Travel plans to India are in the near future, but friends say that it is a country of diversified cultures, and when they say this, their cuisine is no exception. Food is communal and an essential aspect of any culture, after all. When we get to know about a new culture, it is exciting. India, being a very old and vast country, has its own unique food culture.
We, as people of New York, are always open to try and explore new foods. That is why any new restaurant that opens is sure to become a hit. We are also interested to know food facts, recipes, etc. Some of us even try out the exotic recipes at home as a hobby. For some, trying to cook something new always is a part of their leisure activity during weekends.
So here we go! Today’s article is a simple wrap of some diet facts and food trends in India. It is dedicated to the food-loving people of New York who are always eager to know more about food and pairings. You can read more about it from here at http://sipninthekitchen.com/.
Yes, Sip’n in the Kitchen is just for you, New Yorker, who loves to know, discuss, review, and read reviews on their food. Besides, please get to know about recipes, food joints, and pairings. This website is a one-stop place for lounging over the weekend and picking up exciting party ideas and plans.
Introducing Indian food
The moment you hear south Indian food, everyone will think about the world-renown dosas and idlis. How can you miss the varieties of colorful and flavorful chutneys served as their accompaniments and the delicious creamy curry, the sambar or the adai.
Have you heard about the puttu, appam, and kadala curry or the aviyal of Kerala? What about the gogra chicken from the Andra cuisine or the bisibelabath and pukiogare from Karnataka?
Each state has its delicacy. It is evident because India is a diverse country. Like they have so many languages, religions, cultures, traditions, and festivals, the variety of food also goes on and on. They are a nation that takes pride in their unity in diversity, with roughly about 25 states.
Even if there are a few specialty dishes per state, that amounts to about 250 dishes. From them, roughly 40 to 50 among them belong to South India.
There is a massive variety of food delicacy back in India, especially in South India. The southern part of India consists of mainly four cultures and each corresponding to a state. Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andra, which is recently divided into 2, are the South Indian states.
South Indian food
If you have to introduce someone to South Indian food, there is no better way to talk about the major and the most common ingredient – the rice. Almost all the food varieties that are made are all prepared from the one staple crop of South India, paddy. Even the rice crop comes in many types depending upon the place where it is cultivated or used.
Predominantly, based on the way the rice is processed before food preparation, there are two significant variants, or food category called the ‘meals or tiffan,’ colloquially, in South Indian food lingo.
Meals versus tiffan
When the rice is eaten with some curries and vegetables, it is termed a meal. There is a wide variety to choose from, even in meals. The specific meals will include specific specialties of each state like the Kerala fame red rice or the Mysore rasam, a lentil soup from Karnataka’s Udupi cuisine.
If the rice is soaked and ground to a wet paste or roasting the rice grains and ground into a powder form and then used in food preparation, it is called the tiffan. This category falls the dosas, idlis, puttu, aapam, idiappam, paniyaran, sevai, uthappam, etc. The checklist can go forever!
Interesting South Indian food facts
- The traditional way to serve the South Indian meals is on a fresh, green long banana leaf. There are even rules on which side the leaf tip should get placed. It gets arranged on the left side of the person who is going to eat from it.
- Every South Indian festival will have a special food menu for itself. One or more dishes are associated with a reason and tradition why the particular festival gets celebrated. For example, sweet Pongal is rice from the freshly harvested paddy to celebrate the harvest festival.
- Coconut is extensively used in almost all the dishes of Kerala. The dishes can be both sweet and hot, even in snacks and savories. Other important Kerala food components are fish, nendram pazham, a variety of banana, and kappa kizhangu, a tuber.
- Almost all the dishes cooked in Karnataka will have a tinge of sweetness to it. It is purposely brought out by adding some jaggery to the recipes. It adds to the taste and the nutritive value of the food.
The above facts may have amazed you quite a bit. You can also leave a comment on different South Indian points, you know. Did any food fact or a particular dish or its unique name intrigue you? Are you interested in trying out any of them and want their recipe?
Whatever be it, let us know writing an email to us. We will be glad to read them. Very soon, you will read another interesting topic and relevant information. Till then, eat well, eat right, stay a happy and healthy foodie!