Author: Kavinaya Vijayatharsan
Editor: Emily
Graphic Designer: Rayna Almas
Publisher: Jumana Ismail
South India is known for many things, such as its spices and gold. It has a lot of history with music, dance, art, literature, culture, and most importantly, food. Not all of these foods have originated in South India, but they’re very beloved! I’m sure many South Asian people know and love some of the foods I’ll be listing, but if you’ve never tried them, or have never heard of them, I’d recommend all the ones that I’ll be listing!
1. Dosa:
Dosa is a thin flat bread that you make from batter that’s been prepared a day before at the least. It’s not clear where it originated from, but it’s earliest reference is from the 1st century AD in old Tamil literature that references the use of dosa in the ancient Tamil country.
It’s key ingredients include rice and black grams, which are mixed together to make the batter, and because of this, it;s a good source of protein. It is also high in carbs. Having the batter out for over a day and letting it ferment also increases vitamin B and C intake.
While you can serve it in a thicker matter, like a pancake, I prefer it to be on the more crispy and thin side for more of a crunch.
Dosas are served hot, and rolled up like a wrap or folded in half. You rip off a piece, dip it into some chutney or sambar (my personal preference) and eat up!
2. Idlis:
Another dish that requires fermenting and rice (and also historically used black grams). The recipes of Idli is mentioned in ancient Indian works, which mention using black beans to make it instead of the modern day rice that everyone uses. The place of origin was definitely in India, but exactly where is uncertain. Different historians have different stories, but Idlis and their recipes were mentioned a lot in South Indian texts.
Idli batter is made the same way that dosa is, with more rice and less black gram, plus less fermenting time. The black gram is crushed into a fine paste, the rice is separately grounded, and then the two are combined. The finished batter is put into an idli tray, which is a mold of how idlis are shaped. They’re put into a pot and covered for about 10-20 minutes before being ready to eat. Of course, since plain rice cake doesn’t contain much flavour, it’s important to have something to dip the idli in; preferably sambar or chutney.
3. Vadas:
Vada is a fried snack that has been popular amongst south Indians since 100 BCE. It’s also well known as bara which is an important part of famous street foods called doubles. Vada can be made from legumes or potatoes, and you can also add some vegetables in there for more nutritional value. They’re fried and then eaten soon after it’s finished, so people can enjoy the crunchiness. It’s also eaten with dips, but unlike idli, it could be enjoyed without anything extra.
4. Appam:
Another food that was established in ancient Tamil country. This is actually a type of pancake! (Something I’m sure we’re all very familiar with). There are many different types of appam, but the one that I’ll talk about is Plain Appam. It is a bowl shaped, thin pancake made from fermented rice flour. If you couldn’t tell already, the South Indians love fermenting their food. Appam is cooked in something called an appachatti, which it gets it bowl shape from. There’s usually some thick coconut milk in the middle, so when you eat it, you can either rip out the outer parts and dip it inside or just fold it up and eat.
5. Biryani:
This is a very famous Indian dish, known around the world. If you think of indian foods this is one of the first to come to mind. It is argued where it was originated, but it definitely has a lot of relation to South Indians. There’s different varieties of biryani, but my favourite has to be Sri Lankan biryani (of course, there’s bias because I’m Sri Lankan myself) because it tends to be a bit more spicy. In general though, there’s so many things you can put in biryani, whether it be beef, chicken, onions, tomatoes, name it, and there’s a high chance that it’s put in biryani sometimes.
Honourable Mention!
6. Kothu Roti:
As mentioned before, I am Sri Lankan, but I have a lot of knowledge and love for South Indian dishes because I’m Tamil Sri Lankan. While I know that most of these have been south indian foods so far, as a Tamil person, I can’t not mention Kothu Roti when it comes to delicious foods found in South India.
Roti is definitely a very well known food across the world, but Kothu Roti is a bit different. Kothu (in Tamil) means to chop, so Kothu Roti is basically chopped up roti. It is stir fried with onions, chillies, scrambled egg, plus other optional vegetables and optional meat options, which usually are mutton or chicken.
It’s a more recent street food, made by local Sri Lankan Tamils in the 70s, intended to be a cheap but still healthy meal for the lower class. It’s sort of like fast food here, something you can get quickly. But unlike McDonalds or KFC, it’s a very nutritious meal. Not only that, it’s also entertaining to watch it get made. While chomping it up ,vendors tend to do it at a rhythm, making music as they cook, which makes lineups waiting for this food, a very lively place to be.
A variation of it, called kothu parotta is a variant that originated in Tamil Nadu of South India.
Of course, these aren’t the only wonderful foods located in Southern India, or even Sri Lanka, but they’re very well known and very loved by all types of people, and if you’ve never tried any South Asian dishes, some of these will probably be the first recommendations you get. What’s great about these foods is that they recommend fermenting, which means you don’t have to waste batches if you don’t finish using them. You can also grow some of the ingredients required in a garden, and don’t be afraid to add what you love to these foods! And if you’re a spice lover, I definitely recommend trying most south indian dishes, because we most definitely utilize our spices.
What I love about South Indian dishes is that there’s the ability to play around with them and switch them up. The biryani my dad makes is different from the one my mom makes, and hers is different from the ones that we buy from the store. If you don’t like the way a certain restaurant makes their vadas, that’s fine, I’m sure there’s one next door that makes it a little different, in a way you’d like. It’s important to try different types of foods to broaden your palate and find different things to enjoy, so if you’re looking to do that, these are just the foods I would recommend.