The Indian sandwich is a bread and a filling, but the bread is rarely just bread and the filling is rarely just one thing. The defining move is assembly under pressure on a street cart: a fried potato dumpling smashed into a soft pav with two chutneys, a flaky paratha rolled hot around skewered meat, a slice-bread stack layered with boiled potato and a fierce green chutney and pressed on a grill. The bread carries, the chutney argues, the spice decides.
The catalog of 281 sorts along those forms. The largest single force is the pav, the soft Portuguese-descended roll that Mumbai turned into a national habit: vada pav, pav bhaji, and a long bench of bhaji, keema, misal and usal versions. Around it stand the Kolkata kathi roll and the Mumbai frankie, the wrap that eats on the move; the fried-snack counter of bread rolls, pakoras, cutlets, chops and puffs; and the griddle-and-tandoor breads, the dosa, the stuffed paratha, the kulcha and naan, the puffed bhatura and puri. The South contributes its tiffin of idli, vada and uttapam, the cafe contributes the grilled Bombay sandwich, and the chutney is the constant under all of it.
The categories below capture how the catalog actually sorts. The two giants are the pav family and the rolls; the sandwich, paratha and dosa anchors carry the everyday meal. Below the anchors, the full filterable catalog lets you browse every entry by name or category.
Browse by family
Vada Pav
Mumbai's defining street sandwich: a deep-fried spiced potato dumpling crushed into a soft pav with garlic chutney, green chutney and a fried chilli. · 11 sandwiches
Pav Bhaji
A spiced mashed-vegetable curry griddled with butter and served with soft pav toasted in the same butter: Mumbai's communal griddle dish. · 9 sandwiches
Pav & Pao
The soft roll as everyday vehicle: keema, bhurji, misal, usal, samosa and the Goan pao curries, plus the bread itself and the bun maska. · 29 sandwiches
Dabeli
Kutch's sweet-spicy potato pav: dabeli-masala potato with pomegranate, roasted peanuts, sev and three chutneys in a soft roll. · 9 sandwiches
Frankie
Mumbai's rolled wrap: a chapati or paratha cooked with egg, wrapped tight around spiced veg or meat with onion and a tangy frankie masala. · 10 sandwiches
Bread Roll, Pakora, Cutlet & Puff
The fried-snack counter: bread pakora and bread rolls, vegetable and meat cutlets and chops, and the flaky bakery puff. · 24 sandwiches
Kathi Roll
Kolkata's iconic wrap: a flaky paratha or roomali roti rolled around skewered kebab, egg, paneer or soya with onion, chutney and lime. · 29 sandwiches
Bombay Sandwich & Grilled Sandwich
The cafe grilled sandwich: white bread layered with potato, cucumber, tomato and fierce green chutney, buttered and pressed, plus its many fillings. · 35 sandwiches
Dosa
The fermented rice-and-lentil crepe, crisp and tangy, folded around spiced potato or eaten plain with chutney and sambar. · 17 sandwiches
Paratha & Parotta
The stuffed and layered griddle flatbread: aloo, gobi, paneer, keema and herb parathas, plus the flaky Kerala parotta and kothu parotta. · 28 sandwiches
Kulcha
Punjab's leavened griddle-or-tandoor flatbread, plain or stuffed with potato, onion, paneer or cauliflower, classically paired with chole. · 13 sandwiches
Naan & Sheermal
The leavened tandoor flatbread: butter, garlic, cheese, keema and paneer naan, the sweet Peshawari and Awadhi sheermal, and the naan wraps. · 11 sandwiches
Chole Bhature, Puri & Luchi
The deep-fried puffed bread with curry: bhatura with chole, puri with aloo sabzi, and the Bengali luchi, eaten by tearing and scooping. · 10 sandwiches
Idli, Medu Vada & Uttapam
The steamed and fried South tiffin: soft idli, crisp medu vada, thick topped uttapam, lacy appam and the moong pesarattu, with chutney and sambar. · 13 sandwiches
The Indian Burger
The patty in a bun, Indianised: the aloo tikki burger and its paneer, chicken and McAloo cousins, spiced and chutney-dressed. · 6 sandwiches
Kachori & Kochuri
The deep-fried stuffed pastry ball: dal, onion and pea kachori and the Bengali kochuri, crisp-shelled and eaten with a potato curry. · 6 sandwiches
Shawarma & Falafel Wrap
The adopted Levantine wraps: spit-roasted chicken shawarma and the falafel wrap, given an Indian spice and chutney accent. · 3 sandwiches
Roti, Chapati & the Plain Breads
The everyday unleavened breads: chapati and phulka, tandoori and makki roti, the regional bhakri, thepla, thalipeeth and paper-thin rumali. · 10 sandwiches
Chutney & the Indian Table
The spreads and the table that frame every sandwich: green, coconut, peanut, tomato, tamarind and red garlic chutney, plus the odd thali bread. · 8 sandwiches