There’s an element of comfort found in North Indian food that makes the essential recipes of the region beloved fare for diners around the world. From hearty stews and savory breads to fanciful desserts, North Indian food is a multi-course celebration of the land and what it provides.

Many North Indian food favorites appear in Indian restaurants in the U.S., though you may not realize the creations originate from the region. Our round-up of the best North Indian foods to add to your personal menu is designed to enlighten you about the savory possibilities. No need to stamp your passport for this culinary voyage; we’ve brought the tastiest foods in North India to you!  

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• Get a Taste of Traditional Food From North India
• What’s the Difference Between North vs. South Indian Food?
• The 31 Best North Indian Dishes To Try

Get a Taste of Traditional Food From North India

Your home table can be the site of some incredible North Indian food with expert-led cooking classes near you. Learn from some of the top chefs in your area with engaging sessions that blend culture and history with culinary creativity. It's an ideal forum for expanding your home cooking repertoire with the world's most beloved dishes while gaining confidence in your abilities with global cuisine. If you can’t make it in person, online cooking classes let you explore food from North India from your own kitchen.

What’s the Difference Between North vs. South Indian Food?

The distinctions between Indian food from the North and South regions of the country each present a unique culinary profile stemming from the respective regions' landscape and culture. Chicken and lamb are often the meats of choice for Northern dishes, with wheat-based breads and creamier sauces appearing on the table as accents. The famous spice blend of garam masala is a featured element; earthy elements like nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom give regional specialties their distinctive warmth and depth of flavor.

The 31 Best North Indian Dishes To Try

1. Chole Bhature

The Punjabi traditions contribute chloe bhature to the array of North Indian food. Also called chana bhature, this dish combines spiced chickpea curry with fluffy fried bread for a taste and texture pairing that plays happy havoc with your taste buds.

2. Butter Chicken

One of the more popular dishes in the world of North Indian food, butter chicken also goes by its native name, murgh makhani, and is a Delhi creation that came about by accident. As the story goes, the cooks who first made it stirred leftover chicken into a buttery tandoori gravy and created a sensation with staying power — one you may have already enjoyed as a take-out dish.

3. Palak Paneer

Vegetarians will adore palak paneer, a colorful blend of spinach and Indian cheese paneer with onions and herbs for flavor. This well-loved North Indian food is often served with chicken, though it also serves as a sturdy, flavorful base for chopped vegetables of any kind.

4. Mutter Paneer

Peas, paneer and soothing garam masala spices combine to create mutter paneer, a creamy tomato and onion curry that decorates the table with deep burnt orange and bursts of greens that make North Indian food feel like pop art. A side of rice is the perfect complement to impart a starchy body to this complex mélange of regional flavors.

5. Rajma Dal

Dal is the Sanskrit word for pulses, which includes legumes like lentils and beans. Raima dal is a North Indian food that adds kidney beans to curry featuring tomatoes and chiles, resulting in a chili-like texture with a distinctly Indian flavor. There’s no meat in rajma dal, but there are plenty of meaty substances thanks to the abundance of beans in the recipe.

6. Kheer

North Indian food has its own version of rice pudding known as kheer. This creamy porridge-like concoction depends on jaggery, a more rustic cane-based sugar, for sweetness while using boiled milk to release the starches in the rice for glutinous goodness. A dash of cardamom or cinnamon and a sprinkle of toasted nuts make an excellent topping while lending color and crunch.

7. Veggie Biryani

Biryani is a North Indian food similar to fried rice. Long grain rice infused with aromatic spices is joined in the pot by carrots, cauliflower and peas sautéed in onions and garlic. A few spoons of yogurt add smooth flavor as it cooks down with the liquids, leaving behind fluffy grains and tender veggies perfumed with incredible seasonings.

8. Naan

If you’ve enjoyed dinner at an Indian restaurant in your area, you’ve probably been offered naan as a side dish. Few examples of North Indian food are as instantly recognizable as this traditional flatbread. Akin to pita bread, it’s a wheat-based staple that shows up on tables no matter what entrée is served, the perfect accompaniment for tearing into smaller pieces and scooping up your main dish and sides.

9. Saag Aloo

Potatoes are known as "aloo" in the realm of North Indian food, and in saag aloo, they appear in crispy-fried form. Saag refers to the leafy greens tossed into the pan to give texture and freshness, while onions, tomatoes and chiles are welcome additions to provide a wealth of tempting variations.

10. Ladoo

Ladoo looks incredibly similar to truffles without the chocolate coating, though it's actually a gram flour dough sweetened with jaggery and fried in ghee, or clarified butter. This sweet North Indian food can be made in a vast range of flavors, with recipes including everything from rose water to cardamom. Dates, nuts and raisins are all suitable mix-ins to lend variety.

11. Chana Masala

Chickpea curry in North Indian food circles is called chana, customarily made with the traditional fragrant masala spice mix. If you can make rice and beans, you can cook up a pot of chana masala almost as easily. It’s most commonly served with white rice and a sprinkling of fresh herbs on top.

12. Papdi Chaat

The word “chaat” means “to lick or to taste,” an apt description for this small-bite invention that blends chutneys, herbs and vegetables to create a confetti-like spread. "Papdi" refers to the round crisps chaat is served over, resulting in a dish that may remind you of nachos in appearance and texture. The fresh flavors, however, are unique to North Indian food.

13. Barfi

Barfi is a type of fudge that sweetens the world of North Indian food. Like Western fudge, barfi is sliced into squares and served as a treat. Sometimes spelled “burfi,” this treat combines condensed or powdered milk with jaggery and an array of flavorings, including cocoa powder for familiar chocolate fudge and rose essence for a delicately floral sweet.

14. Lassi

Yogurt is the base for Lassi, a North Indian food that’s actually served as a beverage but brings to mind a smoothie. Using umami spices like cardamom or cumin for flavoring, the essence is less sweet than the smoothies you may be used to, though mango lassi is a popular take served in many Indian restaurants.

15. Gujiya

The North Indian food equivalent of a hand pie, gujiya are as charming to behold as they are to indulge in. These pastries are stuffed with sweet mixes of nuts and dried fruit, then pinched in a semicircle, sealed with a fluted edge and fried until crispy. They’re a regular dish found on tables at Holi and Diwali, Indian festivals where incredible food is a key feature of the celebration.

16. Thandai

The variety of ingredients used in thandai may not sound like a logical combination at first. But this beverage from the North Indian food traditions conjures magic with a mix of rose petals, saffron, almonds and both watermelon and poppy seeds added to milk for an earthy drink served during holiday revelry. Its thick texture and off-white hue are reminiscent of eggnog, though the flavor of thandai is one of a kind, as is its edible flower petal décor.

17. Paratha

A thinner flatbread than naan, parathas are like flexible tortillas that can cradle other North Indian foods to create a sumptuous burrito-like wrap. This traditional dish is such a staple and has been around for so long that there are even references made to paratha in medieval Sanskrit texts. You can find these thin, layered squares served with every meal of the day.

18. Bhatura

The North Indian food version of sourdough bread is called bhatura and is generally served as part of a breakfast menu. While fermented dough infuses bhatura with a zesty tang, deep frying results in a puffed roll that’s both crispy and chewy, perfect for serving with pickled veggies and chutneys. There’s even a dedicated version called chole bhatura that incorporates chickpea chutney as a topping.

19. Nankhatai

In its simplest form, nankhatai is the North Indian foodscape’s take on shortbread cookies. Much like the European version of shortbread dough, nankhatai uses flour, ghee and sugar but omits eggs, resulting in a crispy biscuit that can be topped with nuts or dried fruit. The rich flavor is perfect for serving with chai at teatime or enjoying with ice cream for a more complex dessert.

20. Chicken Tikka Masala

One of the more recognizable North Indian foods, chicken tikka masala is a highly popular dish on Indian restaurant menus around the world. It’s a rich sauce with a yogurt and cream base that features tomatoes for flavor and color, with a hearty helping of aromatics like garlic and onions sharing the plate. Marinated chicken adds protein for a perfect rice-topping dish.

21. Dal Makhani

Lentils are the pulse of choice in this savory North Indian food, which arose from Delhi to become a regular dish around the region. Black lentils float in a hearty sauce made of butter (makhani) and cream topped with herbs and spices for a smoky-earthy essence. It's an indulgent dish that's perfect for sharing with your favorite foodies.

22. Bhurtha

Also known as “bhartha,” this vegetarian accompaniment makes use of eggplants and tomatoes flavored with onions and spices, a tasty mash meant to be eaten with flatbread. Though meant as a side dish, bhurtha is satisfying enough on its own to anchor a plant-centered meal. It’s a classic North Indian food that begins with the eggplant being roasted over coals and ends with everyone at the dinner table asking for seconds!

23. Khichdi

The most vibrantly-hued dish on the table by far, khichdi marries rice with mung beans for a vivid North Indian food the color of sunshine. Though ghee is part of the recipe, it can be replaced with a neutral oil to create a vegan-friendly dish. Enjoy it with rice or on its own to take advantage of the vivid flavors.

24. Peda

With its pretty embossed tops and high edges, you might mistake peda for Chinese moon cakes. But this sweet North Indian food is made of dried milk (khoa), sugar and cardamom, giving it a flavor profile all its own. The delicate flower and sunburst designs that top each cake are achieved by pressing the peda dough into molds, though they can also be made into simple hand-formed rounds and topped with nuts.

25. Korma

North Indian foods seem to have cornered the market on creamy sauces, and korma is a fine example. A creamy concoction of nuts like almonds or cashews, korma includes yogurt or heavy cream to achieve a silky texture that wraps around chicken or vegetables. It’s a luxurious dish-topper that calls for a side of rice to balance things out.

26. Kulfi

The array of North Indian foods offers its own version of ice cream in kulfi, a frozen dairy dessert that appeared in Delhi in the 16th century. Kulfi is a heavier take on ice cream that uses condensed milk and even whipped topping to achieve its thick, indulgent texture. Flavor options range from simple cardamom to sweet fruits and nuts mixed into the base.

27. Tandoori Chicken

With tandoori chicken, North Indian food brings fiery spice to a smooth yogurt-based sauce for a flood of flavor. Pieces of chicken are slathered in this sauce and cooked on skewers to achieve a smoky outer layer that seals in the juices for multi-dimensional enjoyment in every bite.

28. Gajak

If you’ve seen gajak among your encounters with North Indian food, you know of its resemblance to sesame or peanut brittle. It’s essentially the same confection, with jaggery standing in for refined sugar, transformed into a syrup to hold seeds or nuts in a crunchy regional candy that’s not just for kids!

29. Malai Kofta

Malai kofta consists of spheres of paneer and potatoes similar to dumplings, fried crisp and served in an onion and tomato sauce. It’s a North Indian food that’s crisp on the outside, tender on the inside and filled with savory flavor that does well with rice as a dining partner.

30. Mango Pickle

Mash up a mango and toss it together with warm spices to achieve the zing of mango pickle, a North Indian food topper that can go with just about anything. The mash creates its own brine by releasing the juices from the mango, resulting in a self-sustaining condiment you can keep refrigerated to enjoy for several months.

31. Falooda

Rose and vanilla flavor traditional falooda, the North Indian food version of an ice cream milkshake. The bubblegum-pink color comes from the rose syrup that creates ombre layers of enticing hues. It’s one of the most whimsical treats the region has to offer, a refreshing sweet treat that’s sure to catch your eye before it undoubtedly delights your tongue!

Experiencing the vast array of foods originating in India’s northern states requires an adventurous spirit and a sense of curiosity for the cuisines of the world. Once you know what each dish offers, you can dive into the great North Indian menu and take your pick of dishes from your favorite Indian restaurant, a new spot in town or even your home kitchen. However you make the introduction, exploring the fabulous North Indian food is a journey of discovery you’re bound to enjoy.

For even more ways to explore your favorite foods, check out other experiences happening on Cozymeal.