. It is prepared using fresh prawns that is marinated in a mixture of spices that includes onion paste, ginger and garlic paste, garam masala and green chillies. This is then deep fried in mustard oil.
27.Kakori kebab, Uttar Pradesh
This kind of kebab is very different form the kebabs that we generally have. This kebab uses meat that is marinated in raw papaya pulp and cooked just like sheek kebab. This dish first originated in a small village named Kakori in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. This can be served with green pudina chutney.
28.Aloo ke gutke, Uttarakhand
Aloo ke Gutke is typically a Kumaon snack prepared using potatoes. The potatoes are cooked with red fried chillies and spices such as fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds. It can be served with hot parathas or can be eaten with plain rice as a side dish.
29.Ilish maacher paturi, West Bengal
When it comes to fish, you must always trust a Bengali. This dish consists of a steamed Hilsa fish with a coating of spicy mustard. This is typically prepared wrapped in a plantain leaf and then left to cook on a steamer. This goes the best with steaming hot, white rice.
