Foods of South India.

Here is a selection of some of the delicious food we have enjoyed over the past two months. Let's start with breakfast...... Below is a very typical selection of idli or idly, vada and samosa. accompanied with different sambar and curry. We always have some fried green chillies for some extra heat! Here we are with our friends Udo and Mona in Chapora, Goa.

We will nearly always eat in a sree or shree restaurant. The locals eat here and the food is always very good and very cheap. The meal above was only about £4.

The plates and cups are nearly always metal which make for easy clean and no breakages! The plates above have been lined with banana leaves which will be rinsed off and used again. As Indians eat with their right hand there is always a wash basin in the restaurant. Also the Indians have perfected the skill of drinking from any vessel without it touching the lips.....even on fast moving buses and trains! 

Above I am having egg curry with parotha. and appam. Ulli found the best milkshakes at this place in Allephy made with crushed frozen milk and topped with ice cream. And we wonder why we have put on weight since being here!

Above is a masala dosa, one of our favourites. We will always have a glass of hot masala chai with breakfast.

Below is a wonderful small roadside 'cafe' in Hampi. Here 'Mama' fried the idly in a small indented pan. The whole lot was served on a piece of old newspaper and plastic sheet on the stone seat. As in all the eateries seconds are freely given out and will only add pennies to the bill.

Sometimes we will go to a more western type of restaurant such as a 'German bakery' where I will normally have an omelette and Ulli will have muesli with fruit curd and honey or porridge with banana and honey. Below is fresh fruit with cinnamon toast.

Below is iIdiyappam which is similar to a pizza and also some fried idly again.

We have also had puttu before but no picture of that. We also drink lassi regularly as well. This is a yoghurt based drink that I will normally have salt and Ulli sweet. We have heard that this is a good drink to have as it introduces local bacteria to your system. And now......lunches and dinners.....

A couple of calamari dishes, the first was in the Portugese influenced area of Panjim in Goa, the second a light curry from south Goa.

Day or night there is always somewhere to grab a bite......

And now the thali. If you'd like a bit of everything this is the dish for you! Small pots of sambar and curry and usually rice and some chapati, roti or naan. A good thali will also have some raita and even some sweet things.

The thali below was one of the best we had. It was in Panjim, Goa. The three lowest dishes are from left to right, fresh fruit with pomegranate seeds, yoghurt and a sweetened yoghurt dish flavoured with cardamon.

And some various curries and other dishes.......

Below is chicken hyderabadi, palak paneer and dal curry. I think we've only eaten meat handful of times in the two and a half months since we've been here. I now understand why so many Indians are vegetarian. There is another variant of vegetarianism in India known as sattvic which tend to leave out things that may agitate the heart such as onions and chillies. See also the Brahmin.

This is a Brahmini salad fro the original 'German bakery' in Anjuna, Goa. 

Below is crab xacuti from Calangute, Goa.

And from Panjim these two Portugese inspired fish curries which are quite sour in taste.

Below are Bombay potatoes, palak paneer and aubergine fried with garlic and herbs.

The 'witches hat' below is a ghee roast dosa.

Below is tandoori chicken.

Our main drink here has to be water due to the heat. And because of our western stomachs we cannot have the tap water so have it bottled. A few places do provide filtered water which helps to cut down on the plastic bottle wastage. Coconut water is a great source of minerals and after you've slurped out the liquid the vendor will halve the nut so you can scoop out the flesh.

Places like the German bakery and Cafe Delish in Goa specialize in health shots like the wheat grass and cocnut water and turmeric and ginger drinks below.

Below on the left is bebinca, a Goan dessert made with lots of eggs.

A box of traditional Indian sweets from Mumbai.

Lemon and strawberry cakes......

Below is strawberry and creme fraiche on brioche.

Halva and Mysore pak

And to clean up afterwards some fennel seeds (which often come candied) and tooth picks.

And it is quite acceptable to let out a hearty belch during or after your meal!!