On World Food Day, a look at 69 world-famous foods from ghee to Jalfrezi that originated in India or were reinvented here.

In 2022, Indian food emerged as the second most popular cuisine on social media and had the fastest growth rate of 41 percent. According to a Brief Mood Introspection Study (BMIS) by German food ordering company lieferando.at, Indian food emerged as the "happiest food" that increased happiness by 83 percent.On World Food Day, lets look at 75 Indian dishes that have made it to the global plate.

1.Chutney: Borrowing from the Sanskrit word chaatni (to lick), Indian chutney was subsequently adopted by the Romans and British, thanks to their encounters and contacts with the Indian subcontinent.

Samosa and chutney (Photo by Zis Food & Nature Art via Pexels)

2. Samosa: The earliest mention of the samosa was by Abbasid-era poet Ishaq al-Mawsili, praising the sanbusaj. Recipes are found in 10th13th-century Arab cookery books, under the names sanbusak, sanbusaq, and sanbusaj, all deriving from the Persian word sanbosag. It came to India during the Delhi Sultanate period.

3. Papadum: The origin of the papadum (poppadom) is India and it has made way across other South Asian countries.

4. Biryani: The word Biryani is derived from the Persian word Birian, which means 'fried before cooking', and Birinj, the Persian word for rice. There are several stories about biryani beginning in India, one of them being that the Turk-Mongol conqueror, Timur, brought the precursor to the biryani with him when he arrived at the frontiers of India in 1398.

5. Punch: It is considered to be the worlds earliest cocktail and seems to have originated in India. Some accounts suggest that the name Punch is derived from the Sanskrit word paanch, since the cocktail typically comprises five elements alcohol, citrus, sugar, water and spice (mainly nutmeg).

6. Gin & Tonic: Tonic water originated in India in 1825, when British Army officers stationed in India began blending quinine with sugar, water, and gin to create a multi-tasking, malaria-fighting, accidentally delicious sundowner.

Gin and tonic (Photo by Toni Cuenca via Pexels)

7. Chai: There are many theories about the origins of chai infusions, one of them being that nearly 5,000 years ago, a king in what is now India ordered a healing spiced beverage to be created for use in Ayurveda.

8. Naan: Developed nearly 2,500 years ago, naan was invented after the arrival of yeast in India from Egypt. To be sure,leavened breadsare still eaten in many parts of the world. But the Naan has travelled the globe as part of "Indian Mughlai" cuisine.

9. Ganja: Ganja is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana in the English language and its usage in English dates to before 1689.

10. Curry leaves:The name is a derivation ofthe Tamil word Kari which means 'spiced sauce. Theuse of curry leaves dates back to early 1st to 4th century, as mentioned in Tamil and Kannada literature. This is how it's known in other languages: Burmese: Pindosine; Danish: Karrry bald; Dutch: Kerriebladeren; English: Curry leaves; French: Feuilles de cury; German: Curryblatter; Indonesian: Daun kari; Italian: Fogli de Cari; Spanish: Hoja.

(Photo by Roman Odintsov via Pexels)

11. Chicken tikka masala: Story has it that a British Pakistani chef, Ali Ahmed Aslam, invented chicken tikka masala in Glasgow by improvising a sauce made from a tin of condensed tomato soup, and spices.

12. Toddy: Derived from the Hindi word taddy, which translates as a drink made with fermented palm sap. In 1786, the word was officially used to describe an alcoholic drink made with hot water, spices, and sugar.

13. Mulligatawny: A Tamil word meaning pepper water, Mulligatawny was originally used to cure digestion issues and then adopted by Indian cooks for a soup with vegetables and spices for the British.

14. Payasam: Made with milkand starch in the form of rice, sago or vermicelli, this dessert is said to haveits roots in south India or Odisha - depending on which origin story you believe.

The first mention of it in ancient Indian literature is as a mixture of rice, milk and sugar, a formula that has endured for over 2,000 years.

15. Dal: According to The Oxford Companion to Food, technically the word dal denotes simply a split pulse, but in India it has come to encompass dried beans and peas as well as a thick pure-like stew or soup made from lentils.

16. Curry powder:At the end of the 18th century, the British officially formalized spice blends known as curry powders to recreate their favourite dishes consistently in the absence of their cooks.

17. Bhelpuri: Bhelpuri is said to have been first created in Sangli (Maharashtra) and got famous through migrants in Mumbai.

Bhelpuri (Photo by Rashmeet Kaur via Wikimedia Commons 4.0)

18. Kedegree: According to Larousse Gastronomique, kedgeree originated from a concoction of spiced lentils, rice, fried onions and ginger known as khichiri dating back to 14th century India.

19. Dosa: It is believed that the dosa was found initially in the Temple streets of Udupi (Karnataka). Chalukya King Somesvara III first referenced dosa in Tamil literature in 1054 AD.

20. Chaat: Chaat originated in northern India (now Uttar Pradesh) in the late 17th century during the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.

21. Tandoor: The tandoor may have originated in Rajasthan where archeologists have found tandoor remains dating from 2600 B.C. The first tandoors were used to bake flatbread.

22. Kebab: Kebab was invented by medieval soldiers who used their swords to grill meat over open-field fires.

Kakori Kebab: Created for the Nawab of Kakori.

Galawti kebab: Created for the ageing Nawab of Lucknow who had lost his set of teeth, but not his appetite for meat! At his behest, the royal kitchens came up with this easy to chew kebab.

23. Paneer: The National Dairy Research Institute states that paneer was introduced into India by Afghan and Iranian invaders. Based on texts such as Charaka Samhita, it is believed the earliest evidence of a heat-acid coagulated milk product in India can be traced to 75-300 AD, in the Kushan-Satavahana era.

24. Garam masala: The blend is thought to have originated in Northern India and some have traced its first use to the Mongol Empire in the 13th century.

25. Ghee: Also known as liquid gold or sacred fat, ghee originated in India, where the heat was not conducive to storing butter for long periods.

26. Kofta: According to The Oxford Companion to Food, kofta appears in some of the earliest Arabic cookbooks. Nearly every major culture has its own version of the meatball: Spanish albondigas, Dutch bitterballen, Chinese lions heads, South African skilpedjies, Kofta in India.

27. Paratha: The Hindi word paratha is derived from Sanskrit and recipes for various stuffed wheat puranpolis (parathas) are mentioned in Manasollasa, a 12th-century Sanskrit encyclopaedia compiled by Someshvara III, who ruled from present-day Karnataka.

28. Kulfi-falooda: The word kulfi comes from the Persian qulfi (covered cup). The dessert likely originated in the Mughal Empire in the 16th century.

Falooda: Originated centuries ago, in Persia, Falooda travelled to South Asia with Persian merchants and rulers who invaded the region.

29. Pilau (also pilaf or pulao): Certain historical records suggest that the word pulao, in fact, traces its roots from the Sanskrit word Pulla (meaning rice and meat).

30. Vindaloo: Originally from Goa, based on the Portuguese dish carne de vinha dalhos, it is known globally in its British Indian form as a fiery, spicy dish.

31. Butter chicken: Butter chicken originated in Delhi sometime during the 1950s.The curry is said to have been developed by Kundan Lal Jaggi and Kundan Lal Gujral, founders of the Moti Mahal restaurant in Delhi.

32. Kahwa: Many believe it originated during the Kushan empire in the first and second century AD.

33. Rogan josh: The dish was originally brought to Kashmir by the Mughals, whose cuisine was, in turn, influenced by Persian cuisine.

34. Dhansak: Roots in the Persian Khoresh (stew), this particular stew that evolved into dhansak was made with plums, lentils, spinach and meat, and was served on rice. After the migration of Persians to the sub-continent, khoresh came to be known as dhansak.

35. Bebinca: The 7-layered Goan cake was first made by a nun called Bebiana in the Convent of Santa Monica in old Goa, who baked seven layers to symbolise the seven hills of Lisbon and the old city of Goa.

36. Turmeric: The use of turmeric dates back nearly 4,000 years to the Vedic culture in India. It probably reached China by 700 AD, East Africa by 800 AD, West Africa by 1200 AD, and Jamaica in the 18th century.

37. Curry Powder: Curry powder, a commercially prepared mixture of spices marketed in the West, was first exported to Britain in the 18th century.

38. Shahi Paneer: Born in the Mughal royal kitchens. Shahi means royal in Urdu, a language commonly used by the erstwhile Muslim rulers of the Indian subcontinent.

39. Rosogolla: Odisha and West Bengal have been squabbling as the inventors of Rosogolla. Bengalis claim that it was developed in Calcutta by Nabin Chandra Das in 1868 while Odiyas say that the rosogolla is another version of the khira mohana which they had invented in the 11th century.

Gulab Jamun (Photo by Sarayu via Pexels)

40. Gulab Jamun: Said to have been invented by Bhim Chandra Nag on the occasion of a visit by Lady Canning, the wife of Charles Canning, the Governor-General of India during 185662.

41. Basmati rice: Basmati is a Sanskrit word that means perfumed one or fragrant. For millennia, it has been grown in the foothills of the Himalayas.

42. Pav:Vada pav, Keema pav, Misal pav, Pav Bhaji: Pav in Marathi means one-fourth, so a quarter of a loaf was equal to a pav. Most believe that pav is just a local adaptation of the old Portuguese word 'po' which means bread.

43. Jalebi: The Persian name is zalibiya/Zulabiya but the Indian jalebi is a global sweetheart.

44. Pakora: History tells us that in the 16th century, en route to Japan, Spanish and Portuguese ships would stop in India and would onboard cooks from India who created different ways to consume vegetables, with pakoras being one of the dishes served.

45. Keema: The word Keema is probably borrowed from the Turkish word Kyma, which means minced meat. Keema was a popular breakfast staple in the Awadhi cuisine during medieval India.

46. Chhole (Chickpea Curry): Originating in the Indian sub-continent, the first dish dates back to almost the 1940s.

47. Palak Paneer: Saag and palak (since its arrival in the subcontinent) was the rural peoples food and is now on many fine-dining menus around the world.

48. Vadouvan or vadagam: A spice ball invented in Pondicherry for the French who wanted to eat the local cuisine but, in less spicy way.

49. Pez: A rice gruel commonly eaten in Goa and other coastal areas, evolved into the Portuguese canja de galinha.

50. Thepla: Originated in Gujarat and the Gujaratis took it with them wherever they emigrated.

51. Lassi: One of the first smoothies ever created, lassi is believed to have originated somewhere around 1000 BC in Punjab and Multan.

52. Korma: Korma has its roots in the Mughlai cuisine of the Indian subcontinent and can be traced back to the 16th century.

53. Raita: A portmanteau of the Sanskrit word rajika or the derivative Hindi rai (black mustard seed), and tiktaka (sharp or pungent), the word raita first appeared in print around the 19th century.

54. Chapati: Some say that Chapati came from the Egyptian Indus Valley civilisation 5,000 years ago. Others claim it was first made in East Africa and brought over to India. Chapatis were introduced to other parts of the world by immigrants from the Indian subcontinent.

55. Pani Puri: Gol Gappe, Phuchka, Pani ka Bataasha or Patasha, Gup Chup, Phulki, Pakodi. There are many names to the dish invented in Delhi. Some say, Draupadi was the first one to make pani-puri after her mother-in-law gave her some dough and leftover potatoes and asked her to create a dish for her five husbands!

Pani Puri (Photo by Rathaphon Nanthapreecha via Pexels).

56. Dal Makhni: The original dal makhni was made by the Peshwaris in what is now part of Pakistan. The dal makhni we know is said to have been reinvented by Delhis Kundan Lal Gujral who later owned the Moti Mahal chain of restaurants.

57. Malai Kofta: Widely believed that Malai Kofta became popular during the Mughal rule in India. In the early days, this dish formed an integral part of the South Caucasian, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian cuisines.

58. Thali: Used to serve food in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean, Thali is also used to refer to a meal made up of a selection of various dishes which are served on a platter. The idea behind a thali is to offer all the 6 different flavours of sweet, salt, bitter, sour, astringent and spicy on one single plate.

59. Bhindi fry/masala: Grown first in Eritrea and the highlands of Sudan, the Bantu tribe travelled with it during they migration from Egypt in 2000 BC. Soon it was growing along the great river valleys of India and China. Charaka, called bhindi, the lotus of the earth but it was the Arabs or Africans who probably made the first Bhindi fry/masala. The transatlantic slave trade carried bhindi to the Americas.

60. Dhokla:Made with besan (gram flour), the dhokla is seeing a resurgence along with other fermented Indian foods.

61. Chicken 65: In 1965, Chicken 65 was invented by A.M. Buhari of Buhari Hotel (Tamil Nadu). The origin is debatable but it has found its place on the global menu.

62. Malpua: Originally made of barley, the most prolific grain eaten by the Aryans of the Vedic period, malpua is vey popular in Nepal, Bangladesh and a staple during Ramadan.

63. Jhal Muri: It became popular in London when a British chef named Angus Denoon tried this snack in Kolkata and started selling it on streets of London.

64.Achar: Achar (Indian pickles) has been a part of the Indian food culture and history for 4,000 years.

65. Chicken Chettinad: Part of the cuisine of a group of people known as the Nattukotai Chettiars, or Nagarathars, who live in the Chettinad area of Tamil Nadus Sivagangai district (Tamil Nadu).

66. Aloo Gobhi: Traditional Indian dish with its origins from Punjab, the humble cauliflower and potatoes got a culture nod in Gurinder Chadha's Bend It Like Beckham

67. Jalfrezi: Stemming from Bengali term jhl (spicy food) and porhez (suitable for a diet), Jalfrezi recipes appeared in cookbooks of British India as a way of using up leftovers by frying them with chilli and onion.

68. Moilee: Story goes that when the Portuguese arrived in Kerala, they could not digest the spicy food. A lady named Molly added coconut milk to the fish dish to reduce the heat.

69. Aloo tikki burger: Once the domain of street food vendors and college canteens, the cheap but delicious potato patty burger used global food chains like McDonald's as a springboard toconquer the world.

Preeti Verma Lal is a Goa-based freelance writer/photographer.

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World Food Day 2023: 69 Indian dishes on the global plate - Moneycontrol