South Indian Cuisine

bzukowsk
Jan 29, 2021
3 min read

Rohan - I need pictures of all these - can you help get any for me?

India is one of the most diverse nations on the planet. It contains over 1,300 native languages. It has long been a central location of Eurasian trade routes and it contains ecosystems from the high Himalayas to tropical lowlands. It is no wonder that thousands of foods, spices, and cooking techniques are blended across various regions. There are vastly different dishes and similarly named foods, with slight variations, depending on the region. However, there is a general classification of North Indian and South Indian foods.

South Indian food is shaped by its tropical climates. There are many varieties of fruits and vegetables grown in its fertile lowlands. Vegetarian dishes are the norm, as well as seafood, given that many of the southern states have extensive coastline. Typically, Southern Indian food will feature curry, turmeric, cumin, mustard, coriander, cardamom, chilies, peppercorns, tamarind, and fenugreek seeds. Dishes are served with plenty of rice, and bread is emphatically dosa.

South Indian Foods

Some favorite dishes include:

Dosa: Thin crepe like breads made of fermented rice and lentil batter. A South Indian breakfast specialty served in almost every South Indian restaurant at any time of the day. Dosas can be stuffed or used for dipping. They are served with a spicy sambar, as well as a cooling coconut chutney.

Idlis (steamed rice cakes): These are little steamed rice cakes of fermented lentil and rice batter. They are served with chutney and sambars.

Uttapans (like a pizza): A thicker heartier version of a dosa made of fermented rice and lentils. It can be topped with onion, tomato, chilis, coconut. And of course, served with chutney and sambar.

Chutney (savory condiment): Chutneys can be many things. They change drastically basically on the location where they are made. All can agree chutneys are dipping sauces. Their contents might include coconut, peanut, cucumber, and yogurt.

Appam: A bowl shaped pancake made from fermented rice batter and served with coconut or vegetable kurma.

Ethakka Appam: This Kerala specialty is sliced banana dipped in a batter of flour, turmeric, cumin, sugar, salt, and water.

Puliyogare (Tamarind Rice): Usually prepared for special occasions and holidays, Puliyogare is boiled rice mixed with tamarind paste and spices.

Vadas: Similar to fritters, doughnuts, or dumplings, vadas are eaten as snacks or along with another dish. Many variations of vadas exist, as they are made from gram flour and spices, then deep fried.

Masala Vada: A popular crispy and spicy snack made with aroma rich spices.

Keerai Vadai: A spinach vada made with leaf vegetables along with lentils.

Tropical Fruits

India’s warm climate facilitates growth of many fruits. There are more than 500 varieties of mangos alone! Pineapples and papayas, citrus fruit – oranges, tangerines, pink grapefruits, white grapefruits, kumquats, and sweet limes. There are jackfruits, rambutans, bread fruit, bananas, pulasan, longon. Modern Indian even grows southeast Asian favorites like mangosteen and durian, as well as Central American genuses like dragonfruit.

Here‘s a few new varieties to try:

Rambutan: these hard shelled, spiny, red fruits may look strange but are delicious. Crack open the hard shell and suck out the juicy flesh before spitting out the pit.

Carambola (star fruit): is a symmetrically lobed fruit with thick waxy skin. When cut in cross sections, these cross sections resemble stars. Sour when green and sweeter when golden.

Langsat: A small spherical fruit that tastes similar to bitter sweet grapefruit.

Chalta (elephant apple) are favorite fruits of wild elephants in South India. These fruits are coconut sized, sweet, and acidic.

Bilimbi (tree sorrel) are similar to star fruit, they ripen from green to gold. They are tart, acidic, and sharp tasting and sometimes made into a lemonade type drink.

Targola (ice apple or sugar palm): Palm fruit that when opened has an interior of white jelly. They are especially sweet, sometimes used to make a local alcohol named Toddy.