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266 authentic South Indian recipes, page 1 of 12.
Side Dishes
A traditional Kerala Onam sadya curry of pumpkin and red cowpeas simmered in a ground coconut and cumin paste, finished with coconut roasted to a deep nutty brown in coconut oil.
Home Remedies
Cotton pads soaked in chilled pure rose water and rested on closed eyelids for ten minutes, a cooling Ayurvedic remedy for eyes that feel hot, gritty, and tired after long screen sessions.
Dessert
A traditional Kerala payasam of rice ada simmered in dark jaggery syrup and coconut milk, finished with ghee fried coconut chips, cashews and raisins. It is the signature dessert of the Onam sadya.
Tiffins
A Maharashtrian fasting favorite of soaked tapioca pearls tossed with crushed roasted peanuts, potato, cumin and green chili. Cooked right, the pearls stay separate, glossy and chewy rather than turning into a sticky lump.
Home Remedies
A thin, peppery South Indian broth of crushed black pepper, cumin, garlic, and tamarind, sipped warm for a sore throat, a blocked nose, and the flat appetite that comes with a head cold.
Dessert
A traditional Tamil sweet made by whisking roasted black urad dal flour into palm jaggery syrup and enriching it with gingelly oil until it turns glossy and pulls away from the pan. It is warm, earthy, and only lightly sweet.
Home Remedies
A soft paste of gram flour, turmeric, and milk, rubbed gently over the face and rinsed off. It lifts dull, flaky surface skin and leaves the face smoother, and it is the everyday kitchen form of the Ayurvedic udvartana rub.
Dessert
A creamy Tamil festival sweet of raw rice and moong dal cooked soft in whole milk and sweetened with crushed kalkandu, or rock sugar. Ghee-fried cashews, raisins, cardamom, and saffron finish it.
Home Remedies
A warm decoction of dry ginger powder (sonth or sukku) sweetened with a little jaggery, sipped during the first days of a period to ease mild cramping and the heavy, dragging feeling that comes with it.
Home Remedies
A teaspoon of finely powdered jaggery with a pinch of rock salt, swallowed dry and followed by slow sips of warm water, to stop an ordinary bout of hiccups.
Tiffins
Colocasia leaves layered with a ground paste of soaked rice, coconut, tamarind and dried red chillies, rolled into logs and steamed until set. A coastal Karnataka and Konkani monsoon specialty served sliced and tempered.
Home Remedies
A few drops of gently warmed plain sesame oil placed in the ear, the Ayurvedic practice of Karna Purana, to relieve dry, itchy ears and soften hardened earwax.
Tiffins
A warm, savory South Indian porridge of whole black urad dal and rice, pressure cooked with garlic and fenugreek seeds, mashed smooth and finished with coconut milk and dry ginger. Traditionally made through the Tamil month of Aadi.
Home Remedies
A cotton bundle of coarse rock salt, warmed in a dry pan and pressed over a stiff neck, tight shoulders, or an achy lower back. It is the simplest form of the Ayurvedic warming therapy called swedana, and it uses only salt and a piece of cloth.
Tiffins
Large mild green chillies coated in a spiced gram flour batter and deep fried until puffed and crisp, then split and filled with a lemony onion mixture. A classic Andhra and Tamil street snack served hot with chai.
Tiffins
Soft, fluffy deep-fried puris made from mashed overripe bananas, curd, sugar, and a touch of cumin. A classic Udupi-Mangalore tea-time snack that puffs golden and stays pillowy inside.
Home Remedies
A simple aromatic steam made by simmering carom (ajwain) seeds in water, with an optional handful of mint, breathed in under a towel to ease a blocked, stuffy nose during a mild cold.
Tiffins
Thick, soft South Indian breakfast rounds made from fermented rice and urad dal batter and topped with a fresh mix of onion, tomato, green chili, and coriander, cooked golden on a hot tawa.
Home Remedies
Two to three dried figs soaked in water overnight, then eaten with their soaking water on an empty stomach to gently relieve mild, occasional constipation.
Home Remedies
A thin slice of fresh ginger dusted with rock salt and a squeeze of lime, chewed 15 to 30 minutes before meals to stimulate a low appetite and prime sluggish digestion.
Home Remedies
A gentle kitchen hair mask of gram flour, yogurt, and a little lemon juice that lifts excess oil and buildup from a greasy scalp, based on the Ayurvedic udvartana cleansing tradition. Use it once a week when the scalp feels oily and heavy.
Main Dishes
A Kongu-region Tamil Nadu street food where flaky parottas are layered with a spicy chicken salna, wrapped in a banana leaf, and toasted on a tawa so the parotta soaks up the gravy and the leaf turns smoky.
Home Remedies
A warm, caffeine-free South Indian brew of dry ginger powder and crushed coriander seeds, sweetened lightly with jaggery, taken at the first sign of a dull tension headache. Dry ginger, shunthi in Ayurveda, is heating and vata pacifying, and its gingerols act on the same prostaglandin pathway targeted by everyday pain relievers.
Home Remedies
Two drops of body-warm sesame oil in each nostril, the daily Ayurvedic practice known as Pratimarsha Nasya, to relieve a nose made dry, crusty, and stuffy by air conditioning, heating, dust, or travel.
