South Indian cuisine usually encompasses the five Southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Telangana, and Kerala. Both the geography and cultural influence of the South has an influence on the region's cuisine. As with most countries, there are large regional differences and each state's cuisine can vary greatly even within a specific state. By and large, South Indian cuisine is perhaps the hottest of all Indian food. Meals are centered around rice or rice-based dishes. Rice is combined with Sambaar (a soup-like lentil dish tempered with whole spices and chilies) and rasam (a hot-sour soup-like lentil dish), dry and curried vegetables, meat dishes, and a host of coconut-based chutneys and poppadums (deep-fried crispy lentil pancakes). South Indians are great lovers of coffee, which is usually a special type made with chicory.