1. South Indian  Food - IDLI - for Breakfast

To make idli, two parts uncooked rice to one part split black lentil (urad dal) are soaked. The lentils and rice are then ground to a paste in a heavy stone grinding vessel (oralu kallu). This paste is allowed to ferment overnight, until it expands to about 2½ times its original volume. In the morning, the idli batter is put into the ghee greased molds of an idli tray or "tree" for steaming. These molds are perforated to allow the idlis to be cooked evenly. The tree holds the trays above the level of boiling water in a pot, and the pot is covered until the idlis are done (about 10–25 minutes, depending on size). The idli is somewhat similar to the dosa, a fried preparation of the same batter.

In the olden days, when the idli mold cooking plates were not popular or widely available, the thick idli batter was poured on a cloth tightly tied on the mouth of a concave deep cooking pan or tava half filled with water. A heavy lid was placed on the pan and the pot kept on the boil until the batter was cooked into idli. This was often a large idli depending on the circumference of the pan. It was then cut into bite-size pieces and eaten.

2. South Indian Food - Dosa - for Breakfast and Dinner

Regular Dosa batter is made from rice and split skinned urad bean (black lentil) blended with water and left to ferment overnight. A modified form of the same batter can be used to make idlis Characteristically the rice is very finely ground, more so than in idli batter. Furthermore, the rice to lentil ratio varies in both. The rice can be uncooked and/or parboiled. The urad bean and rice can be replaced with highly refined wheat flour to make a maida dosa or semolina for a rave dosa.

The batter is then ladled in small amounts onto a hot greased tava, where it is spread out into a thin circle and fried with oil or ghee until golden brown. This is the case in a very short time. The dosa may then be folded in half and served or rolled as in a wrap, but in both cases it is cooked on a single side. Alternatively, it may be flipped to cook on the other side and then served.

Variety of Dosas

• Egg dosa - a dosa spread with an omlette
• Chilli dosa - chilli powder is spread on the dosa.
• Open dosa - chutney powder is spread on the dosa while cooking. Before serving spiced & mashed potato is placed on top.
• Onion dosa - chopped and sauted onions are spread on the dosa.
• Ghee (thuppa/neyyi) dosa - ghee is used instead of oil while frying the dosa.
• Butter dosa - butter is used instead of oil while frying dosa and a small amount on top of it while serving.
• Roast - the dosa is spread thinly and fried until crisp.
• Family roast - a long dosa which can be spread over 2 or 3 feet.
• Paper dosa - a long and very thin delicate dosa which can be spread over 2 feet.
• Green dosa - a dosa stuffed with fresh vegetables and mint chutney.
• Chow-chow dosa - a dosa stuffed with (Indian flavored) Chinese noodles.
• Cheese dosa - a dosa stuffed with cheese.
• Masala dosa - a dosa stuffed with spiced potatoes (famous in South India)
• Rava dosa - made with rava or semolina, which doesn't need fermentation and is usually considered a fast snack/tiffin.
• Wheat dosa - made with wheat flour, and served with coconut chutney, mysore masala dosa
• Vella dosa - a sweet dosa made of jaggery with ghee/neyyi.
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• Ragi dosa - made of ragi or millet flour, usually considered "a poor man's fare".
• Muttai dosa - eggs are added to the regular batter; the word muttai in Tamil means "egg".
• Set dose - a popular type of dosa in Karnataka, which is cooked only on one side and is served in a set of two, hence the name.
• Benne dose - similar to masala or set dosa but smaller in size. Served with liberal helpings of butter sprinkled on it. Said to have originated in the Davanagere district of the state of Karnataka
• Cabbage dosa - a dosa made out of cabbage. Paste is prepared with rice, red chillies, Asfotedia and Turmeric. Once the batter is ready, cabbage cut into small pieces is added to the paste and left for about 30 mins. Once this is done, the batter is poured and the dosa is made crisp.
• Neer dosa - a dosa prepared from rice unique to Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts.
• Pesarattu - a dosa prepared from moong dal; Andhra special. The variations include a) making from soaked whole moong seeds (along with green cover), which gives a greenish tint to the Dosa, and, b) making with yellow coloured moong dal (green cover removed and dal is refined), which gives a fine golden yellow tint to the dosa when roasted. Both these forms are famous in Andhra Pradesh, and are typically served with chutney made from Ginger and Tamarind.
• Adai - a dosa prepared from a combination of dals namely Urad, Channa & Moong dal.
• Appam - a dosa prepared from a combination of patted rice (Avalakki), rice & yogurt.
• 70 MM Dosa - Similar to
• Masala Dosa, but it is bigger in size, about 60 cm in diameter.

3. North Indian Food - Dal Makkani

• 1 cup whole urad or black gram lentil
• 1/3 cup kidney beans (Rajma)
• 1 tbs grated ginger
• 2 tsp coarsely ground fennel seeds
• Red chilli powder (accord to taste)
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 3-4 tbs. ghee or clarified butter or oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• A large pinch of hing (Asafoetida)
• 1 tbsp minced ginger & garlic
• 1 medium onion (thinly chopped, optional)
• 2-3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp. Garam Masala
• 1/2 cup fresh cream.
• 2 tbs. chopped coriander leaves (optional)
• Salt to taste
• 5-6 cups water (to cook dal)

Wash and soak black urad (bean) and rajma (red kidney bean) overnight. Cook the soaked dal and rajma in 5-6 cups of water with salt, red chili powder, fennel seeds powder, turmeric, and grated ginger till dal and rajma are soft. Lightly mash dal and rajma mixture, keep aside. Heat oil or butter in a thick bottomed pan. Add cumin seeds and hing, let it crackle. Add ginger, garlic, chopped onions, and cook till light golden brown in color. Add garam masala and chopped tomatoes. Sauté till tomatoes are well mashed and fat starts to leave the masala. Add mashed dal and rajma to this mixture and little water (desired consistency). Correct seasoning, and simmer at very slow flame for 15-20 minutes. Add fresh cream and let it simmer for 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Garnish with coriander leaves before serving. Serve hot with Naan or Paratha or even with rice.

South Indian Food - UPMA - Breakfast

There are many ways Upma is prepared; indeed, every upma cook usually will incorporate variations in flavour when making Upma. This variation is obtained by varying or emphasising particular spices. A typical recipe would include:

Ingredients

Wheat Rava (Semolina) (1 cup)

Cooking oil (1 tbsp)

Mustard seeds (1 tsp)

Cumin (1 tsp)

Ginger root (1 tsp, grated)

Green chillies (3-5 med, chopped)

Chopped onions (1 med, chopped) (some people may omit this for cultural reasons)

Salt to taste

Vegetables of choice: Peas, carrots, eggplant, potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, tomatoes (3/4 cup, chopped)

Grated coconut (3-4 tbsp, optional)

Cilantro leaves (3-4 tsp, chopped, optional)

Lemon juice (2 tsp, optional)

Method of preparation

1. Dry-roast rava until it just begins to turn brown, then keep aside.

2. In a large saucepan/wok, heat the cooking oil.

3. Add mustard seeds and wait for them to sputter. Then add cumin, ginger, green chillies and chopped onions and fry until onions caramelise.

4. Add vegetables, salt and 1.5 cups of water, and bring to boil.

5. Add the roasted rava, turn down the heat, and mix quickly to avoid lumps forming.

6. The upma is done when all the water is absorbed by the rava.

7. Garnish with grated coconut, chopped cilantro leaves and lemon juice.

4. South Indian Food - Vada

The general way of preparing vada is to make a paste or dough with gram flour or mashed or diced potatoes and/or dal lentils.

This mixture is subsequently seasoned by mixing with black mustard seeds, onion, curry leaves, which are sometimes previously sauteed, and salt, chilies and/or black pepper grains.

Often ginger and baking soda are added to the seasoning. The individual vadas are then shaped and deep-fried. Certain types of vada are covered in a gram flour batter before frying.

Although battered and deep-fried, the finished product should not be too oily if prepared correctly, since steam build-up within the vada pushes all oil away from within the vada.

Vadas are preferably eaten freshly fried, while still hot and crunchy. They are usually accompanied with coconut chutney and sambar

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Varieties of vada

Uzhunnu vadai (Tamil: உளுந்து வடை), Uddina vada (Kannada), Uzhunnu vada (Malayalam), 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, especially Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

Parippu vada (Malayalam: പരിപ്പ് വട) or paruppu vadai (Tamil: பருப்பு வடை). A dal vada whose main ingredient is toor dal. It is made with the whole lentils and is shaped roughly like a flying saucer. This type of vada is also called aamai vadai (turtle-vadai) in Tamil Nadu.

Other types of vada are:

Perugu Vada (పెరుగు వడ - Telugu) / Thayir vadai (தயிர் வடை - Tamil)/ Thairu Vada (തൈരുവട - Malayalam) / Dahi Vada ( दही वडा- Hindi) , made by serving the vada in a mix of yoghurt and spices).

Vengaaya vadai (Hindi Pyaz vada; Malayalam Uli vada, made with onion. It is roughly round-shaped and without the hole in the middle.

Maddur vada (Kannada: ಮದ್ದೂರು ವಡೆ) is a type of onion vada unique to the state of Karnataka,

Masala vada, a softer less crisp vada.

Rava vada, vada made of semolina.

Bonda, or Batata vada, made with potatoes, garlic and spices coated with lentil paste and fried; this form is used in vada pav.

Sabudana vada is another variety of vadai popular in Maharashtra, made from Pearl Sago.

Vada pav, A vada served in a bun (known as a pav) with chutney is known as a vada pav, a common street food in Maharashtra, especially in Bombay.

5. South Indian dish - Sambhar

Toovar dal are cooked until they are crumbled. Tamarind pulp is soaked in water to extract the flavour and then the pulp is discarded. A mixture of ground spices known as sambar powder (which contains roasted coriander seeds, chillies, lentils, and other spices) and tamarind are added to the dal. Vegetables and spices such as turmeric and chilli powder are also added. The dal and vegetable stew is heated until the vegetables cook. A wide variety of vegetables may be added to sambar. Typical vegetables include okra, carrot, radish, pumpkin, potatoes, tomatoes, brinjal and whole or halved shallots or onions, but many different vegetables may be used with adequate results. Typically sambar will contain one or several seasonal vegetables as the main vegetables in the soup.

The cooked sambar is typically eaten with an oil-fried spice mixture containing items such mustard seeds, urad dal, dried red chillies, curry leaves, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, and asafoetida. Fresh curry leaves or coriander leaves may be added at the very end to enhance the flavor. Curry leaves in particular are an essential element of authentic sambar; their aroma and flavor provide sambar with a distinct and pleasant herbal essence.

Sambar is reflective of a broad and ancient tradition of dal-based vegetable stews in southern India. Many regions and families of the Indian subcontinent have developed and maintained their own adaptations of a dal and vegetable stew, and similar preparations are evident in such dishes known in local languages as rasam, charu, saaru, and pappu pulusu.Most contain the common elements like toovar dal, tamarind, vegetables, sambar powder, and an oil-fried spice seed seasoning, although the soup can be made to have many different flavors depending on vegetables and selection of spices used.

6. Indian food - Tandoori Chicken

Chicken is marinated in yogurt and seasoned with tandoori masala. It is moderately hot, but the heat is toned down to a mild taste level in most Western nations. Cayenne pepper, red chili powder, or other spices give it a red hue. A higher amount of Turmeric produces an orange colour. In some modern versions, both red and yellow food colourings are used. It is traditionally cooked at high temperatures in a clay oven (tandoor), but can also be prepared on a traditional grill.