Dosa, idli or vada? Or maybe a thali? What to eat, and what not to eat, when traveling in South India, what is safe to eat, and what to do when there is no menu!

South Indian food means hot curries, lots of rice, and less meat than in North India. As one travels southwards through India, curries get spicier, vegetarianism becomes the norm rather than an option, and the main item in every meal is a giant pile of white rice.

South Indian food gets its flavor from cumin (jeera), coriander, turmeric, mustard seeds, ginger, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon and of course chili.

South Indian Breakfast

A South Indian morning starts with chai, or tea, made with black tea, milk, sugar and spices such as cardamom, cinnamon and even black pepper. While chai is the Indian national drink, South Indians also drink sweet, milky coffee.

Dosas are an Indian version of pancakes, fried in oil. Masala dosa is a thin pancake filled with spicy potatoes and onion, set dosa means a plateful of thicker dosas, and plain dosa comes, as the name suggests, without filling. There is also paper dosa, plain paper dosa, sweet dosa, rava (semolina) dosa, and so on.

Another popular item on the breakfast menu is a plate of idlis, soft cakes made from fermented lentils and rice, sometimes accompanied by vada, a spicy deep-fried doughnut. Dosas, idlis and vadas are usually served with coconut chutney and/or sambar, a lentil and vegetable stew that is cooked with tamarind.

Upma is made with semolina, vegetables, nuts and spices, kesari bath is a bright yellow and sweet semolina dish, and served together these two are called chow-chow bath.

Thali For Lunch

Lunch in a typical, non-tourist orientated South Indian restaurant means thali, an all-you-can-eat meal that is served on a plate or on a banana leaf, and consists of rice with several different curries and other dishes. Sometimes it also comes with chapatti, a flat bread made of whole wheat flour, or a crispy fried papad (poppadom). Thali can be veg or non-veg, and on the coastal areas fish thalis are popular.

A South Indian thali will always include rasam, a thin spicy soup, and plenty of sambar. Most thalis also come with curd, the Indian natural yoghurt that you can eat as dessert, or mix with some rice and pickle to make curd rice. Like most Indian food, thali is eaten using only your right hand. Check out here how to eat Indian food using your fingers.

Snacks And Dinner

Most South Indian restaurants serve specific foods at specific times. Noon to 3 pm is lunch (thali) time, and between 3-5 pm many places only serve snacks or chaats, such as samosas – deep fried triangles of pastry filled with spicy potatos. In fact, most chaats are both spicy and deep fried. From 5-7pm is again time for those dosas that you already had for breakfast, and dinner is served from 7 pm.

South Indian dinner means more curry and rice, or sometimes chapatti. Dhal, or lentil curry, is a basic South Indian dish that is served with lunch and dinner. Lentils, after all, are the main source of protein for many South Indians. Several South Indian restaurants also serve North Indian food in the evening.

Different regions have their own specialities. Curries in Kerala tend to be very hot and are often cooked with coconut milk. The Malabar Coast in Northern Kerala is famous for its cuisine.

Desserts And Sweets

Indian desserts and sweets are really, really, really sweet. Most sweets are made of milk, ghee - clarified butter - and jaggery, unrefined sugar. Anything can be added to this blend, from pistachio nuts and coconut flakes to bright green food dye. A popular dessert is gulab jamun, a deep fried ball of dough swimming in syrup.

Whether in desserts or tea, Indians like their sugar, and sugar is also added to fruit juices. South Indian fruits include papaya, banana, pineapple, pomegranate and oranges. Mosambi or sweet lime looks like orange, but tastes more like a cross between an orange and a grapefruit, and makes a great juice. The king of fruits is of course mango, which comes in more types and sizes than you could ever imagine.

The best thirst quencher is the water from a fresh green coconut. It is also an excellent natural remedy for dehydration.

What Is Safe To Eat

Generally restaurants that look popular and busy are a safe bet. At lunchtime, most restaurants serve dozens if not hundreds of thalis, which means that food does not stand around for long. Foods that are cooked to order, such as dosas, are always safer than food that is left to stand in the heat for hours (for example in a buffet). In the South Indian heat, vegetarian food is safer to eat than meat. Salads are trickier, because you never know what the ingredients were washed in, if at all.

Often a typical South Indian restaurant doesn’t have a menu. Or if it has one, it definitely does not include prices. All you can do is ask what is available, try to understand what the waiter tells you, and choose from that. It may be a good idea to ask the kitchen to make your food “less spicy”, just in case.