Kamala Harris' Favorite South Indian Foods Should Be On Every Brunch Menu

As she accepted nomination for presidency at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), Vice President Kamala Harris painted a picture of what it was like to be raised by a determined Indian mother who fought hard to succeed. Harris described how her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, born in Chennai, India, immigrated by herself at the age of 19 to the United States, ultimately becoming a breast cancer researcher. "She was tough, courageous, a trailblazer in the fight for women's health. She taught us to never complain about injustice, but do something about it," Harris said of her mother.

The Vice President has also been adamant about how her mother instilled a sense of Indian culture in her daughters, including a love for Indian food, in particular her favorite breakfast staples, idli and dosai. Harris has shared (via CNN-News18) that her mother would take them to India every other year to "understand the love of good idli." 

The VP's love for Indian food was also on full display in a 2019 viral video of her and actress Mindy Kaling cooking the popular Indian dish masala dosai (or dosa) together. Kaling even jokingly declared in her DNC speech (via NBC) that she was, "The woman who courageously outed Kamala Harris as Indian in an Instagram cooking video." In the video, Harris shares how her grandmother forbade eating anything "that had a mother," (in other words, no meat) which aligns with cultural and religious beliefs many Indians follow.

Idli, a breakfast staple and comfort food for South Indians, is a steamed rice cake typically eaten with a lentil-based stew called sambar or coconut chutney. The savory round cakes are made from a fermented batter of rice and dal (lentils). The origin of idli is debatable with some food historians tracing its roots to what is now Indonesia and believing the recipe to have been brought to India sometime during the 7th to 12th centuries. There are several different regional varieties of the timeless, fiber-rich breakfast food and snack in India, for example, Udupi Idli which is coarser and larger than regular idli, and Rava Idli uses semolina instead of rice and contains vegetables. 

In May 2024, Vice President Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff hosted a cultural night market to celebrate Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which included over 20 restaurant, bakery, and artisan vendors. According to Eater Washington DC, one of the pundits that covered the event, Harris "bonded with the owners [of the fast-casual Indian chain Rasa] over her love for idli, revealing the South Indian breakfast staple is one of her 'favorite foods' — especially when dipped in lentil-based sambar stew." To get your hands on some mouthwatering Indian recipes, check out 10 must-have Indian cookbooks for your kitchen. 

Dosai is another beloved South Indian vegetarian dish commonly eaten for breakfast. The traditional dish consists of a thin savory pancake, often compared to a crêpe in its thinness, but more crispy in its texture. It's produced from a batter of soaked rice and black gram that has been fermented. Like idli, dosai can be eaten with your hands and dipped in chutney or sambar. 

While traditionally eaten without fillings, variations of dosai have popped up over the years including the popular masala dosai. Masala is a dish consisting of spiced potatoes and rice, lentils, and curry leaves. Think of it as an Indian version of American potato breakfast hash. However, don't expect to find any bacon since this is a strictly vegetarian meal. According to a 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center, 81 percent of Indians said they limit their meat consumption (although 61 percent do not identify as vegetarian).

As Mindy Kaling points out in the viral video, making dosai from scratch is time-consuming due to the fermenting process, hence why she uses premade batter. A year after the viral video, Kaling, who didn't have much confidence in her own cooking skills, joked in a follow-up on the VP's YouTube channel that Harris was being too nice or political when she said the masala dosai they made tasted great. Harris held fast in her opinion that she enjoyed it, although, she laughed, "It wasn't like my mother made it."