Breakfast is one of the most important meal of the day. Many people tend to skip breakfast in this fast moving world. Skipping breakfast will affect our health in many ways. When we eat breakfast it jump starts your metabolism and helps to burn more calories throughout the day. But when we skip the breakfast our body thinks that it has to conserve calories so that it can use it throughout the day. So instead of losing weight, we end up in gaining more weight.
There are various studies that prove that having breakfast boosts our energy levels allowing us to perform tasks or chores throughout the day. If we do not eat a healthy breakfast in the start of the day, we tend to nibble on less nutritious things throughout the day due to hunger. This in turn increases our weight.
For healthy functioning of brain, carbohydrates are necessary. By consuming a high-quality breakfast to start our day, we can improve your memory and concentration levels, as well as improve your mood and lower stress. Various studies shows that children who eat healthy breakfast tend to have improved cognitive skills and perform better at school.
Those who eat breakfast get more important nutrients like vitamins and minerals which is good for our overall health. Aside from helping you lose weight, many studies linked eating breakfast to a reduced risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, being overweight, etc. Typically, a healthy breakfast should consist of a variety of foods like whole grain, lean protein, low-fat dairy, fruits and vegetables.
Here are some of the healthy breakfast recipes of South India.
Idly / Dosa
Idlies and dosas are the traditional breakfast of South India. Idlies and dosas are made by soaking rice and ured dhal and grinding and then fermented. This fermented batter is used to make idly or dosa. As the batter is fermented, this increases the Vitamin B content in the food. As idlies are steamed, the fat content is low and is healthy. As we use both rice and dhal, we get carbohydrates and proteins necessary for our body. This also has amino acids needed for the body. Idlies are usually eaten with coconut chutney and sambar. This is a good combination as sambar is made of vegetabes and lentils and coconut chutney has healthy fat. This makes idly, chutney and sambar a complete food. Idlies are easily digestible. This can be given for kids and elderly.
Here are some of the idly and dosa recipes.
Upma
Upma is one of the simplest food we make in our kitchen. We make upma using Semolia, Broken wheat, Vermicelli, Rice, Poha and millets. Rice Upma is prepared by breaking rice and cooked. Upma can be made in a jiffy. Diabetic people can eat upma made with millets, broken, wheat and red rice. Upma made with flaked rice or poha is healthy for blood pressure patients. We can add vegetables to upma and make a healthy breakfast.
Here are some of the upma recipes.
- Rava Upma
- Vermicelli Upma
- Flaked Rice / Poha / Aval Upma
- Microwaave Puli Upma
- Idli Usili Upma
- Coconut Vermicelli Upma
- Foxtail Millet Upma
- Barnyard Millet Upma
- Jowar Flour Upma / Weight Loss Upma
- Vegetaable Rava Upma
- Puffed Rice Upma
Pongal
There are two types of pongal we make in Tamilnadu – Ven Pongal and Pongal made with jaggery. Ven Pongal I considered as a comfort food. In this, we use rice and moong dhal and cook them to make a soft pongal which is served with coconut chutney and Sambar. Again this is a complete food as we have carbohydrates, protein and fats in the food we take. We use pepper which is an antioxidant and is rich in vitamins and it also prevents cough and cold. We also use ginger which is good for digestion and fights infection. We can also make pongal with milltets.
You can find pongal recipes here.
Puttu
This is a traditional breakfast dish of Kerala which is served usually with kadala curry or channa gravy and Green gram/ Cherupayaru curry. It is also served with banana. Traditionally they make puttu using red rice flour made from Red Matta rice. This rice has unique taste and has many nutrients. This rice improves digestion and prevents related disorders. It contains fibres which controls digestive disorders like gas, indigestion, etc. Matta Rice helps in easy bowel movement and prevents constipation as well. It also reduces cholesterol levels and good for people with diabetics. The channa curry or Green dhal curry is rich in proteins in which they add coconut which is having good cholesterol.
You can follow the following link to make traditional Puttu.
Try these South Indian Breakfast and let me know how it goes. If you want to add some more dishes in this let me know so that I can add them.