A Beginner's Guide to Indian Food

Consider this the official dish of India. Chicken tikka masala will be on nearly every single Indian restaurant menu you see for good reason — because it's delicious. Think chunks of chicken sitting in a creamy, spiced tomato sauce, peppered with flavors like cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, and cumin. Chauhan likes hers with fenugreek, an Indian herb akin to celery with maple syrup on it. You'll see tikka masala served with either basmati rice or naan (Indian flatbread).

Get the recipe: chicken tikka masala

You might find it on the menu spelled desi aanda bhurji or called "Mumbai-style scrambled eggs," but any way you see it, you should order it. Chauhan describes it as "Indian-style scrambled eggs, flavored with turmeric and cumin," and says it's "usually served with toast or flatbreads, Indian pickles, and loads of butter."

Get the recipe: Mumbai-style scrambled eggs

Some (not all) Indians are vegetarians, and dal is a popular dish for those that opt not to eat meat. "Dal tadka is a yellow lentil soup with ginger and garlic, again usually served with rice or naan," says Chauhan. Tadka is actually a way of cooking the spices that get added at the last minute for the flavor punch. It just means that they're tempered and fried in oil to release the aromas (kind of like toasting nuts).

Get the recipe: dal tadka

Chauhan describes this hearty side dish as a "spiced, fragrant basmati rice casserole with saffron and seasonal vegetables," and likes hers "served with yogurt sauce." The dominant taste in this is cumin, which is toasted and drizzled with oil over the top.

Get the recipe: green peas cumin-scented pulao

Carb-lovers, this one is for you. Aloo tikki is "a spiced potato croquette, usually served with tamarind chutney or ketchup," says Chauhan, who serves her Southern-ified version at her restaurant as black bean tikki with sweet peppers and peas.

Get the recipe: aloo tikki

India is surrounded by water on two of its three sides, so it makes sense seafood is a star in some of the regional cooking. And while the name might sound foreign to you, the dish is anything but, representative of a lot of Southern Asian cooking. It's just shrimp in a coconut curry leaf sauce over rice, like a stew (Maneet's version here is shown deconstructed).

Get the recipe: shrimp moilee

If you even have enough room to eat dessert at the end of a filling, rich, and delicious Indian meal, try your hand at gajar halwa, a type of carrot pudding that Chauhan recommends. It's deceptively simple to make, and there's hardly any refrigerator wait time, so you can get your hands on it pretty quickly. It's condensed milk, regular milk, grated carrots, nuts, and sugar, and basically heaven in a pot.

Get the recipe: gajar halwa

Chauhan serves this up at her restaurant as a sweet treat — it's just a "mango yogurt smoothie," she says. But the special ingredient in hers a "touch of rose water," which gives it that hint of sophistication. You can also sprinkle cardamom on top and add a little honey for some more layered flavoring.

Get the recipe: Indian mango lassi

While Indian food is known for its intense, fragrant, and earthy flavor profiles, there are also a lot of sweet flavors to counterbalance the spices. Kheer is "Indian rice pudding with saffron and cardamom," says Chauhan. Hers is served up as a sundae at the restaurant, with cashew toffee ice cream, but the basic traditional style is just as yummy.

Get the recipe: chawal kheer