Indian food is known for its bold flavours, colourful plates and endless variety. Every region has its own way of turning simple ingredients into something exciting. Indian appetisers are all about texture, spice and balance – crispy meets soft, spicy meets sweet, and every bite tells a small story. That is probably why desi food keeps drawing global attention. A US-based food content creator, Richard Antablian, recently took on a fun challenge on Instagram. He set out to answer one question: “What is the best Indian food appetiser?” To find out, he uploaded two videos and tasted some of India's most loved starters.
In part one, Richard kicked things off with pani puri. He described it as a “crispy puff filled with potato topped with spiced mint sauce,” adding that it tasted like a “healthy green juice.” Next came the masala dosa, which he called a crepe filled with potatoes. The food content creator enjoyed the South Indian delicacy with coconut chutney and sambar. According to him, the coconut chutney cools down the spices, while sambar is something you could even eat by itself. Richard then moved on to paneer pakora. Sev puri followed, which he described as onions and potatoes on a crispy wafer, finished with chutney. He ended part one by teasing that five more dishes were still left to try.
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Part two picked up with dahi puri. While the content creator liked it, he admitted he preferred pani puri more. Richard then tasted the classic samosa, paired with mint and tamarind chutneys. Aloo tikki came next. Uttapam turned out to be his least favourite. He compared it to a flavourless pancake. Masala fries were the last in Richard's list.
After trying everything, Richard finally picked his winner. His favourite Indian appetiser was pani puri – a choice many of us would probably agree with.
Here is how the internet reacted to these viral videos:
A user wrote, “Pani Puri is always the best.”
Another one added, “Yep, pani puri was the only right answer.”
“Welcome to India: Pani puri is the can 'never say no' snack,” read a comment.
An Indian said, “Finally, someone pronounced all the dishes correctly. Thank you.”
A foodie commented, “My mouth's watering with all the chutneys.”
A few chimed in, saying, “I want to eat them all.”
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