We the Bellhops love food almost as much as we love to travel; whenever we can mix the two together, we will. As another installment of our “Best Traditional Food Dishes From Around The World” series, we are bringing you all of the best traditional food dishes from India. Indian cuisine takes you on a fantastical journey of flavor, with the often-complicated blends of rare spices and aromatic flavorings. Here are some of our favorite and best traditional food dishes from India:
Tandoori Naan
Naan is the traditional Indian flat bread that is served with many of the most traditional Indian food dishes. We wanted to start off with this delicious and fluffy bread, because it can be served with any of the following Indian dishes that we are presenting in this article. This bread can be found in most chain supermarkets in the United States, and can definitely be found at your local Middle-Eastern Market, Bazaar, or Grocer.
Chicken & Paneer Balti
Traditional Paneer Balti will almost always be 100% vegetarian, though with the changing of cultures in India, and the way this dish has spread throughout the world, meats can be added to the dish, depending on your tastes and religious beliefs. Fresh vegetable (Peas, Chilies, and Tomatoes) are stir fried with garam masala, paneer (like a cottage cheese/tofu, except much more delicious) and ginger to create this fresh, yet savory dish.
Find Our Favorite Chicken & Paneer Balti recipe HERE >>
Hyderabadi Biryani
This dish originated in Persia and became a staple of Indian Cuisine when the  Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Conquered Southern India around 1658. The dish is made from basmati rice, meat (lamb, mutton, goat, or beef can be used), yogurt, onions, spices and coriander; and is garnished with crisp-fried onions and coriander leaves. This is a very hearty dish with a lot of flavor, and is one of our favorite Middle-Eastern/Asian rice-based dishes.
Find Our Favorite Hyderabadi Biryani Recipe HERE >>
Laddu
This Indian sweet pastry is made of flour, sugar, and a variety of other ingredients depending on the family recipe. It is often served as a dessert or a specialty treat on religious occasions. Quite often in India, the preferred flour to use is chickpea flour, for its exotic taste, but Semolina or traditional white flour can also be use. Popular versions of Laddu include: Besan ke Laddu, Motichur ke Laddu, and Rava Laddu.
Find Our Favorite Laddu Recipe HERE >>
Malai Kofta
Most often served as a specialty on special occasions, Malai Kofta is a spicy vegetarian meatball soup. The vegetarian meatballs are made from boiled and mashed potatoes, carrots, beans, peas, spices, nuts, and sweet corn that is mixed together and rolled into balls. The soup/sauce is a mixture of onions, ginger-garlic paste, tomatoes, and spices that are sauteed down into a fairly thin sauce. Like a vegetarian version of a tomato-based Italian meatball soup, this dish will have you coming back for more.
Find Our Favorite Malai Kofta Recipe HERE >>
Chicken Korma
Just as Hyderabadi Biryani became a staple in India after the invasion of the Mughlai, Chicken Korma was also brought into popularity around the same time, and for the same reasons. This spicy dish can come in fairly mild spiciness, but is usually prepared in a fiery hot sauce that can be a bit too hot for some. This curry is usually made with yogurt, cream, nut paste, chili seed paste, coconut milk, and a variety of extra spices (Coriander is most popular but varies depending on local favorite recipes).
Find Our Favorite Chicken Korma Recipe HERE >>
Namkeen
Derived from the Hindi word “Namak,” meaning “salt,” Namkeen can refer to any salty Indian snack. Some snacks include salty fried crackers, nuts and dried vegetables, and pastries that are seasoned with white and black salt. The possibilities are truly endless with this one, so try out as many of them as you can, whenever you can find them.
Find Namkeen Snacks Available For Order All Over The World HERE >>
Gol Gappa
These puffed pastries can go by several diferent names including: Panipuri, pani ke bataashe, Gujarati, or phuchka. To make Gol Gappa, a pastry is made and shaped into hollow spheres(Called Puri). The hollow spheres are then filled with flavored water and quickly deep-fried to get a crispy outer sphere with the flavored hot water waiting on the inside. Flavorings for the water (Pani) include: Tamarind Chutney, various spices, and in some cases even rosewater, for unique taste. Though the sound of deep fried water may sound a little odd, these little snacks are actually very tasty and highly addictive. Some forms of Gol Gappa also include meat mixtures stuffed into the Puri — which makes the recipe even tastier.
Find Our Favorite Gol Gappa Recipe HERE >>
Palak Paneer
We already discussed earlier that paneer is like a cottage cheese/tofu that is actually very quite tasty. The paneer is again the star of this dish, alongside spinach. If you have ever had spinach-artichoke dip, this can be categorized as very similar. A thick green curry made from spinach and spices becomes the sauce for the paneer itself, and is traditionally eaten with rice, naan, or roti bread.
Find Our Favorite Palak Paneer Recipe HERE >>
Try all of the delicious Traditional Indian Food Recipes for yourself, and stop back by International Bellhop Free Travel Magazine again soon, as we continue our featured series exploring the Best Traditional Food Dishes from Around the World.
Want To Keep Exploring India? Check Out Our Article on “Kerala, India: The Land of Spices:”
You should definitely add Dosa ( a type of savoury crepe) and Sambhar (lentils and veggies) to this list. Brilliant list and amazing images 🙂
We will definitely have a Part II, thanks for the suggestion!
Such alluring pictures! I am so tempted to mention at least 10 more best Indian food but these are great picks 🙂
We will hopefully have more of these posts soon, so keep an eye out!
Yum! I would like to try them all!!!!
You should, these are some of our favorites here!
That’s so fantastic. Great Pictures. Well organized 🙂
Thank you for your kind words!
You should definitely try the Hyderabadi biryani at a local restaurant in Hyderabad…. it’s simply the best! 🙂
Thank you so much for the suggestion!
Reblogged this on Hottie Biscotti and commented:
I love Indian Food! I can’t wait to dig into these recipes.
G’day! I LOVE them all and love reading your blog posts of all international cuisines!
Cheers! Joanne
Thank you for your continued support!
I agree with Dan – if you are doing a part II for India you need to look at more South and Eastern dishes – these are primarily Northern dishes.
Dosa, idlii, sambhar, fish curry, Jalebis…
Now I’m hungry 🙂
We really appreciate your suggestions! Will absolutely keep this in mind! Thank you so much!
I’m drooling now just looking at the pictures!
Even better in person!
+1 for the dosa comment! Also got to represent and suggest Goan fish curry, so delicious.
Thanks! Keep an eye out for more soon!
I’m a lover of Tandoori Naam bread and of Chicken & Paneer Balti. They are so good together. I can’t wait for your Part 2 of this series!
Thanks for stopping in!
Love the beautiful pics of the delicious dishes!
Thanks!
I can feel a food adventure coming on! 🙂
One of the best kinds of adventure!
Loving this…our favourites were the Kati rolls…like a kebab but wrapped in a delicious butter naan
So glad you enjoyed!
I liked food photos and your information, thanks for your sharing!
Thank you for taking the time to check out the post!
Hmmm I love golguppa I’m not from Cape Town but I learnt to make all these and my fav spice is chaat masala yum I’m hungry x
Yum indeed!
I posted a link to your blog on my FB page; your Indian recipes look delicious! Thanks, too, for following my blog. 🙂
Thanks! We appreciate it!
love naan bread. Want to try to make it in the near future.
If you do, please let us know how it turns out!
everyone loves food, and these pictures and your post had us all drooling. I have never tried the kofta meatball soup, what is your specialty dish, I assume you cook because you write so well.
Thank you for the kind words! A specialty dish would be just too tough to choose! We very much appreciate the support!
Fantastic compilation…You could add more about India though! Nevertheless :thumbsup:
Please do check out more of our posts about India- We have more! Thanks!
You must include Kashmiri wazwan, Punjabi chole, Bengali Mishthaan, Punjabi Lassi, South Indian Sambhar…. so many to do for India.
But love this blog
Thanks,
Purnima
We are always looking for more ideas for new posts, thank you!
This one in particular, well done, all the way around, thank you, Georgina @ Soul & Stomach
Thank you so much!
Superb Compilation, awesome snaps…very well organised…Loved your blog, and looking forward for more posts from you..!!!
And Thank you for liking my blog post – https://roamingruta.wordpress.com/
I look forward to your responses on how you liked myrecipes!
Thank you for following and for the support!