Through out our travels, explorations and networking, some of us are exposed to regional cuisines that exists in each country around the globe. But despite our exposure, some cuisines happen to be better marketed than others, which limits our understanding of cultural differences that exist within the country itself.
Just as in the U.S., the coastal fare of California differs greatly from the southern fare of Tennessee. Or if you wander into Italy, a country diverse in terrain and climate, you will find ingredients from each region to be vastly unique and special to that area and to those people.
So when we travel into India, we will find the same. What many of us are familiar with as "Indian" cuisine is in fact well marketed dishes from northern regions of India, mostly from Punjab and adopted largely from Iran, Pakistan and Kashmir. You might be familiar with Rohan Josh, Chicken Tikka Masala, and Naan? In fact Chicken Tikka Masala is considered to originate from Glasgow, Scotland. Side notes aside, these dishes are often found in Indian restaurants because of their familiarity and assimilation into the Ethnic/International food scene around the world from many years ago.
So what about dosa, idly, sambar and vada? These are all dishes attributed to southern Indian cuisine, often found in cities such as Bangalore and Chennai. But let's not forget out sisters in Mangalore, Goa, and Kerala, where the cuisine can vary significantly. Signature dishes include Mangalorian chicken and roti, or Goan prawns, and Kerela fish curry and there is much more to experience in these regions and all regions in the south.
Why don't we find these dishes in Indian restaurants around the globe? Well we do, we get to taste select dishes that are signature to those regions and have gained popularity over the years, but there is still not enough education and marketing around southern Indian cuisine to bring more to the table.
South Indian cuisine, like many other cuisines around the world are made with ingredients that are nutrient dense and well suited for vegetarians and vegans. Many dishes are made with lentils, rice, legumes, squashes, eggplant, and many other indigenous vegetables and herbs. The use of spices vary greatly from region to region. In the south, it is common to cook down the spices until they assimilated and mellowed out, whereas in the north the spices are lightly toasted so you can taste the flavors of each spice more distinctly. Although, the use of chilies is much more predominant in southern cooking as they thrive well in hot climates, and well adopted into the cooking. Coconut milk is often used in curries to give them a rich smooth flavor, instead of cream, which is used as a tool in western kitchens to make the flavors more appealing.
In this blog we are talking about southern Indian cuisine in a very general sense, but as mentioned before, even within south, dishes vary greatly from region to region as the preparation of spices, proteins, legumes and vegetables change. We are just hitting the surface of our discussion on southern Indian food and I hope that you read on learn more about this very beautiful culture .