God’s Own Cuisine

Kerala, the God’s own country, is famous not only for its mesmerizingly beautiful landscapes, but for its scrumptious cuisine as well. Kerala’s food culture is a mix of the traditional and the modern, and different food systems co-exist side by side, just like the items in an Onam sadya. On the one hand you have the pure vegetarian idli-dosa-sambaar-chutney breakfast and on the other you have the best of meat dishes teamed with the softest of Porottas(layered flatbread made of maida). The high percentage of Christians and Muslims in the state has contributed to the assimilation of several foreign cuisine systems into its own. Also, Kerala being the spice garden of the world, it is only natural that spices like pepper, cardamom, clove, cinnamon etc figure prominently in Kerala dishes.

The history of Kerala has a bearing on how the Kerala cuisine developed in different parts of the coastal state. Before the state was formed post-independence, this geographical region mainly comprised of Travancore, Kochi and Malabar ruled by three separate kings. Accordingly, different sub-systems of the Kerala cuisine evolved, arguably the most popular being the Maplah cuisine of the Malabar region which is oriented mainly to non-vegetarian dishes. But, for a non-Keralite traveller, perhaps, the main attractions might be the typical South Indian veg dishes, which, of course, are now available in all nooks and corners of the world.

A breakfast that is really special

Puttu is a steamed breakfast dish of Kerala, which in its most basic form, is made of ground rice and coconut, and is cylindrical in shape. However, DhePuttu a famous restaurant in Cochin boasts of a number of Puttu varieties that includes Wheat puttu, Ragi puttu, Prawn puttu, Meat puttu, Oats puttu, Egg puttu, Cashew & dates puttu and even Chocolate puttu! The restaurant is frequented by celebrities and commoners alike.

There is no certainty about which South Indian state first included Dosa and Idli in its diet, but it certainly is not Kerala.

However, fact remains that Idli, Vada and Dosa and its several variants are major breakfast items as far as Keralites are concerned. The puritans may scorn at this, but, of late, Kerala is experimenting with non-veg dosas as well, like Egg dosa and Chicken Dosa, which preserves the basic structure of the original version, but has contrasting elements as toppings.

Another popular breakfast dish of Keralites is Idiyappam(also called Noolappam), which is a steamed rice noodle dish that is often teamed with egg curry, potato curry, sweet coconut milk etc. It is made using a special Idiyappam press/sieve into which rice dough is filled and then pressed into a steamer.

No Kerala meal is complete without fish dishes

Kerala has a very long coastline; in fact, it runs along the entire length of the state. Hence it is no surprise that sea food is very popular in Kerala, the undisputable favourites being Karimeen (Pearl Spot), Prawns and Crabs. Of late, you will find fresh water fishes like Rohu too in Kerala markets, this being Kerala’s way of warmly

welcoming the migrant labourers (guest workers as they are referred to by the Kerala government) from other parts of the country, who prefer fresh water fishes to fishes caught from the sea. The coastal town of Fort Kochi, a tourist’s delight, has several fish stalls at the beach dotted with Chinese nets, where you can buy fresh catch from the Arabian sea, after which you can take the fish to a ‘You buy We cook’ stall where the fish will be cooked/fried as per the tastes/preferences of the customer.

KalluShaappu curries

Kerala, a generally peaceful state, has the highest per-capita consumption of alcohol in the country. Rs.523 crore worth of legal liquor was consumed in 2019 in Kerala, an increase of 16% from 2018. The increase is attributed, among other things, to an increasing acceptance of social drinking in family get-togethers, birthday parties and marriage functions. Then there are the Kallushaappes(Toddy shops) that sell Kerala’s own traditional alcoholic beverage Kallu, which is made from coconut palm sap. The non-alcoholic version is called Neera. Toddy shops, more often than not, are non-descript shacks tucked inside rural Kerala, and are frequented by men, young and old. However, Toddy shops offer culinary delights too; the extremely ‘hot’ varieties of fish curries and traditional meat

dishes available at toddy shops are a treat to both the taste buds and the eyes, so much so that some regular restaurants too have started offering the Shaappu curry variants of non-veg dishes. And then there are some toddy shops which have metamorphosed into family joints. Mullappanthal toddy shop near Udayamperoor, for example, serves authentic shaappu food and toddy, and is patronised by families and regular boozers alike.

Plantain and Keralites : A relationship spanning generations

Plantain products have a special place in the food habits of Keralites. A variety of bananas are grown in Kerala, and the local favourite Nenthrappazham, the harder and the longer variant, is used in making banana chips, sharkkaravaratti (fried banana pieces coated with jaggery) and pazhampori (fried banana encased in rice flour dough). Plantain leaves are also a part of Kerala’s food culture. The world-famousOnam Sadya (the grand traditional multi-course vegetarian meal, often comprising of as much as 24 dishes or even more) is served on plantain leaf. Plantain leaf is also used to wrap raw food items that are to be steamed like ila-ada (jaggery-coconut shredding mixture encased in rice flour dough), fish (Silver pomfret for example) stuffed with masala mix etc. Then there is the nostalgic Pothichoru, which literally means rice pack. Choru (cooked rice), dry vegetable dishes, dry coconut chutney, pickle, fried fish etc are neatly wrapped in a plantain leaf to make Pothichoru which was originally intended to be carried by those who are travelling. The close contact between the food items that are packed when still hot and the presence of the plantain leaf gives a distinct aroma and taste to pothichoru. It is such a favourite among Keralites that the traditionally home-cooked pothichoru is now available commercially as well in certain restaurants.

A traditional Kerala meal ends with Payasam (kheer), and the Keralites believe it is best had on a plantain leaf. They mix the Payasam with banana and Kerala Pappad and eat to their hearts’ content after having the sumptuous sadya in the same plantain leaf. Traditionally, they eat a very small portion of rice with butter milk after having the payasam, as it is believed that the butter milk will reduce the ‘high’ provided by the extremely sweet payasam.

While in Kerala, go traditional

Cuisines from around the world are available in Kerala, be it Western, Chinese, Thai, Japanese or Arabic. Typical dishes from North India and the North East are also served in restaurants of Kerala. However, if you are a tourist whose aim is to find the real essence of the God’s own country, you need to be prepared to go the Kerala way on which you will find tradition, spices, simplicity, warmth and an intoxicating confluence of cultures.

About The Writer

Dr. Lishin M.J. , an Associate Professor (HR & OB) at SCMS Cochin School of Business, Cochin, is an avid reader and an enthusiastic traveller. Born and brought up in God’s own country, Kerala, she considers herself lucky to have got the opportunity to spend some years of her life in the capital city, Delhi and the cultural capital, Kolkata, enjoying what these cities have to offer in terms of art, dance, music, movies and the like.

All the photographs in the article are taken by Dr. Usha Menon

Author: TW News Bureau