Most Indian main dishes are built around a few master sauces. The most important is the onion-tomato gravy: onions are slowly caramelized, often for 15 to 30 minutes, until deeply browned, then combined with tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste, and ground spices. The cook looks for the sign that "oil should separate" from the masala, which indicates the base is properly cooked and ready for the main ingredient. This slow frying technique, known as bhuna, concentrates flavors and is fundamental to North Indian restaurant-style cooking.
Paneer, a fresh non-melting cheese made by heating milk, adding an acid such as lemon juice or vinegar, and straining the curds, anchors many beloved vegetarian dishes. Palak paneer features paneer cubes in a spinach gravy, while matar paneer combines peas and paneer in tomato sauce. Paneer tikka is marinated paneer grilled in a tandoor, typically with a yogurt, ginger-garlic, lemon, garam masala, and chili marinade.
Meat dishes follow similar logic. Butter chicken, or murgh makhani, is grilled chicken simmered in a sauce of tomato, butter, and cream. Tikka masala is closely related, usually with a slightly spicier, more tomato-forward sauce. Rogan josh is a Kashmiri lamb curry built on red chili and yogurt. Marinades based on dahi (yogurt) tenderize meat and add tang, and ideally the meat is marinated for several hours or overnight. Tandoori chicken is recognizable by its deep red color, which traditionally comes from chili, paprika, or kasoori methi, although commercial versions often add food coloring.
Lentil and legume dishes are everyday staples. Chana masala is a tangy chickpea curry popular across North India. Rajma, a kidney bean stew, is a beloved Punjabi comfort food. Dal makhani is a particularly rich dish of slow-cooked black lentils and butter, simmered for at least 8 hours and finished with cream. Vegetable dishes, called sabzi, range from dry preparations with little sauce to wet curries with abundant gravy. Bhindi masala is spiced okra cooked dry; the trick is to dry the okra well so its natural mucilage cooks away. Aloo gobi is a dry potato-and-cauliflower curry, while baingan bharta is a smoky mashed eggplant traditionally charred whole over a flame before being cooked down with spices.