5 Extremely Easy And Delicious South Indian Recipes Every Bride-To-Be Can Try

Despite being born in a South Indian Tamil Iyer Brahmin family (I had to mention this coz there are a lot of intricacies when it comes to the delicacies each region prepares), my knowledge about South Indian cuisine was shamefully (or shamelessly) limited.

Fast forward (now that I am married), I would love to slyly flaunt my newly found knowledge about South Indian recipes and their cooking style, all courtesy my lovely mother-in-law and colleagues. Yes, it’s true! It’s a fact that the remarks I heard from my co-workers did push me (to a great extent) to try out new South Indian recipes (which I was sort of reluctant initially).

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I realised something as simple as curd rice with tadka and a different style of chutney could bring in so much joy to my beloved foodie fellas. So, here I am, ready with my little treasure trove of South Indian dishes that I proudly imbibed from my sasuma. These recipes are simple, hassle-free and super-yum.

Start scrolling and happy cooking!

#1. Tomato Rasam

Yeah, I know this is too clichéd and simple but I have the shortest way of preparing this. Despite being one of the most basic recipes, rasam can be your saviour on days when you want to replace your yellow dal with something tangier. The best part is it rasam doesn’t require too many ingredients and can be made within 20 minutes.

Ingredients (serves 3 people if had as rasam rice):

• Lemon size tamarind
• 1 ¼ tsp sambhar powder
• ¾ tsp turmeric (haldi) powder
• Salt per taste
• 1 small piece powdered heeng or just sprinkle a bit (asafetida)
• 1 tomato
• A handful of mustard seeds for tadka
• A few curry leaves (kadipatta)
• 2-3 tsp ghee

Method:

• Pour 1 and a half cups of water in the vessel you will be preparing the rasam in.
• Put tamarind in it and then slowly, crush so that it mixes well in the water. Mash it till the colour of the water turns dark brown (watch out for the seeds).
• Cut tomato into four pieces and put it in the tamarind water. Mash the tomato till it blends well in the tamarind water.
• Sprinkle a bit of heeng or put a small of piece of it in the tamarind water. Now add sambhar powder, haldi and salt, and stir well. Let it boil for 10 minutes till it reduces itself.
• Now add 1 and a half cups of water and boil it till a golden froth appears on the surface. Turn it off immediately.
• Now take a separate kadai and put ghee in it. When the ghee heats, put the mustard seeds and wait till the seeds splutter. Now turn off the gas and add curry leaves.
• Put this tadka on the rasam and stir it once. Serve it hot with rice or you can even drink it as soup.
• Garnish it with coriander leaves.

Tip: if you have cold or fever, you can grind cumin seeds and black pepper into a powder and add it to the rasam and mix well.

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#2. Vatha Kuzhambu

This dish sounds complicated but absolutely simple to prepare. In layman’s language, vatha kuzhambu can be broadly put in the sambhar category but technically, it is actually a paste which tastes even better if you have it the following morning. Here’s what you need to do.

Ingredients (serves 2-3 people)

• 5-6 tsp oil
• 1 small piece of asafetida (heeng) or powdered heeng
• A handful mustard seeds
• 1 ½ methi seeds
• 1 ½ tur dal
• 1 tsp haldi powder
• 3 tsp sambhar powder
• 2 dried red chillies
• Lemon size tamarind
• Vegetable of your choice (you can use radish, bitter gourd, capsicum or drumsticks)

Method:

• Heat 4 cups of water and put tamarind in it. Squash it well and keep it aside.
• Now heat oil in a vessel, add the small piece of heeng or sprinkle a bit. Now add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter.
• When they splutter, add methi seeds. When they turn a bit reddish, add tur dal and wait till it becomes brownish. Add red chillies and wait for them to turn a little maroon.
• Now add the vegetable, haldi powder, sambhar powder and salt per taste and saute it.
• Now add the tamarind water. Heat it on low flame for at least 15 minutes till the raw smell of tamarind goes.
• Now add 2 tsp of rice powder and give it one final boil (roughly 2-3 minutes). Once it thickens, turn off the gas.

Also See: 3 Yummy Dessert Recipes By Chef Vikas Khanna For Newlywed Brides To Try

#3. Tomato thokku

This is nothing but another form of chutney (easy but a bit spicy though), and teams well with paranthas, pulao, idli and rotis, almost everything.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg tomatoes
• 20 red chillies
• 1 small piece asafetida (heeng) or 1 tsp heeng
• Salt per taste
• Lemon size tamarind
• 2-3 tsp mustard oil
• 1 tsp methi seeds

Method:

• Wash and dry the tomatoes and then cut it into two halves.
• Mix all the ingredients together in a mixer.
• Heat mustard oil in a pan and pour the paste onto it. Cover it with a lid and stir it every 10 minutes till it becomes thick.
• In a separate kadai, heat 1 tsp methi seeds. Now grind the heated methi seeds in a mixie and add it to the paste. Switch off the gas. The ultimate side dip is here.

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#4. Sambhar

This recipe is overrated, but hey, if not this, what else can taste better with idli and dosa?

Ingredients

• 1 tsp turmeric (haldi) powder
• 2 tsp sambhar powder
• Mustard seeds
• Small piece of asafetida or less than half a tsp
• 2 red chillies
• 1 small cup tur dal
• Lemon size tamarind
• ¼ tsp methi seeds
• Vegetable as per your choice (capsicum, lady's finger, drumsticks, radish, pumpkin)
• Salt per taste

Method:

• Take 3-4 cups of water and heat it. Now add tamarind on it and squash it well. Keep it aside.
• Boil a small cup of tur dal in a pressure cooker and keep it aside.
• Heat oil in a pan and put heeng. Now put mustard seeds and wait till they splutter.
• When they splutter, add methi seeds, when they turn reddish, add the red chillies and saute. When the red chillies turn maroon, add vegetables. Add ¼ tsp of sambhar powder and haldi powder and salt according to taste.
• Add a bit of water and cover the lid. Let the vegetables boil for around 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, pour the tamarind extract onto the vegetables well and stir it well. Let it boil till the smell of raw tamarind goes away.
• Meanwhile, smash the boiled tur dal in a separate bowl. Add a bit of water if needed.
• After the raw smell of tamarind goes, pour the smashed tur dal and let it boil for 10-15 minutes.
• Garnish it with curry leaves.

#5. Mor kuzhambu

In simple terms, this one’s a fusion of curd and sambhar or let's simply call it South Indian kadhi.

Ingredients:

• 1 green chilli
• 1 cup curd
• 1 tsp cumin (jeera) seeds
• 1 small cup grated coconut
• 1 tsp rice powder (optional)
• 1 tsp chickpea flour
• A few curry leaves
• Mustard seeds
• 1-2 tsp oil
• Vegetable (brinjal, pumpkin or lady finger)

Method

• Grind green chilli, grated coconut and jeera in a mixie. Add 1 tsp rice powder (optional), 1 tsp chickpea flour and salt per taste in curd.
• Mix it well using a hand blender. Heat this mixture and switch off the gas when it boils. Keep this aside.
• Cook the vegetable of your choice in a separate pan. Then add a pinch of haldi powder and salt per taste.
• Add the cooked vegetables into the curd mixture and mix it well.
• In a separate pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, pour it on the mixture. Add curry leaves and mix well.

Well, these were some easy ones from my mother-in-law’s kitchen. Tell us in the comments below how many of these did you try and how they turned out!

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