North Indian cuisine is distinguished by the higher proportion-wise use of dairy products; milk, paneer, ghee (clarified butter), and yoghurt (yogurt, yoghourt) are all common ingredients. Gravies are typically dairy-based. Other common ingredients include chilies, saffron, and nuts.

North Indian cooking features the use of the "tawa" (griddle) for baking flat breads like roti and paratha, and "tandoor"(a large and cylindrical coal-fired oven) for baking breads such as naan, kulcha and khakhra; main courses like tandoori chicken also cook in the tandoor. Other breads like puri and bahtoora, which are deep fried in oil, are also common. Goat and lamb meats are favored ingredients of many northern Indian recipes.

The samosa is a popular North Indian snack, and now commonly found in other parts of India, Central Asia and the Middle East. A common variety is filled with boiled, fried, or mashed potato. Other fillings include minced meat, cheese (paneer), mushroom (khumbi) and chickpeas.

The staple food of most of North India is a variety of lentils, vegetables, and roti (wheat based bread). The varieties used and the method of preparation can vary from place to place. Popular dishes include buknu, gujiya, chaat, daal ki kachauri, jalebi, imarti, several types of pickles (or achar), murabba, sharbat, pana and aam papad. Popular sweets include mithai, such as gulab jamun, peda, khurchan, petha, rewdi, gajak, milk cake, balushahi, bal mithai, singori, kulfi, falooda, khaja, ras malai, gulqand, and several varieties of laddu, barfi and halwa.

Some common North Indian foods such as the various kebabs and most of the meat dishes originated with Muslims advent into the country. Pakistan was part of North India prior to the partition of India. As a result, Pakistani cuisine is very similar to northern Indian cuisine