Characteristic products
Although there is a common culinary base throughout the country, there are differences between the cuisines of southern and northern India. In the north, poultry, mutton and goat are more common, while in the south, fish, beef and pork are also popular. Vegetable-based dishes are also more common in the South, and fresh herbs and spices are more commonly used. South Indian cuisine is generally spicier. While dairy products such as yoghurt are common in the north of the country, coconut milk is favoured in the south. Finally, although rice is consumed throughout the country, its presence is almost automatic in South India, where it is often served with lentils, while in the north, dishes are often accompanied by wheat-based breads.
With its kilometers of coastline, South India regularly features fish and seafood: sardines, mackerel, kingfish, pomphret, dolphinfish, shark, swordfish, snapper, squid, shrimp, crab, and more. Fish can be enjoyed grilled, cooked in banana leaves with spices, in sauce (curry) or fried. Poultry and meat are a regular feature on the table. Chicken takes pride of place, as in the rest of the country. Note that the term " mutton " refers to both mutton andgoat meat.
Pork is much more popular here than in the rest of India, especially in Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which have large Christian populations, more inclined to eat pork than Hindus, for whom pork is forbidden for certain castes, such as Brahmins. Although cows are sacred in India, it is still possible to find them on the menu of certain restaurants, especially in Kerala, where beef is highly prized, even by Hindus. On a national scale, however, its consumption remains marginal, and beef is favored above all by Muslims.
A clarified butter that can be kept for several months at room temperature, ghee occupies a symbolic place in Indian homes. Used in cooking, particularly on feast days, ghee is also sacred to Hindu religious ceremonies. Ghee is obtained by melting butter over a very low heat until the solid fatty substances have separated from the liquid fat. It is then filtered to obtain a perfectly limpid solution that stands up well to high-temperature cooking.
Spices play a crucial role in the cuisine - and indeed the economy - of South India. Several varieties are native to the region, such as black pepper from Kerala. Garlic, ginger, shallots, pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, curry leaves or kaloupilé, mustard seeds, nutmeg, cloves, fenugreek, coriander (seeds and leaves) and of course chillies, green or red, complete the picture. Byadagi and mundu chillies, long and round respectively, are moderately hot and native to the region. Tamarind pulp and the dried rind of kodambuli and kokum fruits are prized for their sourness. If you have sensitive taste buds, don't hesitate to specify " not spicy " when ordering to avoid any inconvenience.
Starchy foods such as rice, lentils(daal) and urd beans(urad gram) are used in many breads: dosa (pancake made from urd bean flour, chickpeas or rice), appam (pancake made from rice paste), uttapam (pancake similar to dosa, made with white lentils and rice paste), idli (steamed fermented rice cake), idli appam (which has the same ingredients as idli, but takes the form of rolled noodles in the shape of a bird's nest) and parothas (flaky whole-wheat pancakes).
In markets and small restaurants, where hygiene is sometimes questionable, avoid raw vegetables, often washed with dubious water, and unpeeled fruit. Also avoid fruit juices cut with water (ask for them without ice cubes or water) and ice creams sold on the street. Regular hand-washing is all the more important in India, where eating is traditionally done with the right hand, the left being considered impure. However, spoons are available in most restaurants. For those a little sensitive to the power of Indian cuisine, more Western dishes - of varying quality - are readily available in the shopping malls of major cities and other tourist attractions.
Classics of South Indian cuisine
Of course, in South India you'll find the great classics of national cuisine, as well as specialties found throughout the region. However, each state, and even each city, has its own recipes. Thali, often referred to as " meal ", is a common midday meal in South India. It's a dish of small portions of vegetables and meat or fish, served with rice, papad (a small crispy pancake) and sambar (a thick urd bean soup). Vegetables can include eggplant, potatoes, green beans, lentils and okra, a green vegetable with a slight eggplant taste.
For breakfast, the idli-sambar duo is a must. Dosa and paratha are two patties served at almost every meal. Also worth mentioning is the vada, a very common fritter served as a snack, made from lentils(medu vada) or potatoes(batata vada). Bhaji or pakora are grated onion croquettes. Pachadi is a preparation made with yoghurt, vegetables or fruit (usually cucumber), coconut and green chillies, known in the north of the country as raita. It's also worth noting that the chutney found in Europe - notably in the UK - based on stewed fruit with vinegar and spices, is very different from Indian chutneys(chattni), which are often prepared with fresh - but sometimes cooked - vegetables and fruit, enhanced by a host of spices and fresh herbs. One example is the famous kayi chattni, a creamy coconut chutney.
While preserving its Indian heritage, Goa's cuisine has also been influenced by over 450 years of Portuguese presence. Fish and seafood of all kinds make up the composition of many dishes, generally very spicy. Goa's signature dish is vindaloo, an extremely spicy pork (and sometimes chicken or fish) stew. Its name comes from the Portuguese " vindalho " or "garlic wine", as the dish is flavored with a mixture of wine vinegar and garlic. Another Indo-Portuguese dish, xacuti, is a stew of chicken, lamb or beef in a spicy sauce made from poppy seeds and chillies. Then there's cafreal, a recipe for chicken simmered with green chillies, fresh coriander leaves and a host of spices, or sorpotel, a stew of pork meat and offal in a spicy vinegar sauce. Chorise, or Goan sausages, come in the form of garlands of small ball-shaped chorizos, flavored with chili and vinegar.
On the seaside, goanese-style fish and shrimp curries, cooked in a rich, spicy coconut milk sauce, are also very popular. Balchão is a shrimp dish in a spicy tomato sauce. Xec Xec crab is cooked with coconut, onions, green chillies and various spices.Ambot tik is a dish often based on shark, in a sour sauce with red pepper and tamarind. There's also recheado, a recipe for whole fish stuffed with a spice paste and then fried. Vegetables and fruit are also popular, such asuddamethi, a green mango curry prized for its acidity. Finally, the ros omelette is an omelette garnished with green chillies, herbs and shallots, served in a creamy sauce.
Until 2014, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana formed a single state, and their cuisines - often considered among the spiciest on the Indian subcontinent - remain very similar. Local gastronomy is heavily influenced by the Muslim community. For example, Hyderabad's biryani, considered one of the best biryanis in the country, has become a staple of local cuisine. It consists of layers of saffron-scented rice and chicken marinated in a host of spices, topped with fried mint, coriander and onion. It is often accompanied by mirchi ka salan (chilli and peanut compote) and dahi chutney (yoghurt, onion and mint). Another rice dish, very popular throughout South India, pulihora is rice prepared with an acidifier (tamarind, lemon, green mango or kokum bark), then garnished with lentils, peanuts, spices and more.
Coastal regions offer a wide choice of seafood. Fish and shrimp are cooked in coconut oil and seasoned with pepper. Chepala pulusu is a popular recipe for fish in a spicy sauce. The term " pulusu " refers to dishes in a variety of spicy sauces that may contain okra(bendakaya pulusu), mixed vegetables(kalagura pulusu) or even fermented milk(majjiga pulusu). Kodi vepudu, or Andhra-style pepper chicken, is sautéed in a spice mix seasoned with black pepper. Curries includeankapur kodi koora (chicken), gutti vankaya koora (eggplant) and panasa pottu koora (jackfruit, whose fleshy pulp has a texture similar to shredded meat). Gongura mamsam is a lamb curry, often cited as one of the region's spiciest dishes. These specialties are often accompanied by pesarattu, a dosa cake made with mung beans and coriander, which gives it its pale green color.
Tamil Nadu has a varied cuisine making generous use of vegetables, herbs, spices and tamarind, whose sourness is appreciated in the preparation of many dishes such as kuzhambu, a stew that may contain eggplant stuffed with lentil puree(ennai kathirikai kuzhambu), fish(meen kuzhambu) or plantain(vazhakkai kuzhambu). Many recipes feature diced vegetables sautéed in oil with spices, such as parangikai ellu poriyal (pumpkin),urulai kizhangu varuval (potato), kaalan milagu varuval (mushroom), avarakkai poriyal (flat beans), and so on.Uttapam, sometimes called "Indian pizza", is actually a large lentil flour pancake, topped with vegetables and served with various sauces (sambar, chutney, etc.). Finally, kootu are rather thick vegetable stews based on lentils: keerai kootu (spinach), sorakkaai kootu (calabash squash), vazhaipoo kootu (banana blossom), etc.
Specialties from Chettinad, in the far south of Tamil Nadu, are very famous. These include chicken chettinad (chicken marinated in yoghurt and spices, then simmered with tomato and coriander) or palkatti chettinadu (with paneer, a cheese similar to mozzarella but which doesn't melt when cooked, cooked in a spicy sauce). The famous Madras curry, usually with chicken, is a classic but very spicy curry, with or without coconut milk, from Chennai (formerly Madras). Chicken 65 is a spicy fried chicken dish served with raw onion and lemon wedges, created in 1965 at the Buhari Hotel in Chennai. Vegetarian variations include Paneer 65 (with cheese) and Gobi 65 (with cauliflower). Mutton kola urundai are spicy, fried minced mutton balls. Dindigul biriyani is a recipe for chicken or mutton biryani, prepared with samba rice, a variety of round rice quite different from the long-grain basmati rice usually used for this type of recipe.
This state, which is largely open to the sea, boasts numerous fish and seafood recipes, such asiraal masala (prawns in a spicy tomato sauce) or thengai paal meen curry (fish curry with coconut milk). Theiraal milagu varuval consists of shrimps sautéed with lots of black pepper, garlic and chilli, and the nethili meen varuval are fried anchovies with chilli. Also worth trying: nandu rasam, a highly aromatic crab soup. Despite almost 300 years of French presence in and around what is now Pondicherry, along the coast of Tamil Nadu, there's no strong French influence in the local cuisine, apart from a few restaurants and patisseries that present - fokloristically - French dishes, pastries and baguettes.
Kerala has been the epicenter of pepper and spice production in India for centuries, and trade with other continents has influenced its culinary culture. In this multi-faith state, Hindus, Muslims and Christians all have their own specialties. Sadya, for example, consists of a host of vegetarian dishes served on a banana leaf for lunch. If not reserved exclusively for religious events, sadya means "banquet" in Malayalam and is a menu prepared for Onam, a Hindu festival blessing the harvest. Common dishes include mathanga erissery (spicy pumpkin stew), pulissery (coconut and cucumber soup),avial (rich curry of various vegetables), kadala kari (thick chickpea curry),ulli theeyal (spicy spring onion stew) and more. Conversely, Hindus in Kerala are less traditional than in the rest of India, and beef is more popular. One example is the famous Kerala beef fry or ullarthiyathu : strips of beef fried and then simmered with spices.
The Muslim presence is illustrated by the biryani thalassery, made with jeerakasala round rice, chicken or mutton, various spices and mint, garnished with cashew nuts and fried onion. It is accompanied by yoghurt-based raita and tenga chammandi (coconut paste). Christians hold Theen Mura, a non-vegetarian banquet, generally for Christmas, Easter and family celebrations (weddings, baptisms, first communions, etc.). The dishes prepared here include molee and malabar matthi kari, two varieties of fish curry with coconut milk. With its fish-filled coastline, seafood products are commonplace: chemmeen kari (creamy shrimp curry), arikkadukka (mussels stuffed with a cooked rice paste and fried), kallumakkaya ularthiyathu (mussels sautéed with various spices), etc.
Influenced by its proximity to Goa, the cuisine of Karnataka, particularly near the coast, has Indo-Portuguese elements, especially in Mangalore. Mangalorean fish curry is very popular in Karnataka, as are neer dosas, very thin rice pancakes used to accompany and sauce dishes. Coorg pandi curry is a finely spiced pork stew garnished with onion and coriander, while korri gassi is a rich chicken curry with coconut milk. Bisi bele bhath, originally from Mysore, is a melt-in-the-mouth rice and lentil dish, flavored with a host of spices and served with chutney and papad. Udupi's strictly vegetarian cuisine is famous throughout the south of the country. Examples include mavinakayi chitranna, spiced rice garnished with green mango; mangalore bajji, small fritters flavoured with coriander and green chilli; and patrode, made from the leaves of the tropical colocasia plant, filled with a mixture of rice and lentils, rolled, steamed and fried.
Desserts and drinks
Indian sweets are generally quite simple. Probably the best-known South Indian dessert is pal payasam, a creamy rice pudding flavored with cardamom, rosewater, saffron and cashews. Also noteworthy are the kozhukattai, prepared by Kerala's Christians on the Saturday before Palm Sunday: small balls of rice flour filled with grated coconut and jaggery (palm sugar). In Goa, we love bebinca (a cake made of two-tone layers of dough made from rice flour, coconut milk, egg yolk and palm sugar). Dharwad peda is a Karnataka confection made from sugar, cow's milk and buffalo milk, and even has a protected geographical indication. Mysore pak, from the same state, is a kind of nougat made from ghee, chickpea flour and sugar. Pazham nirachathu is a split plantain banana, filled with a coconut-cashew mixture and deep-fried.
Halfway between dessert and drink, falooda is served iced. It is prepared with rose syrup, vermicelli, psyllium or basil seeds, tapioca pearls and pieces of gelatin with milk or water. Solkadhi, meanwhile, is popular in the coastal regions of Goa and northern Karnataka. It's made from coconut milk and kokum, the dried fleshy skin of Garcinia indica, which gives it its bright pink color. The more classic lassi is a sweet or savoury yoghurt drink, sometimes flavoured with fruit and herbs (mango, pineapple, mint, etc.).
Although tea is naturally present in the far north-east of India, on the Burmese-Chinese border, its cultivation in the Indian subcontinent only gained importance after the annexation of the country by the British, who were anxious not to depend on the Chinese monopoly. By the early 19th century, the plant was being cultivated fairly intensively, mainly in the Assam and Darjeeling regions. The tea plant, which requires a lot of water but is sensitive to extreme heat, thrives in mountainous areas at altitudes of between 500 and 2000 m, depending on the region. As early as the 1830s, experimentation began in the Nilgiris Mountains of Tamil Nadu, and later in Kerala. Cultivation in the state of Karnataka is more recent. This British infatuation with tea eventually infected Indians, who became the 2nd biggest consumers, just behind China. In India, it is most often drunk as masala chai (black), with milk, lots of sugar and various spices (ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, fennel, cloves, etc.).
Tamil Nadu is famous for its filter coffee(filter kaapi), with most Tamils professing a discreet contempt for soluble coffee. The preparation of filter coffee is almost a ritual, as the coffee beans must be roasted and ground at the very last moment. The powder is then placed in a filter. Boiling water is poured over it, and you wait about 15 minutes before adding milk and sugar to the resulting decoction. The final beverage is then quickly poured from one container to another, to produce a cup of ideally frothy coffee. Although tea is very popular in southern India, the locals, thanks to their ancient trade with Arab merchants, are more accustomed to coffee than their fellow citizens in the northern half of the country.
On average, Indians consume relatively few alcoholic beverages, although beer remains popular. Founded in 1857 in Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, United Breweries is India's largest brewing group. It is best known for the production of Kingfisher beer. Others include Maka Di and Eight Finger Eddie, both brewed in Goa. More full-bodied spirits include the famous kallu and charayam, two extremely intoxicating varieties of palm wine, usually eaten withpickled vegetables.
