It's hard to say. I grew up in the 90s in Chennai. Many households don't have this western "breakfast" concept to begin with. I grew up for a long while with the brunch thingie at 10:30-11 a.m and that was that :)
Of course, when we had guests and family staying over, Idli was considered gold standard, with the token chutneys / sambar / podis. You just couldn't go wrong with idlis. Pongal (The British evolved this into what they amusingly call kedgeree) was another popular item. Dosas for breakfast seemed like a little much, can't remember ever having that as often. When things weren't so fancy, Upma would be the way to go. You could make different versions of it with so many ingredients and prep. time was usually under 15-20 minutes.
Almost always, heavier breakfasts were washed down with south indian filter coffee. Found it hilarious that families seemed to be totally cool with their 6-7 year olds chugging strong coffee. Probably explains why I need 2-3 cups of coffee for it to be effective now.
Now, for your specific question => Blending American breakfast foods? Not often seen, given that we've got our own breakfast foods that are a whole lot more suited to the palate. I know my mom (and other south indian moms) often turned the simple two egg omelet into a spicy dish with vegetables.
Didn't see anything too creative with cereals. Some of the older folks who were watching their health would essentially have variants of oats/barley as an oatmeal like dish.
A simple grilled cheese sandwich could get some "masala + onions + green chilly" treatment and become the famed Indian Chilly-Cheese Toast, though that usually was more of a snack and not ideal for breakfast times.
Hope this helped. :)
Calling all sounth indian people of chess.com, I need some of you to give me some feedback for me to pass on to my teacher. Here is the message she posted on her website:
Hello Everyone,
Over the break, I'm spending time working on my story-one I've been working on for some time now. One of the main characters is a girl whose family is from either Hyderabad, Chennai, or Bangalore. I'm still in the research phase for that particular part and am looking for some feedback. In the southern Indian states, what are some popular breakfast foods? I'm looking online and in books, but since many of my students' families come from Southern India, I'd thought I'd check with you!
I'd love some feedback, because I want to be as authentic as possible. Is it common to blend more traditional American breakfast foods with Dosa and Appam? Thank you in advance. Looking forward to learning!
Enjoy your break everyone.
Ms. Shirley
Note: I did not write this, my teacher did. I know nothing about Indian foods. Please give me feedback to pass on too my teacher. Thanks!
proK