Where to eat India’s favourite non-vegetarian dishes?

Food tourism is a great way to understand a destination, and India is a paradise in this regard. India does not have any one food or type of cuisine, it is varied, and not just regionally; even within regions it gets further broken down into groups. What you are essentially looking at is a mind-blowing array of cuisines. Take biryani for example, there is no one biryani, but various types as served in various parts of the country.

Here's a look at India’s favourite non-vegetarian dishes.

The Nagas sure love their pork meat, and they know how to prepare a curry. But then again, you have various tribes cooking it in various different ways. Sometimes, you might also find some greens in the curry; other times, the meat could be smoked, or the curry might include axone, which is fermented soybean. If you want to be more adventurous, try the ones with king chillies, or bhut jolokia, but be warned, it is not for everyone.

If you are in West Bengal, especially in the city of Kolkata, you have got to taste Bengali fish curries. Again, they are of various types, depending on the cook. Food in Bengal can either be affiliated to East Bengal style of cooking, or West Bengal style of cooking. Nonetheless, the options are limitless. From mustard curry of the very expensive and much coveted Hilsa, or Ilish, to the promises of the light coconut lobster curries. Then, there are crab curries, light curries made of river fishes, and a lot, lot more.

Mutton is much loved in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and there are numerous dishes in the state that go above and beyond anything you have ever had. One such dish is the mutton rogan josh. It is a traditional Kashmiri dish, which also happens to have a variant. The regular rogan josh has a Kashmiri Pandit style variant that is cooked without onions, garlic, and ginger. Hard to imagine? You have to taste it to believe it.

Punjab’s love for chicken is best displayed through this dish. The chicken is roasted in clay ovens, and is usually served with a side of chopped onions with green chutney that is made with mint and chillies. A great appetizer, tandoori chicken is actually even better with some drinks. If you want to take it up a notch, try the butter chicken, which is basically the same tandoori chicken in a buttery, creamy gravy.