“The cuisine in south India has always been diverse. It’s just that it wasn’t showcased in the way it is now,” says chef Chalapathy Rao, who helms Simply South, a fine dining south Indian restaurant in Hyderabad, and a cooking legend with more than two decades of expertise in Andhra and Telangana cuisine.
Rao’s statement resonates with what the region offers today in terms of food. Often associated with just idli or dosa, the cuisine is no doubt rooted in tradition but is now experiencing innovation and experimentation in ingredients and culinary offerings. Whether it’s ghee roast chicken seekh in pear and radish koshimbir or Shetty Hotel-style pulimunchi and filter coffee ice cream, chefs are showcasing versatility in their culinary repertoire with a modern take on the region’s cuisine at speciality dining outlets.
Take, for instance, Hosa in Goa. The restaurant-cum-bar experiments with molecular gastronomy techniques that are applied to traditional gravies or presents fusion dishes like tamarind-glazed pork. Similarly, while Mumbai’s The Bombay Canteen brings heritage stories to life on its menu and showcases lesser-known dishes in unique backgrounds, a progressive avatar of flavours, ingredients and sensorial renditions in a 13-course degustation menu called the Anika is found in perhaps India’s only luxury dining experience, incubated in ITC Grand Chola, Chennai’s Avartana, and ITC Maurya, New Delhi, taking the cuisine to the next level.
The pan-India outlets of Monkey Bar have a differentiated offering from the south Indian region—for example, the puliyogare rice and bhindi raita features local gojju masala and is served with crisp-fried bhindi raita, papadam and chaat salad. Similarly, paddus are offered with a twist with mushrooms and asparagus pepper fry paniyarams and served with roasted tomato and mint and coconut chutneys. Malabar egg roast is cooked in a home-style masala, served with flaky Malabar parotta. Likewise, Reddy’s popcorn chicken is a crispy chicken dish with coconut shavings, curry leaves, black pepper and lemon.
“While idli and dosa are iconic dishes, they represent just the tip of the iceberg. Consumers are eager to explore regional diversity beyond the well-known staples. Also, in recent years, there’s been a conscious effort to showcase the rich diversity of south Indian cuisine—its seafood, vegetarian traditions, and complex curries. The cuisine has developed its identity, not just in India but globally, by staying authentic yet experimental,” says Harish Rao, executive chef of Hosa restaurant and bar in Goa, which was launched in 2022 as a concept created and operated by EHV International, a division of Old World Hospitality, which owns and operates Indian Accent, New Delhi, Mumbai & New York; Comorin, Gurugram; and Koloman in New York.
The cuisine is rooted in its ability to tell stories through food. “We focus on authentic flavours sourced responsibly, and elevate them with modern culinary techniques to create a memorable dining experience where the essence of south India meets the innovation of today’s global food trends,” says Rao of Hosa.
Experimentation is key
With an extensive list of cuisines not just from the five southern states of India—Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana, the culinary horizon has broadened with heritage tales, experiment and taste that go deep down into many regional sub-types of cuisine: Udupi, Chettinad, Hyderabadi, Thalassery, or Mangalorean. Last year, the south Indian filter coffee came third in the list of the ‘Top 39 Coffees In the World’ in TasteAtlas, a Croatia-based experiential travel guide last year, and masala dosa was the most ordered dish on food delivery app Swiggy.
The cuisine seems like one homogenous category but in reality it’s incredibly diverse. “The cuisine changes every 50 km. Every community has a different style and variation in recipe. Adding one or two ingredients can give the dish a different flavour, taste, or texture. But this doesn’t mean we lose authentic flavours. The new-age cooking methods are dovetailed into traditional techniques as one can never segregate culture from the new-age cuisines,” says Rao of Simply South, who has also worked as the chief custodian for Dakshin, the legendary south Indian restaurant of ITC Hotels for over 15 years, and was a judge on the first MasterChef India—Telugu.
Each state—and specific regions within those states—has its own unique culinary identity. For instance, the food from Kerala is different from Tamil Nadu, and within Tamil Nadu itself, you have distinct cuisines like Chettinad, Kongu Nadu, and Madurai. Similarly, in Andhra Pradesh, food from Hyderabad, Telangana, and Rayalaseema are all different, each influenced by its geography, history, and local culture.
According to Hussain Shahzad, executive chef, Hunger Inc Hospitality, representing The Bombay Canteen, O Pedro, Bombay Sweet Shop, this understanding is key to appreciating the true diversity of south Indian cuisine. “We’ve made it a point to highlight this regional variety by bringing heritage stories to life and lesser-known dishes with their unique backgrounds on the menu. For example, our Shetty Hotel-style Pulimunchi is a dish that one would typically find at local eateries but not necessarily in a restaurant like ours. By putting it on the menu, we’re sharing the story of Shetty Hotel food culture with a wider audience. The dishes carry the history of a particular time and space, and by offering them, we are not just serving food—we are sharing the journey of how these flavours evolved over the years,” Shahzad tells FE.
A multitude of flavours that ranges from nostalgic to a modern spin gives a mouthful of surprises to diners at Avartana, ITC Maurya New Delhi. Whether it’s the mini Malabar parotta, or an edible ghee candle burnt on the table atop a raw mango pudding, each dish is rooted to the gravitas of the unique tastes, aromas and flavours of southern Indian spices. Avartana has five different tasting menus—Maya, a seven-course experience; Bela, a nine-course menu; Jiaa, an 11-course journey; Anika, a 13-course option; and Tara, a 13-course seafood-focused menu.
Like the distilled rasam, crispy chilli potato 2.0 is a multi-sensory experience in a singular course, representing a nest of crunchy potatoes, hand sliced into shoe strings paired with a pineapple and mint sphere encased in cocoa butter. It also highlights Crab Claw, de-shelled and batter fried crab claw served with jaggery and chilli chutney. “We continue to strike a harmonious blend of well-researched traditional and modern renditions, delivering a redefined dining experience. Rustic earthenware, ornate steel cutlery and contemporary glassware complement the immersive indulgence,” says chef Manish Kakkar, Avartana, ITC Maurya, New Delhi.
Fine-dining outlet AIDU, a unit of Pacific Hospitality, in Hyderabad, is transforming dining into a multisensory experience too by serving a culinary journey through five states—Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, all under one roof.
“From serving AIDU special pulao to miriyala rasam and meen gassi at culinary events and festivals, the cuisine gives access to diverse palates,” says Aman Chainani, founder & MD of AIDU, which has a classic idli and dosa infused with truffle oil or chutneys made from seasonal ingredients while exploring fusion concepts such as Chettinad chicken tacos.
“Such innovations elevate the cuisine and present it as a dynamic, modern culinary tradition that resonates with both local and global palates,” says Chainani.
Hosa Goa, too, has introduced lesser-known dishes such as Udupi-style ghee roasts and Mangalorean kori rotti through pop-ups, collaborations, and digital storytelling which make the cuisine multi-dimensional, appealing to both Indian and international palates.
Rao of Simply South, who use progressive cooking style, feels the soul of the dish should stay original. He has introduced his version of filter coffee ice cream rendered in flavours like chilli and holy basil. “My experimentation with ice cream is dovetailed to secure the original while the presentation is creative and artistic,” he adds.
The Bombay Canteen has a reimagined version of pumpkin pulissery, a roasted pumpkin, coconut and yoghurt stew, khara bun; Podi beef tartare, dosa crisps, tamarind dressing, smoked egg yolk; Chettinad prawns ali-yolio; oxtail & marrow uttapam in black pepper and toasted fennel masala, cured yolk, radish slaw; ghee roast chicken seekh in pear and radish koshimbir; Andhra bheja fry, a gongura masala, pickled shallots; Shetty Hotel-Style Fish Pulimunchi, a tamarind-chilli masala, baby methi-radish salad; kongunadu chicken kurma, spicy cilantro and toasted poppy seed curry, to mention a few.
Relevance & inspiration
While the cuisine is a collection of diverse regional offerings, each with its own unique flavours and traditions, chefs stress on recognising the distinctiveness of each region’s culinary heritage rather than grouping it all into one category.
At The Bombay Canteen, Shahzad highlights the lesser-known dishes on the menu. “The idea is not to modernise for the sake of it but to respect the origins of a dish while making them accessible and relevant to a contemporary audience,” he says.
A reimagined version of the traditional pumpkin pulissery, a dish inspired by a classic Kerala dish, has a spin. It starts with a terrine of roasted pumpkin layered with caramelised shallots, slow-cooked and top it with a furikake made from garlic, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and curry leaves, then finished with a rich coconut milk whey stew, lime leaf oil, and curry leaf oil. To complete the experience, it is served with a khara bun, a flaky, cruffin-style bun dusted with a curry leaf spice mix, perfect for soaking up all those flavours.
Another dish that brings a taste of home is the podi beef tartare, which Shahzad has recreated from his time while growing up in Chennai. “I enjoyed leftover beef fry with dosa for breakfast, sometimes with an egg cracked on top. That memory inspired this dish, capturing the same familiar flavours. Our tartare features a tamarind dressing for that rich depth typical of beef fry, and we top it with grated smoked egg yolk,” adds Shahzad.
Tracing the unknown
Seasonality and feasibility of ingredients are important. “Vegetables like bottle gourd are available in summer months, have higher water content, and help in hydrating the body. We incorporate such vegetables in the thali to make the cuisine feasible,” says Rao of Simply South, who uses traditional spices, fresh vegetables, and old-school cooking methods.
The tender tamarind leaves or (chugur in Urdu, chintaku or chintachiguru in Telugu) are available only for a limited period. Rao makes prawns out of it as it has the required sourness in the leaf and is very region specific.
Gongura, or sour leaf, is a beloved staple in Telangana cuisine, known for its distinctive tangy flavour. This versatile ingredient is used in Terrai, a dining space in Hyderabad that draws inspiration from Telangana’s diverse historical influences.
“This ingredient is used to prepare iconic dishes like gongura pachadi (pickle), gongura mutton, and gongura pappu (lentils), rich in iron and vitamins as it is not only a flavour enhancer but a nutritional powerhouse,” says Rohit Kasuganti, founder and CEO of TSK Food Works, the parent company of Terrai and Telangana Spice Kitchen.
At Avartana, ITC Maurya, chef Kakkar uses a variety of ingredients sourced from the peninsular India, while The Bombay Canteen changes its menu for summer, monsoon, and winter to reflect the changing produce available locally in India. Local ingredients are brought to the table, making sure the flavours aren’t forgotten over time and making use of innovation to rethink traditional dishes while keeping their essence intact.
More consumers are starting to understand the distinctions. Take Andhra Pradesh, for example. It’s no longer just about Hyderabadi cuisine. The food of the Nawabs is different from the cuisine of the royal families of Andhra Pradesh. “This ability to recognise the variations is important, and as chefs it’s our job to help bring that understanding to the table. It’s about making these regional nuances more accessible, so that people can experience the true depth of the food from the regions,” says Shahzad.
Ancient grains like ragi (finger millet) in Karnataka celebrate the nutritional value and cultural importance of diners to ancestral practices. “Whether it is natu kodi raagi mudde, a traditional dish made with ragi or forgotten recipes like meen gassi, a coastal fish curry in freshly ground spices and coconut, the revival of our community dishes and farm-to-table approach lets our diners savour a piece of history in every bite,” says Chainani.
Similarly, Hosa has revived the use of moringa (drumstick leaves) in a modern avatar, pairing it with coconut-based curries. It has also explored jackfruit seed-based dishes, which were historically used as a substitute for rice during lean agricultural periods. Traditional dishes like menkai and gutti vankaya on the menu are reinterpreted while maintaining their authenticity.