The South Indian Hospitality

The ideal Indian food would have you counting garlic naan, butter chicken, shahi paneer, dosa, samosa, pav bhaji and chhole bhature, off your fingers, but the Indian cuisine is so much more. If you go down South: appam, iddiyapam, Mangalore buns, ragi dosa, rava dosa, idi samvar, besibele bath, puliyogare, pongal, Mysore Pak, puttu all await your taste buds. To be honest, even I got to know and am still exploring the South Indian dishes. Internationally, the aforementioned dishes are more popular, even to the neighboring countries, it is the Northern Indian dishes that make it to their knowledge. There is no comparison, of course, each dish is unique, each dish and cuisine just as delicious.

While exploring the food here is a big part of my every day journey, what caught my attention is also the local food hospitality. While my mother always wanted my eldest brother to sit down while consuming food, because he eats his meals standing up, she would probably be surprised by the large amount of people here that consume their food standing up. In fact, many local places do not even have seating arrangements, just tables where you stand and eat your food. And no, this is not only for street foods, but local joints, as well.

I love how all local places have a hand washing station, always. It is also mainly due to the fact that a large variety of foods are eaten with hand, but regardless, always washing your hands before eating is encouraged here. I also love how all local joints have free drinking water stations, even hot water, as it should be everywhere.

A lot of these local joints may also offer South Indian meals which is served on a banana leaf, making it more visually pleasant and also pleasant to your tastebuds and health. The spread across this banana leaf is heavenly ranging from sweet to savory.

The Indian food culture is colorful and diverse and so, so beautiful. Next time you try Indian food, try going for something else other than the regular butter chicken, dal makhani, shahi paneer, biryani and naan.

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