From Rasam To Pongal: Easy

South Indian

Dinners At Home

Quick Summary

South Indian dishes are a beautiful mix of flavour, nourishment, and comfort. While idli and dosa often steal the spotlight, the cuisine offers so much more. From tangy, spice-laden sambar to creamy, soothing pongal, these warm, home-style meals are easy to prepare and deeply satisfying. Perfect for busy weeknights or leisurely dinners, they bring the rich culinary traditions of South India straight to your table.

Deep Dive

South Indian dishes are packed with flavour. They offer a taste of sweetness, tanginess, and spiciness from chillies, and not to forget the beloved coconut. You might often confine yourself to dosa and idli when you think of South Indian food. But there is an array of South Indian dishes that are equally delicious, tempting, and healthy.

The best part is, you do not need a pantry full of ingredients, but just a few, like curry leaves, fenugreek seeds, tamarind, coconut, and some regular spices, which will add that special South Indian taste. Here are some South Indian dinner recipes that can easily be made at home, which are delicious, light on your stomach, and healthy.

Rasam

Rasam is a light, spicy, and sour soup that can be consumed as a starter or poured generously over rice. This dish is made with tamarind extract, tomatoes, garlic, curry leaves, and pepper. To make it, you need to boil the tamarind extract with spices and give it a tempering of mustard seeds, garlic, and curry leaves. You can choose to add coriander for garnish. Rasam is not only good for digestion but also provides great relief for your throat. It is light and thus fits perfectly into your dinner routine.

Sambar

Sambar is a type of stew made using toor dal, tamarind, and an array of mixed vegetables like drumsticks, pumpkin, carrots, beans, onions, and tomatoes. What adds to the aroma of the sambar is the sambar powder, which can be easily made at home using different spices or bought from a store. To make it, you have to cook the dal, make tamarind extract, cut vegetables into small pieces, and give it a tempering with oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, garlic, fenugreek seeds, and regular spices. Sambar is packed with protein because of the toor dal and has fibre from the vegetables, making it wholesome and gut-friendly to consume for dinner. It can be served with rice or with dosa, uttapam, or idli.

Lemon Rice

Lemon rice is a warm meal that is ideal to have for dinner. To make this, you need to add mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chillies, and regular spices like turmeric, not too much red chilli powder. After everything is fried well in a pan with oil, toss in warm rice and give it a good mix. Once it is all mixed well, add lemon juice over the rice and let the steam rise from it for a couple of minutes. You can also use leftover rice for this meal, and it will not affect the taste. This dish is light on the stomach, rich in vitamin C, and satisfies your taste buds, making it a perfect dish for dinner.

Pongal

Pongal is a savoury, porridge-like dish made from moong dal and rice. To make this dish, you need to cook the two together until they become soft, and later temper them with black pepper, cumin, ginger, curry leaves, and fried cashews in ghee. Pressure cook the lentils and rice, add the tempering, and serve hot. Pongal is high in protein and easy to digest, making it excellent for dinner, especially when paired with coconut chutney or sambar.

Tamarind Rice

Tamarind rice, also called Puliyodarai, is prepared by mixing tamarind pulp cooked with jaggery, red chillies, curry leaves, and a pinch of hing into rice. Later, a tempering of sesame oil, mustard seeds, and dried red chillies is added, which enhances its aroma. This dish is not only flavourful but also long-lasting, in case you want to keep it ready before dinner time. Tamarind’s antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties support digestion and make this tangy dish a satisfying and healthy dinner.

Upma

Upma is a warm, savoury porridge made with roasted rava. It is a meal that can be consumed at any time of the day, from breakfast to dinner. To make it, you need to boil the rava in water with a tempering of mustard seeds, green chillies, ginger, and curry leaves. You can also add finely chopped vegetables for extra nutrition and a splash of lemon juice for freshness. This dish is light yet filling, rich in iron, and easy to digest, making it a perfect quick dinner after a busy day.