South India consists of Tamilnadu, Keral, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh has hot, humid climate and all its states are coastal. Rainfall is abundant and so is the supply of fresh fruit, vegetables and rice. Andhra Pradesh produces fiery Andhra cuisine which is largely vegetarian yet has a huge range of seafood in its coastal areas. Tamilnadu has Chettinad cuisine, perhaps the most fiery of all Indian food. This style too is largely vegetarian. From Kerala comes Malabari cooking, with its repertoire of tasty seafood dishes. Hyderabad is home of the Nizams (rulers of Hyderabad) and regal Nizami food rich and flavorful with tastes ranging from spicy to sour to sweet. Hyderabadi food is full of nuts, dried fruits and exotic, expensive spices like Saffron.

Style of food: By and large, South Indian cuisine is perhaps the hottest of all Indian food. Meals are centered around rice or rice-based dishes. Rice is combined with Sambaar (a soup-like lentil dish tempered with whole spices and chillies) and rasam (a hot-sour soup like lentil dish), dry and curried vegetables and meat dishes and a host of coconut-based chutneys and poppadums (deep-fried crispy lentil pancakes). South Indians are great lovers of filter coffee.

South Indian cuisine is rice based. Rice is combined with lentils to make wonderful dosas, idlis, vadas and uttapams. These items are glorious and delicious besides being nourishing and digestible (due to the fermenting process). They are combined with sambhar (dal), rasam (tamarind dal), dry and curried vegetable and pachadi (yogurt). Their rice preparations are also masterpieces like biryani from Hyderabad, lemon rice and rice seasoned with coconut peanuts, tamarind, chilies, curry leaves, urad dal and fenugreek seeds.

South Indian chutneys are made of tamarind, coconut, peanuts, dal, fenugreek seeds, and cilantro. Meals are followed by coffee. South Indian dals and curries are soupier than North Indian dals and curries. South Indian cuisine is also hotter.

Coconut milk straight from the nut is a common beverage and sight 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 amalgamation of taste, colors, seasoning, nutritional balance, aroma, savor, and visual appeal.

Rice- Saadum
Rice is the staple food and is divided into the following categories.
Rice are of 3 basic category:
Long White Grain Rice - most commonly used
Short Grain Rice - used to make sweet dishes
Round Grain Rice - not very popular for worship representing Health, Wealth & Fertility.
Lentil-Paruppu
Paruppu ( dal/lentil ) is the main spring of the common mans diet. Every meal includes Paruppu. It may be made a soup, chutney, spicy powder, sambhar, snacks, and sweets. Sweet in Ayurveda is considered to be an appetite builder. Taking its cues from Ayurveda the South Indian meal would generally begin with e-ne-ip-pu or sweet. It may consist of the popular Mysore Pak ( Gram Flour Fudge).

Then comes three courses of rice -
1. Rice with sambhar. There are many forms of rice - such as the plain rice- ghee- boiled lentil (sadam - neai- paruppu), coconut rice (thengai sadaam), lemon rice (ellimbichai sadaam), tamarind rice (puliyodarai).
2. Rice with Rasam - Rasam is a tangy, spicy, watery and soupy tamarind concoction with is served with rice.
3. Yogurt with rice (thayir sadaam). This is served last to cool the mouth and the digestive system. It may be served with non-spicy assorted vegetable dishes, namely the aviyal (mixed vegetable stew), Kari (dry masala vegetables) & kootu (coconut & vegetable sauté which are not too wet and not too dry).

Let us see the cuisine of all the South Indian states:

Kerala Cuisine
In Kerala, most curries always have a lot of coconut milk. Buttermilk mixed with turmeric and spices called as kacchiamoru is used for pouring on dry dishes.

Tamil Nadu Cuisine
Tamil Nadu is famous for its filter coffee as most Tamils have a subtle contempt for instant coffee.

Andhra Pradesh Cuisine
Cuisine of Andhra Pradesh is well renowned not just in the country but also amongst the gourmet all over the world.

Karnataka Cuisine
Karnataka is blessed with a rich culinary heritage. Regional food habits differ vastly depending on locally available ingredients; the result is a richly varied spread.

Mangalore Cuisine
Magloreans loves rice very much. So Rice is main item for every occassion.

Udupi Cuisine
The ubiquitous masala dosa has its origins in Udupi and a whole school of South Indian vegetarian cuisine takes its name from this town. This is pure vegetarian food, sans onions or garlic. Pumpkins and gourds are the main ingredients, while sambar is prepared with ground coconut and coconut oil as its base. Rasam, a spicy pepper water, is an essential part of the menu and so are jackfruit, colocasia leaves, raw green bananas, mango pickle, red chillies and salt. Adyes (dumplings), ajadinas (dry curries), and chutneys, including one made of the skin of the ridge gourd, are specialities.

Kodagu
Kodava cuisine is very distinctive, as are the costumes, customs and festivals of the Kodavas. Pandi curry (pork curry) and kadumbuttu (rice dumplings) are arguably the most delectable dishes in the Kodava repertoire. The succulent koli curry (chicken curry), nool puttu (rice noodles), votti (rice rotti), and bembla curry (bamboo shoot curry) are also worth trying.

North Karnataka Cuisin
In North Karnataka Jowar Roti and Brinjal curry are very famous.