So what constitutes South Indian food? The Dosa—a crepe made with fermented rice and lentil batter—is extremely popular. It’s served with delicious dips and chutneys and is an excellent breakfast or snack dish in India. With the same batter, you can also make Idli—a steamed, low calorie, gluten-free delicacy. Most of these items are served for breakfast, though you could definitely consider this as a main entree for meal planning. Besides Idli and Dosa, there are many varieties of Upma—a porridge lookalike made with healthy ingredients like rice, millets, semolina, vermicelli and so on. While these are what you’d consider appropriate for a healthy breakfast or snack time, there’s so much more you have in the cuisine for lunch and dinner. Rice is crucial in any main course South Indian meal. Everything revolves around rice. It is usually served with different gravies, broths and curries, along with stir-fried vegetables, fried papad and pickles. Sambar is a thick lentil dish that’s spiced with a spice-mix, coconut, coriander and vegetables. Rasam on the other hand, is a similar lentil-based dish, but is thinner and resembles a broth. Both are tamarind-based liquids that taste delicious with rice. To finish a meal, yogurt is mixed with rice and tempered with mustard, curry leaves, asafetida and green chilies.

Best South Indian Recipes

Think you have an idea of what to expect when you order South Indian food yet? Think steamed, spiced, broth and coconut-flavored! Here are 25 of the most popular dishes in South India. These delicious vegetarian recipes are perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

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