Packed with flavor from spices, Indian food is some of the most delicious on the planet if you ask us. Traditional dishes and specialties vary depending on where you travel, but here are a few dishes to try on trips to India when you see them.
* **Daal.** These dried, split pulses, or lentils, are often simmered with ingredients such as tomatoes, onions, and spices, but different versions are served throughout the country.
* **Butter chicken.** Equal parts creamy, savory, and tart, this popular Indian dish consists of chicken that’s cooked in a sauce of butter, cream, and tomato. It’s often eaten over basmati rice.
* **Naan.** This flat bread, common in the north, is baked inside a piping-hot clay oven and is the perfect vessel for sopping up flavorful sauces.
* **Bhel puri.** A popular street food in Mumbai, this dish consists of a mixture of crispy puffed rice, tangy chutneys, fresh herbs, ground spices, roasted peanuts, and other texture-rich ingredients.
* **Biryani.** Regional versions of this mixed rice dish are made with spices, meat, eggs, vegetables, nuts, dried fruit, and potatoes.
* **Aloo gobhi.** Earthy and fragrant, this popular vegetarian dish consists of tender cauliflower and potatoes cooked together in a masala (think gravy or sauce) of turmeric, cumin seeds, garlic, and other ingredients.
* **Gulab jamun.** These crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside fritters are soaked in sweet syrup—the perfect treat at the end of a savory, spicy meal.