Gajak is a sweet, dry snack with North Indian origins, made with sesame seeds and jaggery. Although thinly layered squares of gajak can be stored for a few months, the snack is most commonly consumed in the winter months since it is a part of typical Indian festive cuisine.

It is usually prepared around the harvest time and consumed at festivals such as Pongal. Flavorful and nutritious, gajak has many variations depending on the region, so in South India it is shaped into balls, and in North India, jaggery is sometimes substituted with sugar. 

Churma is a north Indian dish that is mainly prepared with various types of crumbled bread. It is especially popular in Rajasthan where it is made with baati (bati) bread, and Haryana, where the locals opt for roti, paratha, or puri.

The fine crumbs are then mixed with ghee, sugar, cardamom, and (often) various nuts or, occasionally, dry fruits. The dish is usually finished off with melted ghee. In Rajasthan, churma is mostly enjoyed as a part of a dish named dal bati churma—a delicious combination of churma, dal, and baati bread. 

Masala papad is a traditional snack and a version of papadum flatbread that’s topped with a mix of tangy and spicy ingredients. The flatbread is roasted or fried and it’s usually made with lentil, chickpea, or rice flour. After it’s been roasted or fried until crunchy, it’s topped with a mixture of onions, tomatoes, coriander, hot chili powder, lemon juice, chaat masala, and salt.

It’s important to add the topping after the flatbread has been fried or roasted, otherwise it will get soggy. If desired, additional ingredients can be added to the topping, such as cucumbers, mint leaves, carrots, or raw mango. Masala papad is traditionally served as a snack or an appetizer, but it can also be served as an accompaniment to various Indian meals.

Hailing from North India, dal puri is a variety of puri, a type of round-shaped Indian bread that is deep-fried until crispy, puffy, and golden. This version of the bread consists of puri dough that’s kneaded with a lentil-based mixture.

Numerous versions of the dish exist throughout different regions, and depending on the spices used for its preparation, the dish can range from mildly spicy to hot. The dough is typically made with plain flour, water, salt, and oil, while the filling usually combines mung dal lentils with oil and spices such as ginger, green chili, cumin, fennel seed powder, mango powder, asafetida, and salt. 

The city of Bikaner in the Indian state of Rajasthan is most famous for its bhujia, a popular, crispy snack made with flour and a variety of spices. It is characterized by its intense yellow color. Although the snack is commonly consumed throughout India, the authentic Bikaneri bhujia is not made with besan gram flour, but with ground moth lentils, an unusual crop growing only in the deserts of Bikaner and Jodhpur, giving the snack its unique crispness.

It is said that the first bhujia was made in Bikaner around 1877, during the time of Maharaja Dungar Singh Ji. With its long shelf life and unique ingredients, the snack was granted a Geographical Indication protection (GI) in September 2010, ensuring that only registered and authorized producers can make and sell this flavorful snack under the branded name.