Indian food represents its religious beliefs, cultural practices and its geographical attributes. In the different regions of India, people would have various Indian breakfasts, or ‘Nashta’. So what are the popular Indian breakfasts in these regions?

In South India, ‘Nashta’ consists of dosa, vada, idli, small steamed cakes made with fermented batter of rice and peas. These South Indian breakfasts are served with sambar, lentils and vegetables in a spicy tamarind and lentil flour soup base and chutney, sweet and spicy condiments. Other choices of South Indian breakfasts are upma, puttu, crushed rice and coconut pressed alternately into a bamboo mold, then steamed and served with bananas and milk, appam, thin, crepe-like pancakes made with rice and coconut and often filled with spiced meat or potatoes and vegetables and idi-appam, rice noodles eaten with either meat curry or sweet coconut milk.

The North Indian breakfast includes khichiri, made with a mixture of rice, lentils and spices, onion kulcha, clay oven bread stuffed with green peas, onions, green chilies and cilantro and Parathas, plain or stuffed paratha breads with potatoes, onions, spices and herbs served with fresh butter, yogurt and pickles. In Maharashtra, breakfast meals include poha, made from rice, upma, made from wheat and wada pav, whereas in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, kachori aloo is very popular. Kachori is made of soft wheat flour and it is served with potato mix and lentil sprouts and chutneys. Gujarat people are vegetarian so the Gujarati breakfast comprises of hot, sweet, oily Jalaibees, a salty snack made from chick pea flour and black pepper called Fafdas, otato vada, pastry stuffed with mashed potato, samosa, cumin flavored potatoes and peas wrapped in a crepes served with tamarind chutney and cheese puri, spicy croissant stuffed with sprouted beans and cheese.

Contrary to the traditional Indian breakfast, there are several urban areas of India, where breakfast usually consists of omelets, scrambled eggs with spices, potatoes and onions, butter sandwiches, fresh fruits and yogurt. Indian tea with milk and sugar is popular for breakfast among the people of India. However, in South India, coffee is more common.