Five Dishes That You Must Have When in India

India has such a vast spread of cuisine that it is near to impossible to pick out only five. Each state has its own array of delicacies to showcase. The food in various states is as different as it can be. For example, in North India the cooking mainly involves wheat, whereas most of the south Indian dishes are made of rice. But the utilization of spices is very Indian every where. Eating habits of Indians also vary according to the states. Kashmiris are fond of Rogan josh, a non vegetarian dish, Bengalis can't live without fish in their diet, South Indains like to have everything cooked in coconut oil,Momos are the favourite among Asamese, Gujratis like to have sugar in every thing they make( even in Dal).They have sweet fetish I think. I wonder why Gujrat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has not absorbed the sweetness of his state's cuisine. Let's leave it for another time, and come back to the issue at hand, which is the Indian Delicacies.

Bhature

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These are like pooris, but made in fine floor and curd. You can savour this mouth watering meal at any road side stall in Delhi. They are generally served with Chole, but you can have them with any curry. You need to make the dough in curd and keep it overnight, for fermentation. The best Bhature that I have ever had are served in Nagpal Hotel in a small town called Rohtak in Haryana. So if you want to have quick look while going from Delhi to Shimla or Kullu Manali, you can drop by at this place and have a tasty meal.

Dosa

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Dosa is served for breakfast in many south Indian homes. Like most south Indian foods, this pancake is also made of rice. But you can also get wheat dosa in restaurants. When we were staying in Banglore, I would invariably have one dosa a day. It is served with sambhar and coconut chutney (which is really tasty).Sometimes tomato chutney is also added.. Shanti sagar chain of restaurants is the best palce to have a cheap and good quality dosa. There are many varieties of dosa. You can get masala dosa, paper Dosa, chilli dosa, egg dosa, onion dosa……rava dosa…....humph, let me catch my breath. You get the gist, right?

Rogan Josh

It is a curry dish made of lamb. India's first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru had a soft spot for Rogan josh. Every foreigner writes in his or her travel diary that Hindus are vegetarians and in particular, Brahmins don't even touch meat. Here is bit of information for these ignorant souls. Kashmiri Pundits savour Rogan josh, though it is made sans garlic and onion. It is a low fat dish, served mainly with nan or rice.

When I visited Kasmir four years back to attend a friend's wedding, I got to know that rogan josh is the main dish in wazwan, which is a festive banquet with 24 courses. Now that's really heavy!

Sarson Ka Saag

This dish is advertised as a Punjabi dish, which is not exactly true. Sarson ka saag is eaten not only in Punjab, but also in Haryana, Rajasthan, UP and parts of Gujrat. Sarson ka saag is made from mustard stalks. The stalks are bolied till they are tender, then a spoonful of curd (mixed with besan) is added. Saag is allowed to simmer for ten to fifteen minutes after all the spices and curry is added to it.

Macher Jhol

This typical Bengali fish curry is the favourite of India's ex prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpai. My husband claims that Delhi's Taj serves the authentic Macher jhol, but I would give my votes to Baniyan Treat in Dumdum for making a totally delicious fish curry. This dish is best made with Mustard oil as it gives a spicy and peppery taste.

There is so much to choose from when it come to Indian dishes. It was a tough decision to select only five dishes. Indian cuisine is among the best round the world and rightly so. Let's sit over a cuppa of kanjee sometime and discuss various Indian dishes.