Must Try These 5 Mouth-Watering South Indian Dishes

Must Try These 5 Mouth-Watering South Indian Dishes

Below are ten South Indian dishes to try if you have the chance to come upon a South Indian restaurant. You won’t regret it!

1. Dosa

A dosa is South Indian, fermented crepe made from rice batter and black lentils. Masala Dosa, specifically, is when you stuff it with a lightly cooked filling of potatoes, fried onions and spices.

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups long grain rice
• 1/2 cup urad dal (polished black lentil or white lentil)
• 3 quarts water
• Salt
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 – 2 green chilies, chopped
• 1 Tbs. ghee (clarified butter) or regular butter
• 1/2 tsp. black mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp. chana dal (split black chickpeas)
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 2 large potatoes, boiled
• 8 oz. coconut, cilantro and tomato chutney (optional)
• 16 oz. sambar (vegetable lentil stew, optional)

Directions

1. Prepare Dosa Batter:Soak rice and urad dal in separate bowls for 4-6 hours. Strain.
2. Process rice and urad dal mixture in commercial grinder or food processor. While grinding, add water a cup at a time until it reaches the consistency of pancake batter.
3. Salt to taste.
4. Cover mixture and let sit overnight. Do not refrigerate; it needs to ferment.
5. Prepare Masala Dosa Filling: Add oil or ghee to a skillet.
6. Add mustard seeds and chana dal.
7. Shake mixture over the flame until golden brown.
8. Add curry leaves (whole leaf), green chiles, and onions.
9. Sprinkle turmeric powder and salt (for taste). Stir.
10. Break up boiled potato into small chunks and add them to your mixture. Add water and stir.
11. Prepare Masala Dosa: Pour refrigerated dosa mixture into a small bowl with a flat bottom.
12. Pour batter into a greased skillet.
13. Immediately, starting from the center, begin forming a circular shape with the batter using the flat-bottomed dish.
14. Brush on ghee (or regular butter) to frying dosa.
15. Place filling near the center of the dosa.
16. Lightly lift the edges of the dosa.
17. Begin rolling from the edge of the dosa as you would a wrap.
18. Remove dosa from hot top or skillet.
19. Masala Dosa is typically served with coconut, cilantro and tomato chutney as well as sambar (vegetable lentil stew)

2. Idli 

Most authentic recipes especially for any occasion or in temple feast. but due to the busy life, most of the urban dwellers and restaurant owners have adapted to prepare with idli rava or rice rava. basically, idli rava is prepared with rice but has a fine and coarse shape similar to rava or semolina. in other words, only the urad dal is soaked and grounded which is later mixed with idli rava to form a thick idli batter. there isn’t any change in the ratio and still, follow the same. moreover, with the addition of coarse idli rava, it gives a nice texture to the final idli. generally grounded rice batter yields spongy and chewy idli, whereas idli rava makes it very soft idli.

Ingredients (1 cup = 250 ML)

• 1 cup urad dal
• 2 cup idli rava / rice rava / cream of rice
• 1 tsp salt
• oil to grease

Instructions

1. firstly, in a large bowl soak 1 cup urad dal for 4 hours.
2. drain off the water and transfer to blender or grinder.
3. blend to smooth and fluffy batter adding water as required.
4. transfer the batter to a large bowl. keep aside.
5. now in another bowl take 2 cup idli rava.
6. rinse the idli rava with enough water and drain off the water.
7. repeat this for 2 or 3 times or till water runs clean.
8. squeeze off water from idli rava and add to urad dal batter.
9. mix well making sure rava and urad dal are combined well.
10. now cover and rest in warm place for 8-10 hours or till the batter ferments and doubles.
11. after 8 hours, batter doubles indicating well fermented with air pockets present.
12. add 1 tsp salt to the batter and mix gently without disturbing the air pockets.
13. scoop the batter into idli plate greased with oil.
14. place in steamer and steam for 10 minutes on medium flame or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
15. finally, soft idli recipe are ready to serve along with chutney and sambar.

3. Sambhar Vada

Most South Indians consider breakfast incomplete without Medu Vada. Whether they have idli, dosa, pongal or upma, they like to add a crispy, tasty and protein-rich urad dal vada to the platter. In fact, when you have breakfast in a South Indian restaurant, even in the remote villages, you will be fascinated to see the waiter reel out the list of breakfast combos, almost all of them featuring vada! Serving them fresh with sambhar and coconut chutney however is doubly delightful.

Ingredients (1 cup = 250 ML)

for sambar:

• ½ cup toor dal
• 1 to mato
• ¼ tsp turmeric / haldi
• 1½ cup water
• 3 tsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard / rai
• pinch of hing / asaofetida
• 1 dried red chilli
• few curry leaves
• 2 green chilli slit
• ½ onion petals
• ½ cup tamarind extract
• ½ tsp jaggery / gud
• 1 tsp salt
• 1½ cup water
• 1 tbsp sambar powder
• 1 tbsp ghee / clarified butter

for vada:

• 1 cup urad dal
• 2 green chilli finely chopped
• 1 inch ginger finely chopped
• few curry leaves finely chopped
• 2 tbsp coriander finely chopped
• 1 tbsp dry coconut / kopra chopped
• pinch of hing / asafoetida
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• ½ tsp salt
• oil for deep frying

Instructions

1. firstly, pressure cook ½ cup toor dal, 1 tomato, ¼ tsp turmeric and 1½ cup water for 5 whistle.
2. in a kadai heat 3 tsp oil and saute 1 tsp mustard, pinch of hing, 1 dried red chilli and few curry leaves.
3. also saute 2 green chilli and ½ onion for a minute.
4. now add ½ cup tamarind extract, ½ tsp jaggery and 1 tsp salt. mix well.
5. boil for 10 minutes or till tamarind extract gets cooked well.
6. add in whisked dal and tomato. mix well.
7. also add 1½ cup water and adjust consistency. boil well.
8. furthermore add 1 tbsp of sambar powder and stir well.
9. add in 1 tbsp ghee and boil for 2 minutes.
10. finally sambar is ready to serve with vada or idli.

4. Uttapam

A traditional delicacy from down South which literally means 'poured appam' in Tamil. Uttapam is a dosa-like preparation made with the batter of rice, dhuli urad dal and fenugreek seeds.

How to Make Uttapam

• 
  

• 1. Soak rice, daal and methi in water for 5-6 hours.

• 2.Grind fine, add salt and enough water to make a dropping consistency and leave to ferment 5-6 hours.
• 3.Heat tawa, and brush oil over it. When really hot, splash a little water over it, and pour about 1 cup of batter on to it.
• 4.It will spread a little. When the edges start browning a bit, pour a trail of oil around it.
• 5.Turn it over and let it brown on the other side too.
• Prepare onion uttapam:
• 1.Before you turn the uttapam over, sprinkle a mixture of finely chopped onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves and green chillies.
• 2.Serve hot.

5. Sambhar

sambar recipes including for rice and for south indian breakfast recipes. but this recipe is unique compared to my previous one, especially with the sambar powder or masala. basically with all the dry spices in the masala, i have also added dry desiccated coconut and roasted it with other spices. adding coconut gives a nice texture and flavour to the sambar and that’s how hotel sambar recipe is prepared in restaurants. 

Ingredients (1 cup = 250 ML)

for sambar powder:

• 2 tsp oil
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp chana dal
• ½ tsp cumin / jeera
• ¼ tsp methi / fenugreek seeds
• ½ tsp pepper
• 4 dried kashmiri red chilli
• few curry leaves
• 2 tbsp coconut grated

for hotel sambar:

• 1 cup tamarind extract
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp  jaggery
• 2 green chilli slit
• few curry leaves
• ½ onion petals
• 5 beans chopped
• 1 carrot chopped
• 2 drumsticks chopped
• 1 tomato chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup water
• 1½ cup toor dal cooked
• 2 tbsp coriander finely chopped

for tempering:

• 2 tsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard / rai
• 1 dried kashmiri red chilli
• few curry leaves

Instructions

1. in a kadai take 1 cup tamarind extract, ½ tsp turmeric, 1 tsp jaggery, 2 green chilli and few curry leaves.
2. also, add vegetables and 1 tsp salt.
3. cover and boil for 10 minutes.
4. further, add 1 cup water and 1½ cup toor dal.
5. boil the mixture well.
6. now add 3 tbsp of prepared sambar powder and mix well.
7. boil for 2 minutes or till flavours of sambar powder is absorbed completely.
8. pour the tempering over sambar.
9. also, add 2 tbsp coriander leaves and mix well.
10. finally, hotel sambar is ready to serve along with hot steamed rice.