Nowadays everybody knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But still, people’s behaviour of having breakfast is different. There are certain groups of people who take breakfast seriously and hardly miss this important meal of the day. There are another group of people who are not serious about this meal and they have several excuses to miss this meal. They will say that they do not have time in the morning. Some awesome people say that they do not feel the hunger in the early morning. Some people think that it is a smart idea to have breakfast at the workplace. So they mostly have breakfast very late or skip due to workload. Another group of people who always eat tasty or junk food in the morning and they think it is a good start of the day. Another groups of people who are super health-conscious, so they eat healthy & less amount of food for breakfast. It happens everywhere across the world. I think so because people are more or less the same everywhere. So what do Indians eat for breakfast? What do you think?
Being an Indian, if you think that this post is for foreigners. Then you are wrong. Indians have different types of food in breakfast in different states or regions. If you are living in northern Indian states then you are perhaps unaware of what southern Indian people or North-Eastern people eat. Is it not true?
India is a super diverse country. If you travel 100 km in this country then you will see people speak different languages, different dialects, wear different clothes, have different foods and sometimes share different cultures too. Indian is the only country with such huge diversity.
So Indian people don’t eat the same food for breakfast. Right?
Every Indian state has some special foods for breakfast. But here I will share some popular breakfast foods in different regions across the country.
Northern Indian States
Paratha and curd/pickle
Paratha is the most popular breakfast food across this region. It is a very common breakfast food in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, J&K etc. There are various types of parathas available in this region. Paneer paratha & aloo paratha are popular throughout the year. But during the winter season, many people prefer mooli paratha & gobi paratha. Did you ever try these? Parathas are often served with plain curd, raita, pickle etc.
Chhole bhature
This is super rich & spicy food. But most people love this. You can find a crowd in the morning in front of roadside chole bhature wala. Foodies also have this at home for breakfast. It is really mouthwatering. I love this a lot. I used to eat those almost every weekend when I was in Delhi. I found a bhature wala located in Rohini sector 11 DDA market. That shop used to sell the best chhole bhature I have ever tasted. Not only that, they used to serve awesome mixed pickle and shirke wala onion. One small glass of lassi along with chhole bhature used to make my breakfast more enjoyable.
Southern Indian States
Idli/Dosa and sambar dal, coconut chutney
Idli, dosa, sambar, coconut chutney etc are South Indian foods. But those are nowadays equally popular across various other parts of the country. People love these foods because these are not just delicious but also super delicious.
Nowadays different types of dosa are available at restaurants or roadside stalls, so anybody can have it almost every day without being bored, haha. Anybody can make simple dosa/idli and sambar dal at home very easily.
Upma
South Indian dish is healthy. At least like many others, I believe this. Upma is another example of such healthy food. It is also popular in different parts of the country. I make this at home because anybody can make it at home without any effort. It does not need so many ingredients. Within a few minutes, it gets ready to eat. I can also add various seasonal vegetables according to my choice. I do not need coconut chutney to have it. I prefer green mango & coriander based chutney.
Western Indian states
Thepla
It is a famous western Indian breakfast food. This food is popular in the Indian state of Gujarat. People often carry theplas while they are travelling because its self-life is high and it is really enjoyable when you are travelling. It looks like chapathi or roti. But the taste is different. It is generally prepared with multigrain (wheat flour, millet flour, lentils flour). Besan or chickpea flour is added to make the dough for thepla. It is generally served with raita, curd, pickle etc. I came to know about this food when I was in Delhi. I found such theplas in a Gujarati store for snacks near Kamla Nagar. I thought those were roti. But then I came to know about thepla. After that I used to buy theplas from that store for morning breakfast. Some chilli pickled used to came with that packet of thelpas. So I did not need to make any side dish for it. I just needed to take out 2-3 theplas 1 hour prior to have breakfast.
Misal pav
What is that? If you are not living in Maharastra or its neighbouring states then you are probably unaware of this food. It is a popular breakfast. That is why I said that even Indians can ask “What do Indians eat for breakfast?”. Being an Indian, you also do not know what other side of the country eats for breakfast. Is it not true? It happens only in India. Such a huge diversity only exists in India. Now, what is misal pav? I heard about this food when I was living in Mumbai & Nashik. It is prepared with moth, beans, sprouts. Here a few items are combined to serve misal. Misal is prepared by combining usal, spicy potato pieces, tarr/kat, farsan/sev/chiwda and raw onion, tomatoes, coriander leaves for garnishing. Misal is generally served with fresh bread or pav for breakfast or a light meal. It is not just a mouthwatering dish but also super nutritious food.
Eastern Indian states
Luchi aloor dum
Bengali people eat roti tarkari, dim pau ruti, chirer polao etc for a normal breakfast. But luchi aloor dum is the most popular Bengali breakfast food what every Bengali wants to have during weekends. Luchi is similar to puri. But the only difference of luchi & poori is all-purpose flour is used to make dough of luchi instead of whole wheat flour. Morning starts with luchi aloor dum is always the beginning of a happy day. Every Bengali will enjoy this breakfast. Sometimes luchi served with kasha mangso helps you to feel king size life. Nothing is more enjoyable than luchi served with kasha mangsho. But you can not eat meat every day. Secondly, some people do not want to start a day with meat for breakfast. So luchi aloor dum is the most popular food for breakfast. What do you think? Are you a Bengali then share your favorite breakfast food below by leaving a comment.
Aslo read: Which one is your favorite side dish for luchi?
Sattu sharbat
Sattu is a popular item in two Eastern Indian states Bihar & Jharkhand. It is used to make various dishes. Some people even make a dough of sattu and have this with raw onion, chillies and pickles for breakfast. Did you ever try this? But I think sattu sharbat is something what is very popular across the region. Whether you are in hurry in the morning then also you can make at least a glass of sattu sharbat at home and drink within a few seconds. You can not be that busy to show your excuse to avoid your breakfast. If you can not make it at home hen also you can find many sattu sharbat sellers on road during summer days. There will be always a few people in front of such stall. Yes, it is that popular. It is refreshing, delicious and healthy. It does not take time to make and drink. It helps to feel your stomach full for at least 2-3 hours.
North Eastern Indian states
Curd & flattened rice
It is not South Indian style curd rice where some spices are added. Rather rice is not added here. It is a simple breakfast food that is prepared with water soaked chiwda (flattened rice), curd and sugar or jaggery. It is a popular breakfast in Assam. Not just in Assam, I think many people in West Bengal also love this food for breakfast. It is good for health. It helps in digestion. Many people prefer this food in summer days. In my childhood, I had this food several times for breakfast.
Tan & potato curry/tea
Every state in North Eastern region has some specific local food for breakfast. If you know any of those local food of your favorite in Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh Meghalaya then you can share that with us by leaving your comment. I know a Manipuri local breakfast food which is Tan. It is almost similar to North Indian style bhature. But it is not that much thick. Size of tan is normally smaller than bhature. It is very delicious and I think every Indian people will like it on first try. It is a deep fried flatbread. The dough for the same is prepared with all purpose flour, curd & salt. Normally this is served with a potato curry. But many people also love it with tea too in Manipur. I had only one opportunity to try it in Delhi, not in Manipur. So I do not know the authentic taste of the same. Many people also say that it is also prepared with rice flour. But I have no idea about it.
Central Indian States
Sabudana vada/Sabudana khichdi
Being a Bengali, I only knew that sabudana is only used to make sabu makha to serve as prasad to Lord Shiva. Secondly, kids or patients have sabu as it is easy to digest. I used to eat milk and sabu when I was kid. But I never knew that it is also used to make super delicious sabudana khichdi and sabudana vada. Both are amazingly tasty. But when I was living in Mumbai then I came to know about this. It is also very healthy. Nowadays I make both of these two at home.
But my favorite is sabudana khichdi. The only key is you have soak sabudana perfectly, otherwise khichdi will be sticky. Once you eat a small bowl of sabudana khichdi then it will help you to feel stomach full for 3-4 hours. Whenever you will drink water you will feel that your stomach is heavy. That is the charectestic of sabu or tapioca pearls, haha. Is it not true? Both of these two dishes are very popular breakfast food in Madhya Pradesh.
Poha
See, poha is chiwda or flattened rice is popular across the country. But everybody use it to make various local dishes. I used to have poha based pulao. But mostly we use poha to have with milk as breakfast. But whenever we heard about poha we think about Indori poha. Everybody say about this poha. But I never get an opportunity to try Indori poha. But I tried poha (in Mumbai or in Malvani style or in Nashik) several times in Maharastra. Some stalls claimed that it was prepared Indori style and the taste of poha in all those stalls are slightly different. So I do not know the actual taste of Indori poha. How is it? Did you ever try? I hope I will get the opportunity to try it in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
Also try: Delicious Bengali style chirer polao/chiwda pulao
So are you planning to visit India? If you are in particular region of the country then do not forget to try some awesome regional breakfast food. Even Indian should try various regional food while travelling in the country. Every Indian state has something to offer. Food also say so many things about the culture and agriculture of the region. There are many other foods which locally popular in various areas. If you came across any such breakfast food then do not forget to share the name with us by leaving a few words below. So what do Indian people eat for breakfast? Which one is your favorite?
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