By Shireen Jamooji
South India has a whole spectrum of foods and flavours to explore. The state of Tamil Nadu especially has a number of intriguing breakfast dishes that deserve more recognition. Here are some you should try.
Ven Pongal is a dish made with rice, split dal, ghee and tempered spices. Ven in Tamil means white.
'Upp' means salt in Tamil and this savoury appam is made from rice flour and urad dal with a selection of spices.
It may look like a dosa but this sweet crepe is made with jaggery, coconut and often ragi flour for more energy.
Image Credits: usha.ravishankar/Instagram
Also known as String Hoppers, they're long, pressed rice noodles that are served with stew or curry.
Image Credits: thewayofkueh/Instagram
This Pearl Millet porridge is consumed during summers as a cooling and hydrating drink and breakfast.
Image Credits: cookingfromheart/Instagram
Simple and wholesome this mix of ground rice flour, toor dal and black pepper is an understated gem.
Image Credits: mridulla.vijay/Instagram
Pidi Kozhukattai is sweer and simple dish with steamed rice flour blended with jaggery syrup and coconut.
Image Credits: smitz_079/Instagram
Using balls of leftover steamed rice dough tempered with mustard seeds and curry leaves and finished with a dry masala.
Image Credits: sreelimavijesh/Instagram
Made with buttermilk and rice flour this savoury cake comes together in 15 minutes and is a popular tiffin option.
Image Credits: cakeworkorange/Instagram
Fine rice noodles are cooked with spices and tempering and then squeezed with refreshing lemon.
Image Credits: haute_hut/Instagram