Indian Side Dishes
Created | Updated Dec 13, 2012
Menus in Indian restaurants are split into two parts: the intelligible section that most of us are familiar with and can happily use to order our curries and rices; and the side dish section that only serves to rub in the fact that there is a corner of this green and pleasant land that is forever India.
The list below, while incomplete, might help. Take it along to your next Indian meal and bask in the admiring glow of your fellow diners as you show off your new-found knowledge of eastern foodstuffs. Just don't blame us if they all taste like curry.
| Aalu | Potatoes |
| Aalu chhole | Diced potatoes and spicy-sour chickpeas |
| Aalu dum | Potato curry |
| Arhar | Yellow dhal (in Bangal and Gujarat) |
| Baingan | Aubergine (eggplant) |
| Baingan bharta | Pureed aubergine (eggplant) |
| Barfi | Flavoured chickpea flour (sweet) |
| Bhelpuri | Popular Bombay snack |
| Bhujias | Deep-fried small vegetable pieces in chickpea flour |
| Biryani | Meat with delicious orange rice, nuts and dried fruit |
| Black urad | Punjabi dhal |
| Bombay duck | Fish dish |
| Chaat | General term for snacks |
| Channa | Spiced chickpeas with small puris |
| Chapati | Small thin bread |
| Dahin | Curd (yoghurt) |
| Dahin maach | Curried fish in curd sauce |
| Dahin idli | Rice dumplings with spicy curd sauce |
| Dhal | Lentil gravy |
| Dhansaak | Chicken cooked with curried lentils (Bombay) |
| Dopiaza | Literally "two onions", a type of korma |
| Dosa | Wafer-thin pancake |
| Dum pukht | Steam pressure-cooking in a sealed clay pot (Lucknow) |
| Fulka | See Chapati |
| Gajar ka halwa | A sweet made from carrot, sweet spices and milk |
| Ghee | Clarified butter |
| Gobi | Cauliflower |
| Gram | Chickpeas |
| Gulaab jamuns | A dessert of small milky "things" in syrup |
| Gushtaba | Spiced meatballs in a yoghurt sauce |
| Idli | Rice dumpling |
| Jalebis | Orange-coloured squiggles with syrup inside |
| Kashmiri biryani | Fruit salad with rice |
| Kati kebab | Calcuttan local kebab dish |
| Korma | Rich, substantial dish prepared by braising |
| Kulfi | Pistachio-flavoured sweet, similar to ice cream |
| Ladu | Yellow-coloured balls made from chickpea flour (sweet) |
| Lassi | Delicious yoghurt drink, often fruit-flavoured |
| Luchi | See Puri |
| Makhanwala | Chicken in rich butter sauce |
| Malai kofta | Rich, cream-based dish |
| Mattar | Peas |
| Mattar panir | Peas and cheese in gravy |
| Moong | Common green lentils used to make dhal |
| Mulligatawny | Curry soup |
| Naan | Bread cooked in a Tandoori oven |
| Namkin | Pre-packaged spiced nibbles |
| Navratan korma | Very tasty dish using nuts |
| Paat gobi | Cabbage |
| Palak panir | Spinach and cheese |
| Pakoras | Deep-fried small vegetable pieces in chickpea flour |
| Papadams | Crispy deep-fried wafers |
| Paratha | Chapati with ghee |
| Pataa | Rolled leaf stuffed with fruit and nuts |
| Payasam | Sweet drink made from coconut milk, mangoes, spices and milk |
| Phulka | See Chapati |
| Pomfret | Flounder-like fish (Bombay) |
| Pulao | Flavoured rice, often with pulses |
| Puri | Deep-fried bread |
| Puttu | Steamed rice roll, served with sugar or dhal |
| Raita | Curd mixed with vegetables (like tzatziki) |
| Rajmaa | Kidney beans used to make dhal |
| Ras gullas | Sweet balls of cream cheese flavoured with rose water |
| Rogan josh | Straightforward lamb curry |
| Roti | See Chapati |
| Saag gosht | Spinach and meat |
| Sabzi | Curried vegetables |
| Sambhar | Soup-like lentil/vegetable dish with sour tamarind flavour |
| Samosas | Curried vegetables in a pastry triangle |
| Sandesh | A milk sweet |
| Seekh kebab | Skewered kebab |
| Shami kebab | Wrapped kebab |
| Tandoori | Meat cooked in herbs, spices and a clay oven |
| Thali | Indian "meal": rice, puris/chapatis, curry sauces |
| Tiffin | Light meal or snack |
| Uttapam | See Dosa |
| Vindaloo | Vinegar marinade, fairly hot |
