Kerala is famous for variety of breakfast items

I belong to God’s own country, famous for its greenery and dishes. Obviously breakfast items are very special and have a wide range too. Most common breakfast items of Kerala are Idli, Dosa, Appam, Idiyappam, Putt (steam cake), Uuppmavu (Upma) and Kozhukatta. Of course you can find a lot of variants of these dishes. I try all these items one after another for breakfast – after all, variety is the real spice of life! You can go through the detailed version of the article by using this link.

Puttu (Steam cake)

Except Upma, all breakfast items have rice as the main ingredient. Every person’s day should begin with a lot of energy and carbohydrates can provide it the better way. Rice contains carbohydrate in abundance and so, it’s the better starter of the day.

Steam cooked food is best for health, as nutrients are not lost any way. If so, Idli, Steam cake and Idiyappam are steam cooked items for breakfast. Black gram is best for health and it is used for preparing idli and dosa. Combining the benefits of black gram and steam cooking preparation method, Idli is the best breakfast item. If you use Sambar as side dish, you can get a lot of supplements through the vegetables used for its preparation.

Appam is prepared using rice, yeast and coconut. As more than 80% content is rice and as it is steam cooked, it won’t digest easily. So, if you have appam as breakfast you will never seek for any snack at 11.30 am. Same is the case of idiyappam, a steam cooked breakfast item, and almost every contents are same except sugar and yeast. Preparation of Noolappam is similar to Idiyappam. Idiyappam looks like idli while Noolappam is flat.

Noolappam

Steam cake and Appam are typical Kerala dishes, both are traditional too. It takes just 5 minutes to prepare steam cake and banana is its best combo. That makes steam cake every house wife’s hot favourite. Any lady can spare 5 minutes to make this breakfast, mixing rice flour, a little coconut, salt and water together and steam cooking for 5 minutes in ‘put-maker’ or simply, a steamer.

Kozhukatta, another breakfast item from rice flour and coconut is kids’ favourite. You can make healthy Upma for breakfast by adding carrot or any vegetable that you wish. Poori and Chapathi too have found their place in Kerala dining table. Though Chapathi is a healthy dish, Poori, fried in hot oil is not so.

Best combo for Kerala breakfast items

I have briefly explained some of the best breakfast items of Kerala. Now let me tell you what the best side dishes for those breakfast items are. Idli, Dosa, Appam, Idiyappam, Putt, Uppmavu (Upma) and Kozhukatta are the most common breakfast items, and Poori and Chapathi – second options and their taste vary in accordance with the side dish chosen.

Best combo for dosa and idli

Ghee roast – Most popular variety of dosa

Dosa and idli tastes best with coconut chutney and sambar. We can varieties of both chutneys and sambars. Sambars can be made with and without coconut. Normal chillies or green chillies can be used for making chutney. Adding tomatoes, mint or coriander leaves supplies taste variations to your chutney. If you please, you can eat dosa with egg curry or meat, and even prepare egg dosa or minced meat dosa. Coconut chutney is a good combination for appam and idiyappam too. Ghee roast and Masala dosa are two common variants popular across India and abroad, and Potato masala is stuffed to prepare Masala dosa. Both these varieties are very thin but big in size. Also read: 7 Varieties of Dosa.

Best combo for appam and idiyappam

Non-vegetarian or vegetarian – appam and idiyappam taste best with all side dishes. From chutney and stoo to egg curry and mutton, appam and idiyappam nicely blend with them all. A few persons like to taste them with fish too. Stoo is prepared by adding coconut milk to cooked meat or vegetables, and it’s one of the best known combos for appams.

Banana for steam cake and upma

Upma with cashews and carrot

Steam cake and upma taste best with banana. Banana of small types are the best combinations. But it doesn’t mean only banana suits steam cake. Chicken, mutton, beef and eggs also form amazing combo with steam cake. In a few preparations you can prepare steam cake by mixing cooked meat or vegetables too. Its varieties are infinitive. Let me add one more combo of steam cake – pappads and cooked green gram. Read more to know about the interesting facts of Kerala’s Puttu.

Kozhukatta – simply without any side dish

Kozhukatta needs nothing as combo. It’s a watery type dish made using rice flour, coconut and salt and just needs a spoon to taste.

Though I have provided the best combos for breakfast items, it depends on your tastes to determine, which one to choose. So, which dish do you want to try for breakfast tomorrow? Let me conclude simply telling one point, idli, appam and dosa need soured batter and you have to soak rice and black gram for a few hours, grind it well in the evening and keep outside the fridge overnight.

You can also watch Breakfast dishes of Kerala-Gallery