Food Trail of the South Indian Cuisine

Over 5000 years of Indian history has undoubtedly welcomed indigenous food varieties. The food culture of India can be nothing less than being homogeneous. Tipping the population scale at over one billion, the diversity of its food is as diverse as its people. All the regions of India own a special Variety of Cuisine based on the demographic condition of the region. North, East, South, and West are the four different main regional styles in Indian cooking. From East to West, Indian cuisine seems to be only united by its locale, but its flavor is boundless.

The flavors of South India are exotic with optimum use of Rice and Coconut bound with a variety of tons of spices and a flavor is truly a delicacy in itself. South Indian cuisine retains the elements of the Dravidian Culture that thrived around 4500 years back. All the indigenous of the food tradition is still preserved in South India. South Indian Cuisine is distinguished by four different regional cuisines’ Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala & Karnataka. These regions depict their uniqueness with the ethnic mixture in their cuisines. The region offers a wide variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes with each state holding its uniqueness and food habits. Some authentic and popular South Indian dishes that are sure to delight taste buds include Chakra Pongal, Sambar, and Vadai from Tamil Nadu; Rava Idli from Karnataka; Kadala Curry and Appam from Kerala; and Kebabs and Biryanis from Andhra Pradesh. The use of Banana leaf for cooking and serving & the immense varieties of chutneys is one of the specialties of the region.

The geography conditions of south India are hot and humid and located around the coast of South India as a region experience the massive amount of Rainfall along with various fresh fruits coconuts and extensive producers of Rice. Traditional South Indian cuisine is mainly rice-based dishes made by mixing rice & lentils. Considered extremely healthy, South Indian food is a perfect blend of flavor, color, taste, and nutrition. Even though breaded with a single thread the south Indian Cuisine differs as we move to different regions.

The specialty of the Andhra Cuisine is, it has influences of Nizams & Mughals and the use of chilly along with Tamarind is extensive. Jowar and Bajra are included in their meals as the region is close to Maharashtra. The Andhra coastal region offers varied cuisines with unique flavor, courtesy of the more fertile lands of the belt and also due to the availability of a variety of seafood.

Pulussu – A Varied form of sour curry made with Tamarind, pesarattu, Different types of pickles like tomato pachadi, gongura pachadi, and maaghaya, etc are amongst the famous of the region. As the region was patronized by Mughals, Andhra Pradesh Cuisines also serves the yummiest and most authentic Biryani’s.

The staple food of Tamil is Rice eaten along with several vegetarian & Non- vegetarian dishes. Since most of the Tamils are Brahmins, the use of Non-veg is almost near to infrequent in the region. Sambhar, Rasam, Kuzhambu – A gravy dish made with toor dal, urad dal, and Tamarind is quite famous. In Tamilian cuisine, food is categorized into six tastes sweet, sour, salt, bitter, pungent, and astringent. Tamil cuisine suggests the inclusion of all of these six tastes in the main meal. Each taste has a balancing ability and including some of each provides complete nutrition, minimizes cravings, and balances the appetite and digestion. Dosa, Idli, Upma, Parotta, Puri are amongst the most popular cuisine, recognized around the world. Some of the popular sweets in Tamil Nadu are Thirukannamidu, Kesari, and kheer. After the meal bananas are given followed by paan (Betel Leaf) consisting of lime and betel nuts that are considered to have digestive value.

Among the different regions of Tamil Nadu, the cuisines of Chettinad, a region that falls in the Sivaganga district situated in the southern part of the state, is famous for its spicy and aromatic dishes, particularly the non-vegetarian. The hot and pungent flavor of the dishes seasoned with grounded spices, the boiled egg toppings on the meals, the salted vegetables, and sun-dried meat are some of the distinct features of this cuisine. Different non-vegetarian dishes are made of chicken, mutton, crab, fish, prawn, and lobster, some of the selected ones are fish fry, Chettinad pepper chicken, and karuvattu kuzhambu.

Karnataka Cuisine is considered amongst the mildest prepared food in south India, the use of chilly is hardly visible. The regions have a maximum number of vegetarians. The Karnataka cuisines provide some lip-smacking and delicious Masala Dosas, Idli & vada, that originated on the temple streets of the city of Udupi. Udupi restaurant serves around the whole of Karnataka and is one of the benchmarks of south Indian Cuisine. Udupi set-up is generally running by the native of Kanara region of Karnataka. The cuisines of the state vary according to different regions. Roti is made of pearl millet and sorghum and rice served with spiced and stewed lentils, spiced vegetable salads, and eggplant dishes. Seafood, coconut, and coconut oil form an integral part of coastal Karnataka cuisine.

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