South Indian Food and Restaurant Menu Cheat Sheet for Decoding

One of the reason we Indians not missing home here in USA is, we are not missing Indian food here. If you want to cook any Indian Cusine, you get the groceries here or if you are ready to drive little bit, you could even find all the restaurants around you, aren’t we blessed, If you don’t agree with me then you are too picky.

Especially South Indian food, so many varieties are there. Even now it takes a while before I make up my mindbefore I order my food. Indian food is getting in the taste buds of people all over the world especially Americans. I get weird questions about the South Indian recipes from my colleagues often, I am not sure if they were sarcastic.

I can always vouch for good South Indian food, South Indian food is a major factor that grabs the attention of a number of tourists visiting India. It will satisfy your taste buds with the authentic south Indian curries.

Not only delicious but also easily digestible, South Indian Cuisine marks its unique identity with its light and low calorie appetizing dishes, not always. South Indians are real experts in rice preparations. Most of the items like dosas, vadas, idlis and uttapams, are prepared by rice and lentils. Sambhar is the main serve in the south India food.

But there is problem of understanding the Restaurant Menu. Forget about Foreigners, even many North Indians can’t understand what’s in the South Indian menus, its complicated I agree. It's not clear if this is because they don't expect "outsiders" to want this kind of food, or perhaps some other reason, but restaurants with clear descriptions of the menu items are the exception, not the rule.

Moreover, the waiters aren't always trained to give explanations to non-Indians, most they are Mexicans serving Indian Food. If you ask what the difference between a dosa and a rava dosa is, you might hear that rava dosas are crispier. But your waiter may not know that rava means wheat or be able explain that in a rava dosa semolina replaces the rice flour. And that won't help you if you don't already know that a dosa is a large crispy crepe made with a fermented batter of rice flour and ground lentils. The semolina in a rava dosa does make it crispier, and a little thicker than a regular dosa. It also takes a little longer to cook, so you can expect it to come out of the kitchen a bit later than a regular dosa.



Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories have put together a South Indian Restaurant Menu Decoder Wallet Card (800 kB PDF) for your enjoyment, education, and dining pleasure. You can print it out-- single sided so no hassle --and it compresses to standard business card size: 3.5" x 2". You can also not print it out, and just view it on your iPhone. (And if you've never been to a South Indian place, isn't this a good time to try one?)

A definitely useful cheat sheet for any one who is not familiar with South Indian menu, give a try. Have fun Decoding and Bon Appetit!