Rice is the major staple food of most of the Tamil people. Lunch or Dinner is usually a meal of steamed rice, served with accompanying items, which typically include sambar, dry curry, rasam, kootu and "thayir" (curd, but as used in India refers to yoghurt) or "more" (buttermilk).

Tiffin or Light meals, which is often served for breakfast or as an evening snack, usually include one or more dishes like idli, Pongal, Dosai, Chapathi, Sevai, Vadai which are of 2 kinds - ("medhuvadai" meaning soft vadai and "paruppuvadai" meaning lentils vadai) Vadai, along with coconut Chutney, Sambar and Milagai podi. Tiffin is usually accompanied by hot filter coffee, the signature beverage of the city.




Coffee is the most popular beverage. Coffee is a major social institution in Southern Indian Tamil tradition. Its also called the Madras (a) Chennai Filter Coffee and is unique to this part of the world. They generally use gourmet coffee beans of the premium Peaberry or the less expensive Arabica variety. The making of filter coffee is like a ritual, as the coffee beans are first roasted and then powdered. Sometimes they add chicory to enhance the aroma. They then use a filter set, few scoops of powdered coffee, enough boiling water is added to prepare a very dark liquid called the decoction. A 3/4 mug of hot milk with sugar, a small quantity of decoction is then served in Dabarah/Tumbler set, a unique Coffee cup.

Another popular beverage is strongly brewed tea found in the thousands of small tea stalls across the state of Tamil Nadu and adjoining areas.
Dosai, crepes made from a fermented batter of rice and urad dal (Black gram), and is accompanied by Sambar; also see Masala dosai



Other snack items include "murukku", "seedai", "bajji", "mixture", "sevu", and "pakoda" which are typically savory items.

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