Have you ever tried South Indian dishes? If not yet, then you should check out this post. South Indian dishes are irresistible and once you have them, you want more. South India dishes are not just different and unique in their taste, but they are different in the way they are prepared. And you should know that most of the South Indian dishes are quite healthy also, so you will not be very much guilty about eating them or you will not have to worry much about gaining weight when having south Indian dishes. Be it the simple dish prepared using the rice flour batter or the biryani prepared using a lot of spices, you cannot have enough of South Indian dishes. Before we start checking out some of the popular south Indian dishes, you should know, that the staple food of South India is rice. This is also one of the reasons that you will find most of the dishes prepared using rice or rice combo. So, let’s see what South India has stored for our tummy.
Dosa – No matter in which state of India you are in, you will find this popular South India dish almost everywhere. Dosa is prepared using the batter of rice, lentils, and urad dal. They are first soaked overnight and are then grounded to form the fermented batter. It is cooked on a non-stick pan by spreading the batter on it. They are not like paratha or chapatis, as they are quite thin and are very crispy. Once they are prepared, they are folded and are then served with sambhar and chutney. Sambhar is another famous dish of South India and with dosa, you get nariyal chutney and tomato chutney. When we say Dosa, it is not just simple or plain dosa we are talking about, but we are talking about different types of dosas. There is masala dosa, plain butter dosa, paneer dosa, coconut masala dosa, and a few more varieties of Dosa are there.
Upma – Do you want something light but healthy for your breakfast? Then get ready to have this south Indian dish known as Upma, which is also being called porridge. It is one of the most common dishes of South India and is cooked in almost every house, especially in the breakfast. It is easy to cook and it is good to eat and good for digestion too. Some people prepare Upma using coarse rice flour, whereas some people prepare it using semolina. Ready to cook Upma is also available in many stores. It is also known as Uppittu or Uppumavu or Kharabath in South India. Some other ingredients are also added to Upma like green chilies, ginger, peanut, and some spices. In some places, you will find people adding some vegetables also in the upma to make it tastier and healthy. Upma can be served with the popular nariyal chutney of South India.
Puttu – As we already mentioned above that rice is one of the most eaten foods of South Indian people. So, here is one simple rice dish is known as Puttu. It is also known as steamed rice cake and is one of the popular and common dishes of South Indians. You can either have it at breakfast or you can have it at lunch also. There is a special utensil used for making this dish which is also known as Puttu maker. Because Puttu is in the shape of a cylinder. So, a cylinder-like mold is being used for making this dish, and you can easily get it in the market if you will ask for the puttu maker. Rice flour and coconut are being used for preparing Puttu. It can be served with different fruits like banana, mango, or jackfruit. Or you can also serve it with the curry made using chickpea. It is quite popular in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Puliyogare – Here is another rice dish for you which is also known as Puliyodarai or Pulihora, other than the Puliyogare. It is considered to be a very tempting rice dish and is famous in different states of South India. Like in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana also. Some people also call it as Tamarind Rice, and in other parts of India, it is known by this name only. To prepare Puliyogare, one needs oil, rice, tamarind paste, puliyogare powder, red chilies, groundnuts, coconuts chops, and mustard seeds. All these ingredients add flavor to the rice, especially the tamarind, as it adds the tanginess to the rice. It is one such dish which is being used as a prasadam also in different places in South India. Whenever there is a traditional or festive occasion, people do prepare Puliyogare.
Payasam – Any South Indian meal is incomplete without this sweet dish, Payasam. It is a kind of milk pudding made in South India using different types of grains and lentils. Like broken wheat, sooji, rice, moong dal, and millets. Milk and sugar are used for making Payasam, however, some people use jaggery instead of sugar. One of the famous and traditional Payasam that is prepared in South India is the Semolina or Semiya Payasam. Other than this there are many other types of Payasams also being prepared in South India like Rice Payasam, Javvarisi Payasam, Moong Dal Payasam, Bellam Paramannam, Pasta Payasam, Carrot Payasam, Chana Dal Payasam, Wheat Rava Payasam, and a few others. All these Payasams are sweet but they do taste different from each other, because of the different ingredients being used in preparing them.
A few more famous and popular South Indian dishes are Idli, Uttapams, Vada, Malabar Parotta, Kappi (Filtered Coffee), Hyderabadi Biryani, Rasam, and Vangi Bath. These all dishes are famous in the different South Indian States like if you want to have Vangi Bath, you should visit Karnataka. If you want to have Hyderabadi Biryani, you should go to Andhra Pradesh. For Rasam, you should visit Tamil Nadu. So, you can explore all these states with all these popular delicious dishes of South India.
