Traditional Southern Indian Breakfast

Before I left Pondicherry, I had my best meal yet in India, a traditional southern Indian breakfast. A surprise for me, as I'm not really a traditional american breakfast person. It consisted of four idlis, which are moist spongy bread-like cakes made from fermented rice. They were served with sambar and coconut chutney. Sambar is a soup of sorts with vegetables, lentils and curry. The coconut chutney was my favorite, and surprisingly did not taste like coconut at all. It was hummus-like, but with more texture and a garlic and lime flavor. It had some large black seeds like a poppy but larger in it and some bright green leaves, which I think might be fresh lime leaves. The idlis spongy texture makes it perfect to soak up the sambar. Also, some masala tea to drink, which is a warm spiced tea served with milk all outside on a roof patio in a lounge chair under a palm tree thatched ceiling.... loved it!