South Indian Food: A Few Favorites
Filed Under: So you think Indian food is just chicken tikka masala and palak paneer? Think again.
Recently, I’ve settled into a familiar morning routine: a masala dosa and sweet milk coffee in a simple canteen just down the street. Attendants make their rounds with metal pails full of sambar and colorful wet chutneys, ensuring that all customers have ample supply, more than enough to eat.
The activity, the flow, the smell and most certainly the taste all make me feel at home.
Though I’m physically in one of Kuala Lumpur’s Indian neighborhoods as I write this, these morning moments take me back to our travels through India, and more specifically southern India. There, as my taste buds adapted to the flavors and style of South Indian cuisine, the masala dosa emerged as our savory breakfast of champions.
“South Indian cuisine? Isn’t all Indian food the same?” you might ask.
Not at all, even by the standards of my amateur taste buds.
South Indian cuisine is distinct. If you don’t think so, just get a food passionate northerner and southerner from India together in the same room and ask, “Which is better, food from the North or the South?” God forbid, you get someone from Mumbai to debate whether chaat (street snacks) are even better.
Here’s the deal with Indian food: most Indian restaurants in the West serve northern Indian (or Punjabi style) food – rich, creamy curries and sauces; dishes like butter chicken, navratan korma, tandoori baked meats and naan bread.
In southern India, vegetarian meals are the norm. Instead of the cream, South India goes for seeds, popped spices, tomatoes, and various dals (lentils) used as accompaniments. Theirs is also a style of eating that incorporates light meals and snacks, known as tiffins, throughout the day.
Let’s dig into some of our favorite dishes from Kerala and Tamil Nadu in southern India.
1. Dosa
The first few times I tried masala dosai outside of India, I wasn’t impressed. Only in Fort Cochin (Kochi), India did I eventually warm to them. By the time we arrived in nearby Kollam, I was hooked. There was something so perfect in the combination of the crispness and nutty flavor of a dosa (a thin, large pancake made from a batter of ground rice and urad dal) and the mildly spiced crushed potato mixture inside (that’s the masala).
Add to this the pails of sauce that circulate in a typical South Indian cafeteria: sambar (a slightly sour-savory sauce made from tur dal, tamarind, and vegetables) and various wet chutneys, including ones made with popped mustard seeds and ground coconut (white), chili/mint/coriander (green), and tur dal chutney (red).
A full treatment of dosai – including Mysore, rava, onion and all permutations thereof — could well be the topic of a tasty dissertation.
A dosa – in all of its wet topping goodness – is typically eaten with the right hand. South Indian restaurants have a sink at the back to wash your hands, before and after, but don’t be afraid to ask for a fork and spoon if you feel uncomfortable digging in with your paws.
2. Banana Leaf Thali
Thalis are like many little meals in one, a little buffet on a banana leaf or metal tray. For the small plate snackers in us, a joy to eat. Simple and beautiful.
A large pile of rice forms the base and smaller piles or tin cups of curries, chutneys, pickle can be found in orbit. Topped off with a chapati bread round or papadum and you are all set. The idea: salty, sweet, sour and bitter merge in the mouth in one sitting.
On our first day in Kochi, we poked into a vegetarian restaurant for lunch and had our first real South Indian thali served on a banana leaf. Piles of red rice in the center with endless ladles of dal (lentil), sambar, and cooked vegetables to go with. Typically, it’s all you can eat, and the price runs roughly $1-$2.
3. Vada
Think of a fried, savory and dense donut and you’ve got a vada. It’s the dal, lentil, gram flour and occasional potato mash that provide the vada its heft. It can be eaten straight as a snack on the street or taken in a restaurant with the familiar sides of sambar and wet chutneys.
4. Idli
Savory, steamed saucer-like cakes made of a batter from fermented black lentils and rice. The result is soft, almost fluffy. And, you guessed it – they are served with the side pails of sambar and wet chutneys.
When faced with the choice, we’ll choose a dosa or vada to an idli, but don’t hold that against them. Idli are especially popular in the morning and appealing, particularly after they’ve been steamed fresh.
5. Kozhikode Biryani
I used to think of biryani as an inferior dish on the menu, akin to Chinese fried rice. I also used to think of it as only northern Indian. But then we tasted what we called “community biryani” in Kollam served straight from a pot meant to feed hundreds, the taste was surprisingly complex: cinnamon sticks, star anise, cumin, cardamom, even a little coconut milk.
We usually found biryani in the Muslim areas of towns in southern India. They were often served with mutton, but there were vegetarian versions, too (especially when the local mosque is serving it for free). You can spot the biryani shops: men out front stirring a massive pot of colored rice, stewing and stirring it until the spices have settled in.
6. Yogurt rice (or curd rice)
We first recall hearing of this dish when we lived in Prague. A friend there had spent a couple years living in Chennai and this fast became her Indian comfort food.
Curd rice is made with lightly fried spices such as mustard seed, cumin, coriander leaves, asafoetida (stinky, but good for the tummy) and turned with plain yogurt (or curd). It serves as a cooling agent both from the spice of South Indian food and from the intense Indian heat that sometimes leaves you without an appetite. A tip for tummy-troubled travelers out there: it’s often used to nurse upset stomachs back to health.
7. Coffee Wallah Special
When the show’s over and you are filled to the gills, take a glass of Indian-style coffee or milk chai served with lots of milk and sugar (heresy to the hard-core coffee aficionados, I know). Indian coffee wallahs will toss the piping hot milk and coffee between two metal cups until it’s well-blended and at the perfect drinking temperature.
Fun to watch.
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So next time you are in India or on the hunt for Indian food, be on the lookout for South Indian cuisine. The dishes may not be as creamy as your favorites from the north, but no less tasty. And like us, maybe you’ll find that the more you eat it the more you’ll grow to love it.
As I strike the final key, I’m preparing to leave for the airport and planning a dinner strategy. I think it’s time to hit the cafeteria for one last dosa before boarding my flight to Amman, Jordan.
These are a few of our favorite South Indian dishes. What are yours?
February 26th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
I miss Indian food – yum. And I discovered chai for the first time on the trains there too. If I ever decide to be a vegetarian, it’ll be because I’m living in India!
February 26th, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Oh, I also have my story with Indian food
In my recent trip to Penang, I mostly ate Indian food. I had very nice Tandoori Chicken for my dinner on the second day there. It was really really delicious! On my last day in Penang, I went to other place for Indian food, and couldn’t choose what I want, so the waiter came to help me. I saw Masala Dosa on the menu, with a picture, and asked if it’s big enough. The waiter said: no, not very big. So I thought it could be my starter, and ordered some noodles with chicken and shrimp for maincourse. First, the noodles came – I thought “ok, it doesn’t matter what comes first”, but after few minutes I got my masala dosa – a huge huge portion! I asked the waiter: “Not big?” He answered: “Eat slowly slowly” 
Both dishes were delicious, but I couldn’t eat them both… Well, next time I know what a masala dosa mean 
“Big big portion!” 
Have great experience with food in Jordan!
February 26th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Okay I have to admit my favourite is palak paneer but I do also love dosa and ate it quite a bit in Little India in Toronto.
February 26th, 2011 at 3:48 pm
I’m a huge fan of Indian cuisine overall, but South Indian food is something special.
Unfortunately it’s really hard to find in the States – there are a few restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area, but we haven’t seen many others since leaving that area. Then again, in many parts of the country we’ve had a hard time even finding North Indian food, so I guess I’m not surprised.
February 26th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
I love Southern Indian Food!
We’re fortunate to have a really good restaurant in our area! But what I really miss is their Southern Indian Coffee! My husband brought me back from his yearly trip to So.India coffee, what I call a french press, it’s made out of stainless steel/tin. Very small possibly for one cup. Do you happen to know a recipe that I can make in this? He didn’t get instructions on how to make coffee. Looking forward to your recipes!
Thanks for sharing!
Enjoy! Sharon
Stepping back in Time with my Cherished Cookbooks
February 26th, 2011 at 7:45 pm
absolutely loved reading your post. India is one of my top destinations for future travel and this has given me an insight into the foods and flavours of the country. many thanks.
regards
Cindy
@3days_in_london
p.s. great photos, I got hungry looking at them
February 27th, 2011 at 2:06 am
@Dave: The chai on trains is pretty darn good and addictive. I’ve always said that India is the best place in the world to be a vegetarian – the options are endless and are often more tasty than the meat dishes.
@Agne: I’m laughing at what you described since I can imagine it completely! Yes, dosa are “big, big portion” and even if you still feel a bit hungry when you finish, you’ll usually feel full a few minutes later if you wait for your brain to catch up with your stomach. But, as there isn’t a lot of cream and butter involved I do find that I feel better after eating a large dosa than eating a lot of creamy curries. Glad you enjoyed it!
@Ayngelina: I also have a soft spot for palak paneer
But, the more I eat South Indian food the more I find myself craving it instead of some of my previous favorites.
@Christy: Now that I’m more aware of South Indian food, I find myself finding little pockets of it here and there in the States – sometimes it’s on the back side of the menu. Northern Virginia has a few South Indian options. But, it’s still definitely not the norm.
@Sharon: I’m afraid we’re not much help with a recipe to make South Indian coffee. Usually, we just watched the wallah do his thing mixing the milk together to get the froth but don’t remember seeing the process to get the actual coffee part. Sorry about that! Perhaps you can ask at the South Indian restaurant near you.
@Cindy: India really is a great destination and the more one travels in India, the more one realizes the diversity inside in cuisine, people, languages, and more. Really a fascinating place.
February 27th, 2011 at 3:55 am
You seem to have missed ‘puttu’ (steam cake), appam and idiyappam. All these items are hugely popular in South India, especially in Kerala. Both veg and non-veg curries are ideal side dishes.
February 27th, 2011 at 4:54 am
Dosa’s make the best morning breakfast to go! They were my favorite in South India!
February 27th, 2011 at 8:12 am
Hi Audrey!
I’ve been following your site for a while and i have to say it warms my heart to read this post. (I’m from South India though now living in Dubai for last couple of years) and I often have seriously life threatening cravings for a nice big crisp masala dosa which doesn’t go away for hours!
I’ve been planning my own RTW trip soon so it will be interesting to experiment,experience, enjoy and write about food in other countries from a South Indian’s perspective
Cheers!
February 27th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
I love, love, love south Indian food and that region especially. A very laid back feel (at least by Indian standards) with a wonderful variety of vegetarian food. Yogurt rice is a particular favorite of mine.
February 27th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
That looks so good! One of the things that draws me to India is definitely the food.
February 27th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
I was invited once to a national Indian feast where we could eat all the Indian specialities. I have to confess you, I could not eat them. Even the dessert was full of hot pepper and …
I will not tell you how I felt after that feast… It was my first time and I was not ready to such an experience. :0)))
February 27th, 2011 at 9:03 pm
My family’s South Indian so we eat all of these ALL the time. Idli is my absolute favorite — my mom makes them piping hot for lunch time whenever I’m home. Next time you’re in South India, try to find pani poli — it’s basically a sweet roti-type dish in a milk dessert and a very traditional South Indian sweet. It’s not as sweet as the usual Indian sweets, too.
February 27th, 2011 at 9:37 pm
Yum! I’m now hungry after reading that. Trying to learn to cook Indian food, I need a lot of practice!
February 28th, 2011 at 5:35 am
I prefer South Indian food as I find North Indian food too rich for me. And South Indian cuisine offers tasty vegetarian meals too. Now that I live in Manila, I seldom visit Indian restaurants here as they serve North Indian food. I hanker for dosa, idli, vadai and thali meals which I used to order in Singapore and Malaysia.
Oh god, now I’m soo hungry again!
February 28th, 2011 at 11:05 am
@Niji: Thanks for adding a few more typical South Indian dishes. Yes, I know we didn’t have a chance to try everything during our time in Kerala and Tamil Nadu…so we’ll just have to go back!
@Connie: I’m usually not one for big, savory breakfasts like this, but I soon became addicted to dosa in the morning. Once we got to the north we would seek out the South Indian places for breakfast.
@Liudmila: Sorry to hear about your first experience with Indian food. Yes, it can be quite spicy and hot. We are fortunate that we both like spices. But, usually the coconut wet chutney and the sambar are not too spicy. Hopefully your next experience will be better!
@Akila: It’s funny how we never got into idli – we’ll have to give it another try next time we return. And, thanks for the tip about pani poli. Sounds delicious.
@Tisha: I imagine that cooking these dishes does take practice, but once you learn the basics you’ll do great. Good luck!
@Prime: It’s funny because I used to always crave the creamy dishes from the north. But, the few times we ordered those in Kuala Lumpur last week we found ourselves feeling too full and heavy afterwards and missed the South Indian dishes. Funny how you just get used to something and it’s hard to go back.
February 28th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
I once tried Indian food and I was mesmerized. But that was a long time ago. I mean, I don’t even remember what I had. All I know is that it was delicious. I will try the southern Indian cuisine as soon as I’ll have the opportunity. Great dishes by the way. Yummy looking and definitely tasty.
March 1st, 2011 at 8:12 pm
The Dosa looks very tempting, Audrey! I truly enjoyed reading this. I didn’t know that there were distinctions between northern and southern Indian food. So you prefer southern over northern Indian food then?
March 3rd, 2011 at 1:42 am
Love eating Indian food but did not know ‘Southern Indian food’ offered as many choices as you describe so well in your post. Dosa is a great dish. Great pictures.
March 3rd, 2011 at 11:07 pm
The crisp photos made the food look much tastier! Love the Indian smile in the last photo
March 4th, 2011 at 3:31 am
I love making pakoras and masala chai for a nice snack! They take some time to make, but are delicious!
March 11th, 2011 at 5:56 am
I visited Kerala last December and the best thing about the entire trip was the FOOD. Loved the different breads, fresh seafood and all the different chutneys. A real foodies heaven
If I ever turned vegetarian I’d definitely move there.
March 14th, 2011 at 6:24 am
@PB: You should definitely try and find a way to taste Indian food again – it really is quite delicious, both the South and North dishes.
@Wandering Trader: One of the joys of traveling through India was discovering the diversity of foods and regional specialties. In Europe and the States, almost every restaurant serves North Indian cuisine so it’s not unusual that many people don’t know there are such differences. For every day eating, I prefer South Indian cuisine as it’s not as heavy and creamy and is full of great flavors. But, for a big dinner it’s still nice to have a rich chicken tikka masala or palak paneer. So, I guess it depends on my mood
@GCG: South Indian food actually offers even more options than this, but I just kept it to the basics and our favorites.
@Steve: Glad you enjoyed the photos and yes, many Indians are quite photogenic.
@Amy: We learned to make pakoras and masala chai during our cooking class in Udaipur years ago, but have to admit I haven’t tried making them myself since. Might just have to try that next time we have a kitchen…
@Moniqca: Kerala has some delicious regional pieces and lots of seafood, which is rather unique in most parts of India. And I agree, India really is the heaven for vegetarians!
July 27th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
This is an old post, but I’d do almost anything for a dosa, especially a mysore masala dosa! Even in NYC, or New Jersey, there are few places serving up a great dosa and I haven’t been to India in 4 years now!!
Somehow, the dosa itself comes out right in these restaurants but it is the accompanying chutneys that are lacking! I think what happens is that the popped mustard seed and coconut chutney is not made with fresh coconuts here in the US. A fresh coconut tastes a whole lot better than one that was cut up and refrigerated over months. Also, I think the dosa is fried in real ghee rather than canola oil.
In any case, it isn’t the same here.
July 28th, 2011 at 12:22 pm
@Sutapa: Mysore masala dosa is my favorite!! First discovered them in Mumbai and then became a huge fan.
There is a South Indian place near my mother’s house in Vienna, Virginia. While the dosa was good, the sambals and chutneys were just not the same. Perhaps it does have to do with not using fresh coconut or not having the same access to spices and ingredients. I agree, it’s just not the same.
Interesting you mention ghee vs. canola oil – we’ve befriended a guy from South India in Berlin and he was talking about this in connection to cooking other South Indian dishes. Didn’t realize there was such a difference in taste.
October 4th, 2011 at 5:33 am
@Sharon. the device your husband got from India is used to make filter coffee. I haven’t made it ever but have just tasted it with South Indian food. It is wonderful.
here is a link to help you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_filter_coffee
There are many other links for it in Google.
Audrey, awesome description and photos.
October 8th, 2011 at 11:46 am
@Madhu: Thanks for the information regarding making filter coffee Indian style. And, very happy you enjoyed this article and photos!
January 21st, 2012 at 9:56 am
Ola! Uncorneredmarket,
Thanks for the info Most people think that you can’t possibly eat Indian food, if you’re on a slimming diet. That’s a fair statement if you always eat Indian food in restaurants, because many traditional Indian recipes involve either deep frying or the use of ghee (clarified butter). However, if you cook Indian food at home, it can easily form part of a weight loss regime, just the same as any other food. You just need to follow a few simple general rules.
Regards
January 22nd, 2012 at 9:58 pm
@Rocco: Good point. I suspect South Indian food is especially good for one’s diet. It’s heavily vegetarian and lacks all the butter and cream you find in the north. Another vote from the health-conscious for South Indian cuisine.
April 9th, 2012 at 5:30 pm
For travellers to India
If you really want to skip the oily food , there are lots of dishes that are Steam baked . to namke a few : Idli, iddiapam , puttu .Dosa is not that bad wither on oil .
April 15th, 2012 at 12:56 am
@Jonny: Yes, steamed foods like idli definitely have less fat than fried dishes like vada or samosas. Most dosa that we have eaten have been light on oil as well.
April 22nd, 2012 at 1:40 pm
What a great post. I live in southern India and love the food.
Your blog is refreshing and informative and I look forward to reading more.
Dorinda
December 2nd, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Totally enjoyed this piece. Its always interesting to read how non-Indians describe Indian dishes.
While South Indian food is completely different than North Indian, the food varies from state to state within South India itself. In fact, they say, in India, the food and the dialect changes every few miles.
Also what doesn’t get enough limelight is food from the west or the East like the Maharashtrian cuisine or Bengali dishes.
And you got the part of people arguing about the best food in India spot on. In fact, its not uncommon to see a Mumbaite and a Delhiwalla arguing which city had better chaat
December 4th, 2012 at 11:41 am
@Sandeepa: Glad you enjoyed reading this and hearing our perspective from spending time in the south. I completely agree that food varies all over India, from north to south to east to west. We enjoyed learning how to make Rajasthani food when in Udaipur and also really loved the food in West Bengal (Kolkata) and the different flavor combinations. Now I’m hungry for chaat!!
December 13th, 2012 at 4:55 pm
You have to believe that south Indian dish really amazing for its spiceness. If you eat it once you will definitely come again to India to taste such a dish.
December 16th, 2012 at 9:33 am
@Vijay: We love spicy food, and really did fall in love with South Indian cuisine. It’s just a shame that it’s so difficult to find outside of India and Malaysia/Singapore!
March 3rd, 2013 at 5:43 pm
Love idli and dosa!
April 10th, 2013 at 9:37 pm
The first picture of you reminds me so much of myself and home. It cheered up my day a whole lot. Shall get some dosa for tonight.
April 11th, 2013 at 6:28 pm
@Sasa: As do we!
@In: When I think of a freshly made dosa it makes me happy as well! Unfortunately, we haven’t found a good dosa place in Berlin yet so we just have to wait until we return to India…or Malaysia/Singapore