What to Order at an Indian Restaurant: A First-Timer's Guide

For two people: chicken tikka to start, butter chicken and dal makhani as mains, plain naan, basmati rice and a raita. Ask for a mild spice level. That combination is balanced, familiar and works at almost any Indian restaurant.

Roughly one main per one-and-a-half people, one bread per person, and rice as well as bread. Portions are generous and dishes are shared, so a table of six needs about four mains rather than six, but it does need six breads.

Chicken tikka is boneless marinated chicken cooked dry in a tandoor, with no sauce. Chicken tikka masala is those same pieces served in a creamy tomato sauce. Ordering the first expecting a curry is one of the most common first-timer mistakes.

Both. Rice buffers heat and is what you mix dal into; bread is what you use for the thicker sauces. Ordering bread alone is a common mistake, particularly if anything on the table is spicy

Korma is the mildest, followed by butter chicken, malai kofta and dal makhani. Order a dish that's mild by design rather than asking for a hot dish to be toned down, and say "mild on the heat, full on the spices."

Put rice in the middle of your plate and a spoonful of each dish around it, then mix as you go. Tear bread with your hands and use it to pinch up food. Take small amounts and go back rather than loading your plate at the start.

Lassi is the best match, since yogurt binds chili heat and cuts richness. A crisp lager or an off-dry Riesling also work. Avoid water when something's too hot, since capsaicin isn't water-soluble.

Exceptionally. A large share of Indian cooking is vegetarian by tradition rather than by substitution, and the vegetarian dishes are mains in their own right rather than adaptations of meat dishes.

Something regional, something dry, and the goat. Bone-in goat is how you judge a kitchen. If there's a Nepali or Indo-Chinese section, order from it, most people never look.