Indian cuisine is continually put on foodie lists all over the world and no wonder, with the variety of flavors and regions, Indian food is vastly diverse, and not to mention delicious!
If you are an Indian food newbie, here are some dishes that will have you sounding like an expert.
Butter Chicken
Curry first came to America via the British as a turmeric-coloured Anglo-Indian version made from a commercial curry mixture with heavy cream. Predictably, the Indian influence has added spicy curries and much more to the cuisine in countries like Canada, America and United Kingdom. Dublin in Ireland has over 20 curry houses in the city. In the Caribbean, India curry powders are quite popular that include mild or hot Madras curry, Garam masala and a locally made type to suit Creole tastes. Needless to add, today Butter Chicken with garlic naan is a hot favourite.
Masala Tea
We Indians love our boiled-in-the-pan masala chai. It is amazing to see that a creation such as masala tea could be considered special and is treated with such reverence all over the globe. Indians are spoilt for choice as far from small cafes to speciality Indian restaurants. In fact, the Chai Latte is a trend that started with inspiration from the Masala Tea. In Bahrain, you will come across almost in every restaurant which is quite similar to masala chai.
Biryani
Consumers are now aware about Indian cuisine and ingredients through travel, restaurants, stores, etc. As much as the Biryani identity is a distinctive one today, pigeon holing the best Biryani outside India is a devilishly difficult task to do. Interestingly, Biryani Parcels are known to fly down to Dubai every day from Hyderabad.
Masala Dosa
A feel of nostalgia comes over your senses as you stroll along the jam-packed street, stopping at stalls in little India all over South East Asia. Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore especially have quite a few banana leaf south Indian restaurants, along with Punjabi establishments, owing to large Indian population, proximity to India and the availability of Indian ingredients.
Samosa
Though Indian cuisine has been around for over 5,000 years, its ability to transform and adapt to new ingredients, tastes and cooking techniques makes it an ideal medium with which to tempt consumers f taste buds globally. Globally, everyone loves these savoury pastries filled with spicy potato and pea mash served with coriander chutney. Middle Eastern countries offer a similar version called Sambousek with different stuffing and in Bhutan for example you would come across Samosa with cheese filling.
Tandoori Chicken
Tandoori chicken a popular North Indian dish consisting of roasted chicken prepared with yogurt and spices. The name comes from the type of cylindrical clay oven, a tandoor, in which the dish is traditionally prepared. The chicken is marinated in yogurt and seasoned with the spice mixture tandoori masala. Cayenne pepper, red chili powder or Kashmiri red chili powder is used to give it a fiery red hue. This dish goes so well with steaming basmati rice and crispy naan.
Malaai Kofta
Malai Kofta is a tasty vegetarian alternative. Restaurant style malai kofta is cooked in a creamy gravy made of tomatoes and cashew nuts. Malai actually means, “cream” and both the kofta and the sauce literally melts in your mouth. A heavenly dish that soaks up rice nicely.
Rogan Josh
Rogan josh (or roghan josh) is a staple of Kashmiri cuisine: originally it was brought to Kashmir by the Mughals. It is one of the main dishes of the Kashmiri multi-course meal (the “Wazwan”). It consists of braised lamb chunks cooked with a gravy based on browned onions or shallots, yogurt, garlic, ginger and aromatic spices (cloves, bay leaves, cardamom and cinnamon). Its characteristic brilliant red color traditionally comes from liberal amounts of dried Kashmiri chillies that have been de-seeded to reduce their heat: these chillies are considerably milder than the typical dried cayenne chillies of Indian cuisine. The recipe’s spiciness is one of fragrance rather than heat, and the dish is mild enough to be appreciated by western palates that may not be use to spicy tastes. If you love lamb, this is a must eat dish.
Growing Up Eating 