What to Eat in South Asia: Food You Shouldn’t Miss

South Asia’s kitchens span Himalayan foothills, river deltas, and tropical coasts, shaping staples from wheat and millet to fragrant rice. Monsoons dictate planting and river catch, while arid zones favor ghee, drying, and spice-preserving techniques. Spice use emphasizes layering aromatics, not only heat.

Daily meals center on rice or flatbreads with legumes, vegetables, pickles, and regionally specific proteins. Breakfasts can be substantial, street snacks are integral, and festivals anchor communal cooking. Religious norms—vegetarian traditions and halal requirements—guide choices without limiting culinary range.

Indian biryani layers long-grain basmati rice with marinated meat—often goat or chicken—yogurt, browned onions, ginger, garlic, and whole spices like cardamom, cloves, and bay leaves. In the Hyderabadi kacchi style, raw spiced meat goes under parboiled rice, the pot is sealed with dough, and everything cooks together on dum; Lucknow’s Awadhi version par-cooks meat and rice separately before delicate layering with saffron-infused milk and ghee. The result is aromatic, with separate, fluffy grains, tender meat, and nuanced spice rather than aggressive heat. Linked to Mughal courts and regional Nawabi kitchens, biryani marks weddings, Eid gatherings, and weekend family meals, and is widely eaten for lunch or dinner in cities such as Hyderabad and Lucknow.

Nihari is a gelatin-rich stew traditionally simmered overnight from beef or mutton shank, marrow bones, and a warm masala combining fennel, black pepper, ginger, and cardamom. Cooks often whisk in a small amount of toasted wheat flour to stabilize the glossy broth, then finish with ghee; it’s served with naan, sheermal, or kulcha and garnished with sliced green chilies, fresh coriander, lemon, and matchsticks of ginger. The texture is silky with soft connective tissue, and the flavor is deep and warming without overwhelming heat. Emerging in late Mughal-era Delhi and flourishing in Lahore and Karachi after Partition, nihari is still taken as a hearty breakfast or early lunch, especially in cooler months and on weekends.

Ilish bhapa steams hilsa—Bangladesh’s national fish—with a paste of mustard seeds, green chilies, salt, turmeric, and pungent mustard oil. Cooks grind yellow and black mustard with a splash of water, coat thick fish steaks, then steam them tightly covered in a pan or wrapped in banana leaves; some set the sealed dish atop a pot of boiling rice to use residual steam. The flesh turns soft and oily, perfumed by sharp mustard and chili, with fine bones requiring patient eating. Closely tied to monsoon-season catches from the Padma and Meghna river systems and to celebrations such as Pahela Baishakh, it is eaten at home with plain steamed rice in Dhaka and throughout riverine districts, typically at lunch when the day’s fish is freshest.

Hoppers, or appa, are bowl-shaped crepes made from rice flour and coconut milk, fermented with toddy or yeast until slightly tangy. A ladle of thin batter swirls in a small wok-like appachatti, creating crisp lace at the edges and a soft, spongy center; an egg can be cracked inside for a runny-yolk variant. They are served with pol sambol (grated coconut, chili, lime), lunu miris (chili-onion paste), and mild coconut gravies like kiri hodi, yielding a balance of crunch, creaminess, and heat. Influenced by South Indian appam yet distinctly Sri Lankan in its coconut-forward profile, hoppers are a staple of evening meals and casual breakfasts in Colombo and across the island’s humid, coconut-growing lowlands.

Nepali momo are pleated dumplings with thin wheat wrappers filled with minced buffalo, chicken, pork, or vegetables such as cabbage and paneer, seasoned with garlic, ginger, scallion, and timur (a local Sichuan pepper relative). They are steamed in tiered metal trays until the wrappers become translucent and the filling juicy, then served with tomato-sesame achar or a jhol (brothy) sauce that adds tang, nuttiness, and gentle heat with a light numbing finish from timur. Adapted from Tibetan and northern Himalayan dumplings, momo spread through the Kathmandu Valley via Newar traders and teahouses, evolving into a national snack and casual meal. They are eaten year-round, with extra appeal on chilly evenings or during gatherings when a plate of freshly steamed momo is shared.

South Asian cuisine balances climate and history: rice and river fish along monsoon coasts, slow-cooked gravies in plains cities, fermented batters and coconut in the tropics, and Himalayan dumplings for cool nights. Techniques prize aroma, texture, and careful spice layering. To keep exploring regional foodways and plan trips by season, browse more culinary guides on Sunheron.com.