Unique Dishes To Try Out When Visiting India

India is not about just one type of food. Just like it's geographical diversity, it has a rich 'food-diversity' as well, extending right from the North to South, as well as along the East-West dimension. Apart from having its own unique dishes, several fusions also exist which were introduced in the past by the reigning dynasties and also by the growing food and restaurant businesses. Food tours have become an integral part of tourism today wherin the tourists take delight in experiencing the local flavours. Here are some of the dishes from each part of the country that you should not be missing out while you are on a tour here :

North India

The climatic condition is suitable for the growth of wheat. Accordingly, wheat based dishes or bread dishes are common. Lachha paratha and butter chicken is a favourite not only of the natives but also the tourists. You can pair up the naan bread with some lip smacking gravy dishes like chicken/ mutton roganjosh, kadai chicken/ paneer, dal makhani. While rajma - chawal is a part of daily diet for many, chole bature is a popular dish that can be eaten as a meal any time of the day. Kashmiri aloo dum also goes well with bature or puri.

South India

South Indian dishes are popular across the country and are eaten as breakfast items majority of the times. These include dosa, idli, vada, uttapam, pazham pori, puttu amd several others served with an assortment of chutneys. Coconut forms an integral part of many dishes as it is abundantly grown here. Adirasam is a traditional sweet dish.

West India

A predominantly vegetarian region, many dishes are either flour or bread based. Vada pav, pav bhaji, dhokla, rajasthani thali to be named among innumerable others. Bebinca, a traditional dessert of Goa is definitely worth a try along with shrikhand from Gujarat.

East India

The geographic and climatic conditions make rice the central part of the people's meals. While Bengal is best known for its variety of fishes and sweets (like rasgulla, pantua, mihi dana, misti doi etc.), litti chokha and thhekua are the signature dishes in Bihar. North-eastern hilly states have a slight Tibetian influence in their dishes - soup noodles, momos, sticky rice cake etc.

Fusions And Street Foods

All over the country you find ' Chinese' restaurants selling Indian-chinese dishes i.e. Indian version of Chinese dishes, ranging from hakka noodles, pan fried noodles,thukpa to crabs, prawns, basa fish and also pork items.

The Mughals introduced the Muglai dishes several centuries ago which include biriyani ( awadhi, hyderabadi, lucknow, calcutta style of dum biriyani) and kebabs.

Out of the hundreds of street foods, here are some - rolls, samosa, panipuri, chaats, chops( veg, aloo, fish, egg etc.), momos, koolfi, masala chai, bhutta, jalebi, kachori etc.