Yummy South Indian Breakfast

One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast."

-Robert A. Heinlein

      Breakfast is the first meal of a day, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day's work. Some believe it to be the most important meal of the day. Among English speakers, "breakfast" can be used to refer to this meal or to refer to a meal composed of traditional breakfast foods (such as eggs, porridge and sausage) served at any time of the day. The word literally refers to breaking the fasting period of the prior night. It has its origin in the Christian custom of fasting from food between the supper meals of one day and receiving Holy Communion the following morning (such a Eucharistic fast is still observed by Orthodox Christians, but is shortened to one hour before Mass for Roman Catholics). Foregoing the natural craving to eat was seen as an act of self-denial that honours God, while strengthening the religious resolve and faith of the believer.

   
    Breakfast foods vary widely from place to place, but often include a carbohydrate such as grains or cereals, fruit, vegetables, a protein food such as eggs, meat or fish, and a beverage such as tea, coffee, milk, or fruit juice. Coffee, milk, tea, juice, breakfast cereals, pancakes, waffles, sausages, French toast, bacon, sweetened breads, fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs, bake beans, muffins, crumpets and toast with butter, margarine, jam or marmalade are common examples of Western breakfast foods, though a large range of preparations and ingredients are associated with breakfast globally.

    There is no standard Indian breakfast menu as almost each state in India has different specialties. However, one can broadly classify breakfast varieties in India into 2 types; North Indian and South Indian. The eastern and western parts of India also have individual breakfast items unique to their culture or state.

   A typical south Indian breakfast consists of idli, vada or dosa coupled with chutney and sambar. Many variations of these dishes exist such as Rava idli, Sambar vada and Masala Dosa. Other popular south Indian breakfast items are Pongal, Upma, and Poori.

There are some good south Indian restaurant in Chennai

·         Ratna cafe

·         Saravana bhavan

·         A2b

·         ID

·         Kanadasan mess

·         Mylai karpagambal mess

·         Raya’s mess

·         Kapila dasa

·         Sangeetha

·         Mami kadai

·         Nama veddu vasantha bhavan

·         Dasa dozza

·         Sathyam

·         Woodlands

       And so on

 Onion Rava Dosa

  Onion Rava Dosai, Thats my grandmother's favourite tiffin,with the onions and cashew a bite with dip on the sambar is bliss.

    It is made with a batter of semolina, rice flour and water along with cumin seeds, salt, asafoetida, diced onions, diced carrot, curry leaves, cashew nuts, black pepper, chopped cilantro and green chillies.

 Medhu Vada

   Medu Vadai, south Indian favourite snacks, you can eat it in many ways, soaked in rasam,curd,sambar,dipped in ketchup,chutneys....the crispy vada on a rainy day is bliss.

Medu vada, made with urad dal (black gram) flour. This vada is shaped like a doughnut with a hole in the middle It is the most common vada type throughout South India and the most recognisable throughout India.According to K. T. Achaya, Vada was popular among ancient Tamils during 100 BCE-300 CE. A type of vada is mentioned as "vataka" in Manasollasa, a 12th century Sanskrit encyclopedia compiled by Someshvara III, who ruled from present-day Karnataka. In this recipe, green beans are soaked, de-skinned, and ground to a paste. The paste is shaped into balls and deep-fried. Early literature from present-day Bihar and Uttar Pradesh also mentions bara (vada) and mungaura (a vada made from mung).

    Ven Pongal

   My  brother calls it sleeping dose, hot pongal with tempered cashew,curry leaves,ginger accompanied with sambar and chutney ahhh...you can sleep like kumbakarana.

Ven (white) pongal is a popular dish in South Indian homes and is typically served as a special breakfast in parts of South India, especially Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh.

    Poori Kelangu

   Puri kelangu,you cant just stop with one.

Puri (also spelled poori) is an unleavened deep-fried Indian bread, commonly consumed on the Indian subcontinent. It is eaten for breakfast or as a snack or light meal. It is usually served with a curry or kelangu.

     Kichadi

   Khichdi a perfect evening tiffin.

   Khichdi or khichri, is an South Asian preparation made from rice and lentils (dal). Khichdi was the inspiration for the Anglo-Indian dish kedgeree, and is also commonly considered to be the inspiration for the popular Egyptian dish, kushari. In Indian culture, it is considered one of the first solid foods that babies eat.

  The Greek ambassador of Seleucus mentioned that rice with pulses is very popular among people of South Asia. The Moroccan traveller, Ibn Battuta mentions kishri as a dish in India composed of rice and mung beans, during his stay circa 1350. Khichdi is described in the writings of Afanasiy Nikitin, a Russian adventurer who travelled to the South Asia in the 15th century. Khichdi was very popular with the Mughals, especially Jahangir. Ain-i-Akbari, a 16th-century document, written by Mughal Emperor, Akbar’s vizier, Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, mentions the recipe for khichdi, which gives seven variations. There is an anecdotal story featuring Akbar, Birbal and khichdi.

    Uttapam

  when your bored with other tiffans its time for "uttapam" you can garnish it with anything onion,tomato,cashew,idli podi,chicken kheema,mutton ...the list goes on.

    Uttapam batter is made of a 1:3 ratio of urad dal and rice; the rice should be a combination of a boiled variety and a variety such as basmati. The dal and rice are subsequently ground and fermented. The outer surface is crisp and the inner layers are like idli.Uttapam is traditionally made with toppings such as tomatoes, onion, chillies, capsicum and cabbage mix; other common choices are coconut or mixed vegetables. It is often eaten with sambar or chutney.it is popular in South India.

Idli

idli, the soft sponge "maliga poo" idli dippend in sambar, smashed in onion tomato chutney or made into idli upma is a perfect and light breakfast.

    

    Idli is a traditional breakfast in South Indian households. Idli is a savoury cake that is popular throughout India and neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka. The cakes are usually four to five inches in diameter and are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils (de-husked) and rice. The fermentation process breaks down the starches so that they are more readily metabolized by the body.

A precursor of the modern idli is mentioned in several ancient Indian works. Vaddaradhane, a 920 CE Kannada language work by Shivakotiacharya mentions "iddalige", prepared only from an black gram (urad dal) batter. Chavundaraya II, the author of the earliest available Kannada encyclopaedia, Lokopakara(c. 1025 CE), describes the preparation of this food by soaking black gram in buttermilk, ground to a fine paste, and mixed with the clear water of curd and spices. The Western Chalukya king and scholar Someshwara III, reigning in the area now called Karnataka, included an idli recipe in his encyclopedia,Manasollasa (1130 CE). This Sanskrit-language work describes the food as iddarika. The food prepared using this recipe is now called uddina idli in Karnataka.The recipe mentioned in these ancient Indian works leaves out three key aspects of the modern idli recipe: the use of rice (not just urad dal), the long fermentation of the mix, and the steaming for fluffiness. The references to the modern recipe appear in the Indian works only after 1250 CE. Food historian K. T. Achaya speculates that the modern idli recipe might have originated in present-day Indonesia, which has a long tradition of fermented food. According to him, the cooks employed by the Hindu kings of the Indianised kingdoms might have invented the steamed idli there, and brought the recipe back to India during 800-1200 CE. Achaya mentioned an Indonesian dish called "kedli", which according to him, was like an idli. However, Janaki Lenin was unable to find any recipe for an Indonesian dish by this name.The Gujarati work Varanaka Samuchaya (1520 CE) mentions idli as idari, and also mentions its local adaption idada (a non-fermented version of dhokla). The earliest extant Tamil work to mention idli (as itali) is Maccapuranam, dated to the 17th century.

    Dosa

    Dosa all time favourite breakfast for everyone in south india, we have it almost everyday and never get bored of it, dipping the dosa in coconut chutney and then in sambar...wah!! what a taste.

   Dosa is a fermented crepe made from rice batter and black lentils. It is a staple dish in South Indian states of Tamil nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana. It is also popular in other parts of India, and other countries like Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Singapore.Dosa is indigenous to South India; its exact birthplace in that region is a matter of conjecture. According to food historian K. T. Achaya, dosa (as dosai) was already in use in ancient Tamil country around the 1st century AD, as per references in the Sangam literature. According to P. Thankappan Nair, dosa originated in the Udupi town of present-day Karnataka.In popular tradition, the origin of dosa is linked to Udupi, probably because of the dish's association with the Udupi restaurants. Also, the original Tamil dosa was softer and thicker. The thinner and crispier version of dosa, which became popular all over India, was first made in present-day Karnataka. A recipe for dosa (as dosaka) can be found in Manasollasa, a 12th century Sanskrit encyclopedia compiled by Someshvara III, who ruled from present-day Karnataka.

       

Puttu

   My sister is  crazy  of puttu & kadalacurry,while me on the other hand would  like to have lots of sugar on my puttu .

   Puttu  is a South Indian and Kerala breakfast dish of steamed cylinders of ground rice layered with coconut. It is highly popular in the Indian state of Kerala as well as in many areas of Sri Lanka, where it is also known as pittu. Puttu is served with side dishes such as palm sugar or chickpea curry or banana. In Bhatkal Puttu is served with side dishes such as ghee and sugar or Paya or mutton curry.

    Palaya Sadam

  Dad's favourite breakfast, he keeps telling me the bliss of eating palaya sadam with onion and thogaiyal in those days.

   During the time, the refrigerator didn't make its way into our homes, whenever there was left over cooked rice, boiled water was poured in the left over rice, and left overnight. The next day morning, it was mixed with buttermilk and salt. This used to be the traditional break fast, with raw small onions as an accompaniment. We call it "Palaya sadham/ Neeragaram" in Tamil. Neeragaram has amazing health benefits. Having palaya sadham for few days on an empty stomach cures stomach burns. Palaya sadham is also rich in vitamin b12. It is also an amazing body coolant and if you are a person, who is out in the hot sun a lot, try drinking this neeragaram before going out, your body will not develop heat boils nor will it get dehydrated very soon. We make palaya sadham often, though not regularly like in my grandparent’s times. But on a hot summer morning, having "Palaya sadham" is literally heaven.

PS:The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. 

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