Indian Street Food List: 30 Famous Dishes You Must Try, Region by Region
The Indian Street food is the daily diet of Indian streets: it is quick, cheap and full of flavour, and is typically cooked on the spot on food carts, roadside kiosks or thelas. There is a snack dish for each region and many regional names for the same dish, from golgappa in Delhi to vada-pav in Mumbai and kathi roll in Kolkata.
Here in this guide, you get to know 30 popular street foods from all over India categorized by region. For each dish, we explain what it is, where it comes from and how locals eat it. There is also a quick master table, a list of what different states call pani puri, and a look at the people who actually cook this food every day.
The most well known street foods of India are pani-puri (or golgappa), vada pav, pav bhaji, samosa, aloo tikki chaat, chole-bhature, kathi-roll, dosa, momos and pyaaz-kachori. Pani puri is popular in almost all the states of India, with different local names, and is considered as the most loved street food in India.
Key takeaways
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Street food in India varies every couple of hundreds of kilometres. People in North India enjoy eating chaat and fried bread, those in West India enjoy pav based snacks, those of South India enjoy dosas and fritters and those of East India enjoy rolls and puffed rice.
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In 2026, three Indian cities were included in the Time Out's list of the world's best street food cities: Mumbai (#10), Jaipur (#15) and New Delhi (#19).
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The most popular Indian street food is of course vegetarian food but cities like Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi are also known for their non-veg street food.
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Almost all of this food is prepared by free-lance street vendors, many of whom don't have any fixed location.
Indian Street Food List: The Master Table
Here is the full list of popular Indian street food in this guide, with the region each dish is best known for and its other common names.
North Indian Street Food
The cuisine of north Indian street food is known for its tangy chaat, deep fried breads and rich curries. This food culture is at its best in Delhi, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh and a lot of these snacks can be found throughout the whole of India.
Golgappa
Spiced potato and chickpea filled hollow crispy puris dipped in tangy tamarind and mint water. While standing at the cart, you take a bite off of it, the vendor refills it and you take another bite, and so on. It is undoubtedly the most popular Indian street food snack and nearly every state has its own name for it (see names below).
Aloo Tikki Chaat
A crispy potato patty, made on a big flat tawa, topped with chole, curd, green chutney, sweet tamarind chutney, onions and sev. A complete meal in a bowl and one of the most popular chaat items of North India.
Chole Bhature
The large, puffed deep fried bhature served with a spicy chickpea curry, onions and pickle. A beloved Punjabi dish and popular breakfast/lunch snack in Delhi.
Samosa
A triangular pastry filled with spiced potato and peas and fried to get it golden when served with chutney. The samosa is a dish that has been introduced in India several hundred years ago by traders from Central Asia, and is served in almost every tea stall in India today.
Matar Kulcha
Soft kulcha bread served with a tangy white pea curry topped with onions, tomatoes and lemon. One of the most popular street foods in Delhi that is typically sold from a cart equipped with a large brass or steel pot.
Ram Laddoo
Despite the name, this is not sweet. Ram laddoo are fried moong dal fritters served with grated radish and green chutney. They are a winter favourite on the streets of Delhi.
Dahi Bhalla
Soft lentil dumplings soaked in thick, chilled curd and topped with sweet and green chutneys and roasted cumin. Cooling and light, it is a popular chaat in the summer.
West Indian Street Food
West India's street food is built around pav (soft bread rolls) and crunchy snacks. Mumbai, which Time Out ranked as the 10th best street food city in the world in 2026, is the capital of this style.
Vada Pav
A potato fritter (vada) filled with spiced chilli and a fried green chilli in a soft pav. Vada pav, as it's often referred to in Mumbai, is a local favourite snack, and was popularised as a cheap, filling food for the working class in the city.
Pav Bhaji
A thick, buttery mashed vegetable curry (bhaji) served with pav toasted on the same tawa. It was first made as a quick meal for Mumbai's textile mill workers and is now sold on carts across India.
Bhel Puri
Sev, onions, tomatoes, boiled potato and chutneys, mixed with puffed rice. It is light, crisp and fresh, particularly at Mumbai's beaches.
Sev Puri
Flat, crisp puris topped with potato, onions, chutneys and a thick layer of sev. It is a cousin of bhel puri and a staple at every Mumbai chaat stall.
Misal Pav
Spicy curry of sprouted beans topped with farsan (crunchy mixture), onions and lemon and served with pav. Different cities in Maharashtra, like Pune, Kolhapur and Nashik, each have their own style, and some are very hot.
Dabeli
Sweet, spicy potato filling made and stuffed in Pav with roasted peanuts and Pomegranate seeds. Dabeli originated in Kutch of Gujarat and is now enjoyed all over western India.
Khaman Dhokla
Soft, spongy steamed gram flour cakes with a tempering of mustard seeds and green chillies. It is a light and healthy Gujarati street snack, usually sold by weight.
Central Indian Street Food
Indore in Madhya Pradesh is one of India's most loved food cities, with busy night food markets and a strong breakfast culture.
Poha Jalebi
Light, flattened rice cooked with onions, turmeric and peanuts, topped with sev, and eaten with hot jalebi on the side. It is the classic Indore breakfast.
Bhutte ka Kees
Grated corn cooked in milk and ghee with spices, finished with lemon and coriander. It is a unique Indore street food you will rarely find anywhere else.
Rajasthani Street Food
Rajasthan's street food is bold, spicy and often fried. Jaipur, ranked 15th in Time Out's 2026 street food list, is the best place to try it. For an area-by-area guide, read our Jaipur street food guide.
Pyaaz Kachori
Delicious onion stuffed kachori, deep fried and served with sweet tamarind chutney.
Mirchi Bada
Large green chilli stuffed with spiced potato and gram flour batter and deep fried. It is typically consumed along with pyaaz kachori.
Ghewar
A sweet in the shape of a ball, prepared from flour and ghee, soaked in sugar syrup and sometimes stuffed with rabdi. This is a treat of the season, especially during the monsoon festival of Teej.
East and North-East Indian Street Food
Street food in East India has a Bengali, Bihari and Odia twist and dumplings and noodles are a part of the North-East. Kolkata is the largest street food market in this area.
Kathi Roll
A flaky paratha wrapped around grilled kebabs, egg, paneer or vegetables, with onions and chutney. Kathi rolls were born in Kolkata and are now one of India's most popular grab-and-go snacks.
Jhal Muri
Puffed rice mixed with mustard oil, chopped onions, green chillies, boiled potato and spices. This is a light and spicy snack that is a favourite of Kolkatas late nighttime snack bars, often served in a paper cone.
Ghugni
A mildly spiced yellow pea curry topped with onions and chutney. Usually served on a plate as a street food in West Bengal and Odisha, with puffed rice or bread.
Litti Chokha
Small balls of dough made from whole wheat, stuffed with spiced sattu (roasted gram flour), roasted on the fire and served with chokha, a smoky mashed dish of brinjal, potato and tomato. This is Bihar's pride.
Momos
Vegetable or paneer or chicken filled dumplings steamed or fried to your taste and a red chutney for additional heat. Momos were introduced in India from Tibet and Nepal and are found in Delhi and the North-East among the most popular foods on the street.
South Indian Street Food
South Indian street food goes far beyond restaurant dosas. Its streets serve fritters, shredded parotta and even a noodle dish from Myanmar.
Masala Dosa
A thin, crispy rice and lentil crepe filled with spiced potato, served with coconut chutney and sambar. Street dosa carts often make it on huge iron tawas, very fast.
Idli Vada
Sambar & Chutney with soft steamed rice cakes (idli) and crispy lentil doughnuts (vada). It is the most popular street breakfast in Tamilnadu and Karnataka.
Mirchi Bajji
Onion-topped, large green chillies dipped in gram flour batter and deep fried, sometimes slit. A popular pastime during the rainy season in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Kothu Parotta
Layered parotta shredded on a hot griddle with egg, meat or vegetables and spicy gravy. You can often hear it before you see it, because the vendor chops it loudly with two steel blades. It is a Tamil Nadu night-time favourite.
Atho
A noodle salad with cabbage, onions, lemon and spices, often served with a light soup. Atho came to Chennai from Burma (Myanmar) with Indian-origin families who returned to India, and it is now a famous Chennai street food.
Pazham Pori
Ripe plantain slices dipped in a sweet batter and fried until golden. In Kerala, it is the classic tea-time snack sold at small tea stalls.
One Dish, Many Names: What Is Pani Puri Called in Different States?
Pani puri is the same basic snack across India, but every region has its own name and its own style of water and filling.
So if someone in Kolkata asks for puchka and someone in Jaipur asks for patashi, they are asking for almost the same thing.
Who Cooks India's Street Food?
Almost all Indian street food is cooked by independent street vendors, people with a cart, a stove and a recipe they have perfected over years. They make a significant contribution to the Indian economy. Under the government's PM SVANidhi scheme, more than 68 lakh street vendors had received over 96 lakh loans worth ₹13,797 crore by mid-2025.
However, most vendors still have one major issue, and that is – where to stay?
Yet most vendors still face one big problem: they have no fixed place. A cart can move streets, change timings or shift to a new area, and loyal customers lose track of it overnight. You can learn more about how vendors are building a digital identity on our Empower page.
How to Spot Good Street Food (and Find It Fast)
The best street food is rarely on a restaurant app. It is on a cart around the corner. A few simple rules help:
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Follow the crowd. A busy cart sells food faster, so ingredients stay fresh.
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Eat it hot. Choose snacks cooked in front of you, like tikki, pav bhaji or kachori.
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Check the water and the counter. For pani puri especially, the water should be covered and the cart clean.
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Ask locals. Every neighbourhood has its own favourite thela.
Or skip the guesswork. OnGoCart is a Made-in-India app that shows street food carts open near you on a live map, with what they sell and when they are open. No login needed. Apne favourite thele ko kabhi mat khona.
Are you a street food vendor? List your cart on OnGoCart so nearby customers can find you. Planning to start? Read our food cart price guide first.
Final Thoughts
Indian Street Food is NOT one cuisine. It's hundreds of snacks, each uniquely influenced by the city, its climate and the cooks who prepare them daily! Begin with traditional items such as golgappa, vada pav and kathi roll, and then venture outside of your comfort zone the next time and sample foods from other regions.
Find India's best street food around you
OnGoCart app Google Play Store se download karein aur apne area ke khule thele live dekhein.
FAQs
Pani puri or golgappa or puchka is the most popular street food in India as it is sold in every state. Vada pav, pav bhaji, samosa, aloo tikki chaat, chole bhature, kathi roll, masala dosa and momos are other popular Indian street foods that are loved by a lot of people.
Golgappa or pani puri is its name in Delhi and Punjab, puchka in Maharashtra, Gujarat and South India, gupchup in Odisha and pani ke patashe or patashi in Rajasthan and certain parts of Uttar Pradesh.
India has some of the best street food cities including Mumbai, Jaipur and New Delhi. Mumbai was placed in the 10th position in the Top 200 list of the best street food cities in the world, while Jaipur was in the 15th position and New Delhi in the 19th. Street food, too, is a specialty in Kolkata, Indore, Lucknow and Chennai.
Fried breads and chickpea curries such as aloo tikki, chole bhature and golgappa, along with chaat, are the specialty of north Indian street food. Rice and lentil batters/fritters form the backbone of the cuisine in south Indian street food, such as dosa, idli vada, mirchi bajji and kothu parotta.
Yes, most of the popular Indian street food is vegetarian such as chaat, pav based snacks and South Indian breakfasts. In urban places such as Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, and Hyderabad, non-vegetarian dishes such as kathi rolls, momos, kothu parotta and kebabs are popular.
The easiest way is the OnGoCart app, which shows street food carts open around you on a live map, along with what they sell and when they are open. You do not need to log in to use it.