India is a diverse country and this diversity carries on into Indian cuisine which comprises of a number of regional cuisines. The diversity in soil type, climate & culture makes these cuisines different from each other primarily due to the use of available spices, herbs, vegetables and fruits. Indian appetizers have also been heavily influenced by traditions, religion and region.

What is an Appitizer?

An appetizer is a small starter dish served before a meal. Appetizer can be veg or non-veg hot, cold sweet, salty and anything in between. There is one dish though which you cant have in full if you are not completely empty stoamch, its the 37 course delicacy from Kashmir, the famous Kashmiri Wazwan . If you ever plan a trip to Kashmir , don't miss it.

 

Getting to the meat of the discussion. Some Veg Indian Appetizers are:

• ALOO TIKKI: The ever popular aloo tikki is made from mashed potatoes with many spices and herbs. It basically is a cutlet made out of boiled potatoes and is popular all over india. Mint chutney and tamrind sauce adds to the flavour.
• PANEER TIKKA: Another popular Veg Indian appetizer. It consists of cubes of cheese mixed with spices that are marinated and then roasted. It tastes best with a diverse varieties of chutneys.
• SPRING ROLL: Another popular starter, spring rolls consists of a wrapper and a filling moulded together to form a cylindrical shape 5-6 inches long.The filling is made up of different spices and vegetables and the wrapper is made up of wheat flour.
• PAKORAS: The ever popular pakoras, loved by children and adults alike. It consists of an inner filling and a outer wrapper made from besan. Inner filling can have different types of vegetables like potato, onion etc. It tastes best with mint chutney or tomato ketchup .
• CHILLY PANEER: A popular Chinese Indian dish, it is delicious and spicy. It contains bite sized cheese pieces mixed with different spices in a corn starch covering.
• PANI PURI: Crispy and crunchy pani puri is an absolute treat for your taste buds. It contains of a round, hollow puri made up of flour with a combination of chilli, chutney, flavoured water, chaat masala, potato etc.
• BHEL PURI: Bhel puri is a tangy, sweet and salty mixture of many ingredients. It mainly contains of rice mixed with onions, tomatoes, chutney etc with a tinge of lime.
• IDLI: Is a type of rice cake made by steaming a batter of black lentils and rice. It is very popular in south india and is a good appertizer for your stomach.

Other Non Veg Indian Apetizers are:

• SEEKH KEBAB: A must try for non veg lovers, seekh kebab is all you need to get that dinner party going. Made up of minced mutton or beef, it is a juicy and tastes best with mint chutney.
• PRAWN MASALA KOZHUKATTAI: This appetizer is for the sea food lovers. As the name suggest this snack contains prawn masala filled into rice flour covering to make a dumpling.
• MUTTON KEEMA SAMOSA: Mutton keema samosa is unique appetizer with mutton filling inside a flour (maida) covering to make a dumping known as samosa. It tastes best with mint chutney or tomato ketchup.
• MEAT BALLS (GOLA KEBAB): Made from minced meat, this dish is very versatile and can be enjoyed with a wide varieties of chutneys. It is also a good choice for health conscious folks as it is roasted in minimum amount of oil.
• PRAWN CUTLET: This juicy starter is made from prawn or shrimp, breadcrumbs, herbs and different spices. Pair with some tomato garlic sauce or chutney and you have a winner on your hands.

Over to You

This was some information about the various appitizers that I have tried in my life. There might be more Indian Appitizers that you may want to explore. Btw, good luck with your search.