Top 36 Indian Appetizers

This North Indian tikka variety consists of a combination of marinated paneer cheese and vegetables that are cooked in a tandoor - a traditional Indian oven. This vegetarian version of tikka is based on paneer, a crumbly cheese with a soft texture. Pieces of paneer, tomatoes, onions, and peppers are skewered, grilled, and then seasoned with lemon juice and chaat masala - a spicy powder. Sometimes the dish is served with various salads or mint chutney on the side. Variations on the dish include paneer tikka masala, which is served with spicy gravy, and paneer tikka rolls, which are wrapped in Indian bread. Expand

Dahi vada is a popular Indian snack that can also be served either as a main dish or as an accompaniment to vegetable or meat dishes. The dish originates from North India and consists of savory lentil-based fried balls (vadas) that are soaked in a thick yogurt (dahi). This popular street food is often topped with spices such as chili, cumin, coriander, and various chutneys. The dish is also popular at festive occasions such as weddings, and provides an ideal refreshment on a hot summer day.Expand

Chilli paneer is a traditional Indo-Chinese dish that's served as an appetizer. The dish consists of paneer cheese that's cut into cubes, fried, and mixed with a sweet, sour, and spicy sauce. There are three versions of the dish – dry, semi-dry, and restaurant-style (in gravy). The most popular version is the one in which fried paneer is served in gravy. Paneer cubes are battered in a combination of corn flour, ginger paste, garlic paste, red chili powder, salt, and black pepper, then fried. The gravy is usually made with a combination of ginger, garlic, chili peppers, spring onions, soy sauce, red chili powder, and sugar. Before serving, the fried cheese is mixed with the gravy and the dish is then garnished with spring onions, if desired. It's recommended to serve chilli paneer with fried rice or noodles on the side.Expand

Gobi manchurian is a traditional Indo-Chinese dish consisting of fried cauliflower (gobi) that’s tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce (manchurian). There are two versions of the dish – dry and in gravy. The dry version is often served as an appetizer or a bar snack with ketchup on the side as a dipping sauce, while the gravy version features a thick sauce made with cornstarch and it’s usually served as a main dish with rice on the side, either fried or steamed. The cauliflower florets are coated in batter and deep-fried until crisp. The batter often consists of water, flour, corn flour, red chili powder, and seasonings, while the sauce is made with a combination of garlic, ginger, onions, scallions, soy sauce, vinegar, oil, sugar, and chili peppers. Originally, the dish was created by the Chinese community in Kolkata during the time of the British Raj.Expand

Anchovy 65 or Nethili 65 is a traditional dish originating from Tamil Nadu. The dish consists of anchovies that are fried until crunchy. The anchovies are usually marinated in a mix of yogurt, lemon juice, chili powder, garam masala, black pepper, turmeric, and rice flour before they're fried in hot oil. The dish is served as an appetizer or an evening snack on weekends. It's always served hot, ideally with lemon wedges on the side.Expand

Rasam is a South Indian soup made with a base of tamarind juice and added ingredients such as pepper, cumin, chili, lemon, lentils, and tomatoes, resulting in a tangy and sour flavor of the dish. The name of the dish can be literally translated to juice, referring to tomato or tamarind juices. Originally, rasam was made only with tamarind and black pepper due to the abundance of those ingredients in South India. The soup is usually served as an appetizer with rice on the side. Traditionally, it is consumed after sambar, and followed by the main dish with curd rice. Over time, the popularity of rasam helped in the creation of mulligatawny soup as rasam's Anglo-Indian version. There are numerous regional varieties of rasam throughout South India, such as nellikkai rasam with Indian gooseberries, inji rasam with ginger, and vepam poo rasam with neem flowers.Expand

Papadum is a snack made with either gram, rice, or chickpea flour that is baked into a thin, crispy cracker bread. It can be consumed on its own, with pickles, or served with other dishes such as curries, when it's used as a utensil for scooping the dish up. Papadum can also be topped with chutneys or raita sauce and accompanied by hot tea. With its popularity, there are some variations on the dish, such as rice papadum which is boiled in water and dried in the sun, masala papadum with spices such as black pepper, chili, cumin, and garlic, or jackfruit papadum from Karnataka, which combines jackfruit with chickpea flour. Papadums are also quite popular in the United Kingdom and Australia, where the bread is served as an appetizer, and it's usually accompanied by mango chutney and lime pickle dips.Expand

Boti kebab is a variety of Indian kebab consisting of chunks of meat (lamb, mutton, chicken) that are soaked in a mixture of yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, chilis, papaya paste, and spices such as garam masala, chili powder, and cumin. After the marinating process, the meat chunks are skewered and grilled to perfection, then brushed with ghee. These kebabs are typically enjoyed as a snack or an appetizer and are usually accompanied by raw onions, lemon wedges, various chutneys, or Indian bread on the side. The marinated meat chunks can alternatively be simmered in boiling water before they are grilled, especially in the case of lamb or mutton kebabs.Expand

Shami kebab is a variety of kebab made by combining minced lamb, mutton, beef or chicken with split bengal grams, onions, chilis, ginger, garlic, and various herbs and spices such as cumin, red chili flakes, garam masala, and mint leaves. The meat mixture is then seasoned with salt and pepper and shaped into round patties, which are then coated with beaten eggs and pan-fried until their exterior becomes crispy, but the patties remain silky and tender on the inside. These kebabs are commonly enjoyed in India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and make for an excellent snack, appetizer, or an accompaniment to the main course. Believed to have originated in Lucknow, shami kebabs pair well with onions, lime or lemon wedges, roti or naan, and various chutneys on the side.Expand

Khandvi is a popular Gujarati snack made from a batter consisting of gram flour, dahi, turmeric, and ginger paste. The batter is cooked and rolled in small, bite-sized pieces. It is usually consumed as a snack or an appetizer, served either hot or cold. These flavorful snacks are often seasoned with other ingredients such as chutneys or grated cheese. It is recommended to garnish khandvi with coriander or coconut.Expand