Culinary Travel: Southern India

Soothe your soul with ayurveda! Savour the brimming coffee estates, spice plantations and rice paddies and amble in lush jungles. Add spark to your evening witnessing fireflies on a houseboat in Kerala's backwaters. Witness historic living temples and colonial towns. A gentler India awaits.

South Indian cuisine is rice based. Rice is combined with lentils to make wonderful dosas, idlis, vadas and uttapams. These items are delicious besides being nourishing and digestible (due to the fermenting process). They are combined with sambar (dal), rasam (tamarind dal), dry and curried vegetable and pachadi (yogurt). Their rice preparations are also masterpieces like the biryani from Hyderabad, lemon rice and rice seasoned with coconut peanuts, tamarind, chilies, curry leaves, urad dal and fenugreek seedsSouth Indian chutneys are made of tamarind, coconut, peanuts, dal, fenugreek seeds, and cilantro. Meals are followed by coffee. South Indian dals and curries are more soupy than North Indian dals and curries. South Indian cuisine is also hotter.

Coconut milk straight from the nut is a common beverage in South India. Coffee is very popular in South India and Madras coffee is popular in South Indian restaurants throughout the world. 

The South Indian food is a brilliant blend of flavors, colors, seasoning, nutritional balance, fragrance, taste, and visual appeal.

Shrimp Curry in Coconut Milk

Ingredients
1 large onion, minced
1 inch-long piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup butter, ghee or vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 to 2 fresh green chiles minced
1 cup hot water
1  can unsweetened coconut milk - 14 oz.
1 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 lb large shrimp in shell  - about 20
minced cilantro leaves for garnish

Directions
Heat oil in a pan and saute onion until onion is a nice golden brown color. Add ginger, green chilies. Stir in curry powder and turmeric and cook, stirring frequently, 2 minutes. Stir in water, coconut milk, and lime juice, salt, sugar and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 5 to 8 minutes.

While sauce simmers, peel shrimp (devein), wash. Add shrimp to curry sauce and simmer, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are just cooked through and change color, about 3 minutes. Serve garnished with cilantro. 

If you have a taste for culinary travel, let Rawhide Travel and Tours help you plan your next vacation and all of your other reservation needs. Call us at (602) 843-5100 or visit our website: rawhidetravel.com.

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