Written by Menswear Style in Food & Drink on the 7th April 2021

With its wealth of unique flavours, Indian food is vastly diverse, reflecting a perfect blend of many regions and cultures. If you ever sat down at an Indian restaurant and were blown away by its assortment of ingredients and intoxicating aromas, you likely want to take a stab at cooking an Indian dish at home. While there is a humongous list of endlessly rich and tasty Indian dishes to choose from, here are the top 3 relatively simple yet mouthwatering Indian meals you should learn how to cook so you can treat yourself when the craving takes over.

Chicken Makhani 

Mildly spiced yet highly savoury, chicken makhani, or butter chicken, is perhaps the go-to Indian dish for many in the West at Indian restaurants. The mild curry has tender chunks of grilled chicken cooked in a spiced tomato, butter, and cream sauce, with the addition of cream giving the curry a silky smooth, rich texture. Easy to prepare, the recipe only requires common ingredients like oil, onions, garlic, ginger, butter, and tomato puree. This tasty meal goes best with warm stovetop naan bread; however, you could opt to serve it alongside rice as well. If you love butter chicken but do not have a lot of time on hand, you may use a pressure cooker to speed up your cooking time as well as save energy. Whether it is butter chicken or an Instant Pot chicken vindaloo, these multicookers make your life much easier by enabling you to make a wide variety of dishes in a relatively short time.

Palak Paneer 

If you are a vegetarian or enjoy spinach, palak paneer is the perfect Indian dish for you. A popular dish in India and Indian restaurants in many parts of the world, the recipe consists of spinach and cottage cheese (paneer), infused with typical Indian spices. The paneer cubes are shallow or deep-fried and then added to the simmering spinach gravy. The dish takes on a deep green hue due to the large portions of spinach and fenugreek leaves included in its recipe. This silky, creamy curry is easy to cook and pairs well with just about anything from flatbread, naan, paratha to even rice. Palak paneer is an irresistible meal that will satisfy all your taste buds. Oh, and not to mention, it makes for great leftovers. The spinach sauce tastes even better after a day or two. 

Biryani 

Another extremely savoured dish throughout the Indian subcontinent and its diaspora, Biryani features a distinct taste of deliciously spiced rice flavoured with saffron or turmeric and meat like lamb, chicken, beef, or fish. If you are a vegetarian, you can substitute meat with veggies like potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, and peas. Biryani varies a bit region by region, but the most common variant of this aromatic rice dish is the Hyderabadi Biryani. It is best served with raita, a popular side in many Indian and Pakistani cuisine.

While Indian dishes are highly delicious and admired in several parts of the world, including the West, many people feel intimidated by their names and find it a daunting task to cook them at home due to their complex, unusual spices and herbs. That is, however, a common misconception. Most Indian dishes are surprisingly easy to make and not time-consuming or complicated. Stocking your kitchen with some of the essential ingredients found in Indian food can help you prepare these delectable dishes and savour their lively, spicy taste any time you desire.

We feature Chicken Makhani, Palak Paneer, and Biryani in this Indian Cuisine focussed blog post about 3 Delicious Meals You Should Learn to Cook.