South Indian Cooking Recipes

As diverse cultures of the world unite through the globalization of food habits, traditional food habits seem to have lost their appeal. India too has become entangled in this big web of the globalization process, imitating the food habits of various parts of the world, while its rich and original recipes threaten to slowly fade away from the memory of the natives.

With Instant recipes and processed foods taking over India, people seldom feel the need or desire to prepare any dish that requires a significant amount of time and effort. This has led to a decrease in the popularity of several dishes that were earlier used to create a buzz for their authentic preparation styles. However, it becomes a crucial factor to observe that native recipes of India are dissolving over time or if not dissolving, getting replaced by some quick and different style of cooking method.

And when talking about restaurants, they are capitalising on the demand, refusing to risk on creating more awareness towards what the original food of India was, even before Independence, before invasions, or when India was a large nation with neighbouring countries as part of one nation. 

“People don’t have the time to invest in long-winded recipes anymore,” says Amit Ghosh founder of Lost and Rare Recipes, who grew up in a joint family with its varied members constantly trying their hand at different dishes ranging from Cabbage Soup to Bijoya Mishti. Ghosh’s grandmother found innovative vegetarian dishes to make for the family, which she would always serve with rice. Subhajit himself was cooking by the age of 11, his first dish being Aloo Tikia.

He shared his inclination towards Chingri Korola Purpuri, which no one talks about. This dish has its origins in the Natore district of Bangladesh. It’s the first in his Bangladesh series, which includes 12 dishes from 11 districts. He uses video as a medium to educate people about the recipes less talked about.

Similarly, Mughals brought Persian, Turkish and Central Asian cuisine into India. Most of the dishes that were cooked during Mughal-era have survived except some. Khichdi Dawud Khani is one of such lost Mughal recipe that had meat, moong dal, pureed spinach, egg, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, saffron, onion, ginger, coriander, garlic, oil and salt as ingredients. Half the meat was prepared as yakhni (meat broth) and rest was minced and cooked separately. Later, the meat was combined and cooked in a sealed pot (dum dahad).

“While the charm of some traditional recipes faded away because of their lengthy cooking time and elaborate styles, others found a way to remain on our menus through some makeovers. One such dish is the Murgh Zamin Dos, another Mughal era dish, mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari, the historic chronicle of Akbar's reign. Arguably the favourite dish of Akbar, Murgh Zamin Dos (literally meaning 'inside earth') involved three main ingredients- murgh (chicken), rumali roti, and mud,” said Rituparna Goswami, storyteller at ThisDay by Ekank Technologies.

Garlic or Benami kheer was a popular dessert in the House of Mewar. Such was the craze of this dessert that the royal cooks purposefully called the kheer 'benami' (without a name) because they did not wish to reveal the secret ingredient.

In fact, one of the many reasons why some traditional recipes got lost over time was because the creators refused to share or pass on their recipes, perhaps a desire to remain different and unique. This was the fate of the Kabishambardhana Barfi, a highly personal recipe created by Rabindranath Tagore’s niece. This sweet was a special gift to the great poet for his 50th birthday. The primary ingredient of the barfi is cauliflower or Phool gobi, which is flavoured with saffron, cardamom powder, etc., and mixed with milk.

Dr R. Ravichandar, managing director and founder of Nandhana Palace Group took the initiative to promote one such lost recipe from the state of Andhra Pradesh in his restaurants. “One of the lost recipes from Andhra is bamboo chicken. It is not served by many restaurants but we have introduced it at Nandhana. You will be surprised to know how we revived it. We actually sent our chefs to the forests of Andhra and recreated the recipe at Nandhana,” he commented.

Another such name from the restaurant industry is Osama Jalali. The natural inheritor of the culinary legacy has led him to carry out extensive research on lost Indian cuisines, meticulously recreating and perfecting age-old recipes. His quest to bring back these forgotten flavours has taken him across the country and he also runs a group called the 'Lost Recipes of India'. His mother, Nazish Jalali, who hails from the princely estate of Rampur, collected rare recipes during the years she spent in the Walled City.

He has brought famed classic dishes like Anjeer Mewe ke Kebab, Kulliya Chaat, Chitta Murgh Tikka Makhni and Ghilafi Seekh to restaurants that were never talked about.

Indian food is not just about food from the north and south anymore. There are a lot more businesses taking things back to their roots, maybe with a contemporary spin. But the flavours that should be incorporated should be true to their nature. The food we eat has to strike a chord and evoke some kind of nostalgia. There was a lot of clutter, even a loss of identity a few years ago in the food scene of India, but now, a lot of people have realised that recipes must be showcased as it is, so that our true native food does not get lost in the web of world cuisine.

Hold on! Is that even possible? Tasty and easy- to-cook food is a foodie’s most frequent day dream. But that relishing bite of glutton enters your body with its own set of un-healthy conspiracies. So yes, we have to restrict our senses of taste to some levels. Or we resort to making unrealistic diet plans, which we end ignoring. If you can relate with the thought, I have for you a bunch of selected recipes that are not only ‘fast’ but also ‘healthy’.

Wrap it up! (20 Minutes)

A Wrap or Role kind of food is the most portable, customizable and handy kind of food. Below is just an idea for the healthy fast foodies. You can always add your own food-fervour to it.

Ingredients
- 1 Large gluten free lavash wrap (or any wrap/ tortilla of choice)
- 3 large egg whites or eggs or mixture of both.
- Pinch sea salt
- Pinch pepper
- ½ cup fresh spinach
- 3-4 sun dried tomatoes
- Crumbled feta (Feta is a kind of cheese which is considered to be the healthiest cheese, you can add any other form of cheese or chicken or soya)

Instructions
- Coat a frying pan with oil on medium heat.
- When hot, add your egg whites, salt and pepper and whisk roughly until fully cooked. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Add fresh spinach & cover for 1-2 minutes, until wilted.
- Open the lavash and fill the whole preparation into it.
- Wrap it, cut it into half and serve.

Sweet- Potato- Roast! (15 Minutes)
The easiest and the most delicious way of having a sweet potato is this!

Ingredients
- Sweet potato
- Salt & pepper
- Parseman Cheese/soya
- Sauces
- Herbal garnishing

Instructions
- Take a sweet potato and pierce it several times, leaving all the cuttings attached at the end.
- Microwave it for 6-7 minutes (depending upon the size of your sweet potato). Keep on turning it every two minutes.
- Once the potato has been cooked, cut it into half. Cut it into squares, leaving the whole thing in its original shape.
- Take very thin slices of butter and put them in between some of the squares.
- Garnish, serve and savour!

Banana Dips
- Cut a banana into 1 inch chunks
- Spread each of them with ½ spoon peanut butter.
- Decorate with favourite dry fruits and enjoy!

Moglet (Omlete in a mug)
- Spray the inside of a cup with the non-stick cooking spray
- Whisk together 2 large eggs, 2 tablespoons frozen mixed vegetables, 1 tablespoon low fat shredded cheese, some salt & pepper.
- Microwave for 1 minute. Stir & microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute.

Mother's Day is the perfect occasion to show your mom how much you appreciate and value her. It is one such day when you get to say a 'Big Thank You' to your moms for all that they have done for you. It is a day when you want them to feel absolutely pampered and blessed. So this Mother's Day, restaurants have come up with various options to spend priceless moments with your mom and shower her with a delightful bouquet of offerings.

‘Dil’ ki deal

Restaurants like The Westin Gurgaon, The Imperial, Fresco, Yautacha and Zamozza amongst others are bombarding customers with exciting offers to take their mother out on a food treat this special day.

Guppy by Ai located at Lodhi Colony, Delhi, is offering a special summer menu, with gift vouchers and welcome cocktails to celebrate the day.  FresCo at Janpath, CP and Ambience Mall, Delhi, has something to make your mother feel more special. FrescCo will be serving complementary assorted cupcakes (Strawberry/Lemon/ Chocolate/ Kiwi) with ‘Mom’ written over it.  The Mother’s Day buffet menu is priced at Rs 1,500 plus taxes. The customers can also rejoice motherhood over a delightful gastronomic extravaganza at Rodeo, CP, Delhi, as Rodeo brings a delightful array of food, fun-filled ambience and excellent services to host a special lunch and dinner.

Not only this, five-star hotels, are also not far away in welcoming the parent-sibling duo with luxurious offers. 1911, the all-day dining restaurant at The Imperial is offering a Brunch Buffet priced at Rs 3,200 plus taxes featuring Roasted vegetable lasagna with ricotta and olive quenelles, Marinated sole with grain mustard and chilli flakes and Zucchini and artichoke roulade with pesto rosso while you feel satiated that you are at the right place to make her feel spoilt for choice and the list goes on. The buffet would be thematically designed by the team of chefs with lots of candles for a feminine touch to celebrate the occasion and make all the mothers present, feel special.

On the other hand, Westin Gurgaon has something more than the buffet, the special Sunday brunch with gourmet cuisines and unlimited champagne along with a 50 per cent discount on any one treatment of their choice at The Heavenly Spa by The Westin Gurgaon. Customers can also make their mother’s day special with everlasting memories with Le Meridien Delhi consisting of an elaborate brunch, a marvelous live band, an enthralling cooking competition and a sketch artist to engrave her on paper. And one can also indulge in the exquisite cuisine offered at Zamozza, World Kitchen & Bar by getting 50 per cent discount to make the day special for all the moms. 

It’s all about MOTHERS this Sunday at Le Meridien Gurgaon. As a tribute to mothers and in a bid to make the day unforgettable for them, Le Meridien Gurgaon has announced a fabulous Sunday Brunch dedicated to them.

The sumptuous brunch will include a wide variety of cuisines, 200 dishes to be specific, along with beverages that will appeal to varied taste buds of mothers. The Sunday Brunch is priced at INR 2450 plus taxes but complimentary for all mothers.

Apart from delectable Sunday Brunch, Le Meridien Gurgaon is also offering 20% discount on any spa or salon treatment at the Le Meridien Spa for mothers - making it the perfect way to get all mothers to relax and rejuvenate. The Spa offers a variety of therapies for de-stressing  and pampering all senses from Swedish Massage, Balinese Massage, Sea Salt body scrubs and Facials to choose from.

And to celebrate this special day, Brewbot located at Andheri, Mumbai, is serving a classic brunch with pop ups of baked goodies. Yauatcha Mumbai on Mother's Day Special is themed- actions speak louder than words- by serving their signature Yauatcha dishes such as a Chilean seabass dumpling, Baked Chilean seabass, Baked chicken puff, stir fry udon noodles, and raise a toast to the most amazing woman you know with cocktails such as Lalu, Lam peak Martini or Baron Vert. The restaurant will also make the occasion memorable with a special complementary box of Yauatcha’s handmade chocolates for every mom dining with us.

This Mothers Day, Café Mangii gives its customer a chance to say Thank you to their mom in a very special way! Give her a break from the kitchen this Sunday and head to Café Mangii for a delicious family meal. This specially created 4 course set meal priced at Rs 699 plus taxes per person with Fresh Lime / Ice Tea and Rs 799 plus taxes per person with Sangria. That’s not all! For Moms accompanied with their family, Café Mangii entirely forgoes her meal cost. 

Likewise, food tech start-ups like TinyOwl is celebrating Mother’s Day with a twist- TinyOwl HomeMade. Whether you are living alone or simply want to give your mother a break from daily cooking, use TinyOwl HomeMade app to order home-cooked meals freshly cooked. iTraveller.com is celebrating Mother’s day by gifting a Holiday package by completely customising every aspect of their holidays, encourages the idea of doing something special for the lovely mothers. The customers can also get a cash back of Rs 1000, in addition  up to 25 per cent discount on screen price for all the bookings done up to Mother's day.

Thus, we can see that to celebrate this beautiful day, food and hotel industry has come up with lots of offers to cherish the everlasting memory with the love of your mother.