Probably the best known of all Indian dishes, murgh makhani, internationally referred to as butter chicken, is a staple dish at most Indian restaurants. The dish originated in Delhi during the 1950s, when a man named Kundan Lal Gujral opened his restaurant called Moti Mahal.

The restaurant's cooks combined leftover marinade juices with tomatoes and butter, and then stewed the tandoor-cooked chicken in it, without even knowing that they have accidentally stumbled upon one of the most loved dishes ever and a future international delicacy. 

Keema is a stew that is usually prepared as a curry with ingredients such as minced lamb or chicken meat, green peas, ginger-garlic paste, chili, onions, ghee, and garam masala spices. The name of the dish means minced meat in Urdu. Although keema is most popular in north India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, some believe that the dish has Persian origins due to the fact that it was first mentioned as a recipe in Ain-I-Akbari (a document about emperor Akbar's empire).

Keema is commonly served as a main dish, accompanied by pav buns or naan and other flatbreads. It can also be used as a filling for samosas and parathas.

Tandoori chicken or tandoori murgh is one of the most popular dishes in Indian cuisine, its name derived from the Persian word tannur, meaning fire. The dish consists of chicken meat that is marinated in yogurt, seasoned with tandoori masala, nutmeg, and cumin, then placed on skewers.

It is a unique dish because of the way it is prepared - traditionally, it is cooked at high temperatures in cylindrical clay ovens called tandoor, resulting in succulent meat with a smokey flavor. One popular theory suggests that it was invented by a man named Kundan Lal Gujral in his restaurant Moti Mahal (Palace of Pearls). 

Korma is a creamy meat stew (although it could also be made in a vegetarian version) with a mild flavor, made with saffron, yogurt, and various spices such as coriander, ginger, cumin seeds, chiles, and turmeric. It is believed that it originated in the royal kitchen of Akbar during the mid-1500s as a fusion of Persian and Indian cuisine.

The dish got its name after one of the tribes of the Rajputs, a warrior clan of western India. It is recommended to serve kormas with flatbreads such as chapati, paratha, or naan. There are three main bases of korma: North Indian korma with almonds, cashews and yogurt (there are two subgroups of this korma: Mughalai (with reduced milk) and Shahi (with cream)), korma Kashmir with almonds, cashews, yogurt, milk, and dried fruits, and South Indian korma with coconut, coconut milk, almonds, cayenne peppers, and fennel seeds.

Chicken 65 is a classic poultry dish with origins in Chennai, India. It consists of deep-fried chicken that is marinated in ginger, lemon, red chiles, and a variety of other spices. There are a few theories about the origin of chicken 65. The most popular theory says that it was created in Tamil Nadu by A. M. Buhari in 1965.

Another one says that the original dish was made with 65 hot chili peppers, as a testament of manliness. There are also some unlikely theories, such as the one claiming that the chicken was cut into 65 pieces, or that the chicken was 65 days old when the dish was prepared. 

Rogan josh is an aromatic lamb curry that is believed to be of Persian origin, although today it is more closely associated with the Kashmir region of India. The stew is characterized by tender meat and a thick, fiery red sauce coming from deseeded Kashmiri chillies.

Lamb pieces are typically stewed in a gravy made with browned onions, garlic, yogurt, ginger, and aromatic herbs and spices. The name of the dish is derived from two words: rogan, meaning clarified butter or oil, and josh, referring to passion or heat. 

Nihari is a popular meat-based dish originating from Old Delhi. When Pakistan gained independence in 1947, numerous immigrants from Delhi settled in Karachi, where they established their own restaurants, so nihar is also associated with Pakistani cuisine.

The dish consists of slowly cooked meat such as beef shanks, mutton, or chicken. The meat is cooked together with stock and numerous spices such as cumin, cloves, garam masala, and cardamom in big vessels which are sealed with dough. It takes anywhere from six to eight hours for nihari to be cooked properly, and it is traditionally consumed for breakfast, since the name of the dish is derived from the Arabic word nahar, meaning morning. 

Murgh rezala is a traditional curry originating from East India, and it’s especially popular in Bengal. This aromatic and rich curry is usually made with a combination of chicken, dahi, oil, ghee, cashews, poppy seeds, ginger-garlic paste, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, peppercorns, hot peppers, white pepper, salt, garam masala, milk, and saffron.

The cashews and poppy seeds are soaked in water and ground into a paste. The chicken is marinated in a mixture of yogurt, ginger, and garlic. The cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom, and dried hot peppers are fried in ghee and oil, and the marinated chicken pieces are then added to the pan and fried over high heat. 

Murgh tikka is a popular Indian dish made from marinated chicken pieces that are grilled or roasted to perfection. The word "murgh" means chicken in Hindi and Urdu, and "tikka" refers to small, boneless pieces of meat that are marinated and cooked on skewers.

The chicken is typically marinated in a mixture of yogurt, spices, lemon juice, and sometimes mustard oil, which tenderizes the meat and infuses it with a rich, tangy flavor. Common spices in the marinade include turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala, red chili powder, and paprika, which also give the dish its signature bright orange or red hue.