Kerala has a distinctive cuisine, very unusual and different from the rest
of India. Kerala cuisine is very hot and spicy and offers several
gastronomic opportunities to those willing to experiment with the local
cuisine.
Kerala is also one of the richest states in India with
forests and plantations of rubber, cashew, and coconuts everywhere. The
meeting place of many cultures, Hindu and Muslim, Christian and Jewish,
Kerala has a particularly rich heritage of dance and drama and the people
are among the most industrious and well educated in the country.
Staples in Kerala Cuisine Rice, or rather unpolished rice, is
the main food of the Keralite. Aside from the boiled product eaten as a
staple, there is also a wide range of snacks and breakfast fare made of the
cereal. Pounded into flour, it gives shape to the bamboo formed puttu, the
round spongy vattayappam, the lacy edged palappam, the pancake-like
kallappam, the sweet uniappam, the idiappam that looks like fine noodles,
and the stuffed ball called kozhikotta. And then, there is the pathiri,
chapatti-like bread that can be made into a plain thin one called
vatipathiri, a box type pettipathiri and a sweet cake-Chattipathiri.
Pathiris are also stuffed with beef, chicken or mutton and fried, or steamed
when filled with fish.
From time immemorial, the coconut tree has
been an integral part of life for the people of Kerala. Kerala with its
Marvellous cuisine that is simple yet palate tickling.
Except
for the Nambudiris who are strict vegetarians, Hindus of other castes eat
both meat and fish as a matter of course. However, they do not serve
non-vegetarian food on important days, though for the other communities no
festive occasion is complete without it. In Some of the other parts of the
country, beef is quite popular in cuisine of Kerala.
The high ranges of Kerala boast of vast plantations of cardamom,
pepper, nutmeg, tea and coffee while in its lower elevations there are
clove, ginger and turmeric. The midlands have paddy fields, tapioca, all
sorts of hardy vegetables such as yam, narrow, gourd, drumstick, etc. and a
huge collection of tropical fruits-banana, jackfruit, mango, pineapple and
cashew. In the lowlands, cultivation is mainly that of coconut trees and
paddy.
Preparing Kerala Cuisine Like most South
Indian cuisine, be it seafood or rice and other cereal dishes, the emphasis
is on 'healthy food', less use of oil, sugar, and artificial additives, and
more use of natural herbs, spices flavorings, and coconut. Spices that
flavor the local cuisine of Kerala give it a sharp pungency that is
heightened with the use of tamarind.
In the Kerala kitchens, be
it of any of the various communities living there, simple methods and the
locally available foodstuff are used to dish out mouthwatering delicacies.
Even the ordinary tapioca root, for example, becomes a main course when
boiled and sautéed with coconut and spices, a snack when sliced fine,
salted and fried, and a sweet dish when steamed with coconut and jaggery.
Specialties in Kerala Cuisine Kerala is noted for its variety
of pancakes and steamed rice cakes made from pounded rice. Though the same
ingredients are used all over the state, each of the communities has its own
specialties.
For the Muslims, the lightly flavored biryani-made
of mutton, chicken, egg or fish-takes pride of place. In seafood, mussels
are a favorite. A concoction of mussel and rice flour, cooked in the shell
is called arikadaka. The Arab influence on the local cuisine is very visible
in the rich meat curries and desserts. A community of Muslims who live in an
area called Kuttichara, have a special dish-a whole roasted goat stuffed
with chickens inside which are eggs.
For the Christians, who can
be seen in large concentration in areas like Kottayam and Pala, ishtew (a
derivation of the European stew), with appam is a must for every marriage
reception. There would also be beef cutlets with sallas (a salad made of
finely cut onions, green chilies and vinegar), chicken roast, olathan erachi
(fried mutton, beef or pork), meen moilee (a yellow fish curry), meen
mulligattathu (a fiery red fish curry), and peera pattichathu (a dry fish
dish of grated coconut). Another interesting feature is the abundant use of
coconut oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, and coconut milk.
Kerala also has it's own fermented beverages -the famous kallu or (toddy)
and patta charayam (arrack). Arrack is extremely intoxicating and is usually
consumed with spicy pickles and boiled eggs (patta and mutta).
Having food in Kerala The method of serving a sadya or meal in
Kerala is very precise. The leaves to be eaten from are always the end
section of the plantain leaf. When it is laid on the table, the narrow part
of the leaf must always be on the left side. Serving begins from the bottom
left half of the leaf on which is placed a small yellow banana. Next to this
are served jaggery coated banana chips plain banana chips and papad. Then
beginning from the top left half of the leaf are placed lime curry, mango
pickle, injipuli (a thick ginger tamarind curry), lime pickle, thoran (a dry
mix of any vegetable with coconut), vegetable stew or olan (gourd is the
main ingredient), aviyal (a thick mixture of vegetables in a coconut based
gravy), Pachadi (raw mango and curd mixture) and khichdi. Only after all
these are placed on the leaf, does the person begin eating. Thereafter the
rice is served at the bottom center. The sambhar (a lentil based gravy that
came to Kerala from neighboring Tamil Nadu) and kalan (a curry of yam and
curd, spiced with pepper) is poured onto the rice. When the meal is over,
pradaman (rice flour, coconut milk and jaggery) or pal payasam (sugar
sweetened milk and rice) is served onto the leaf. After dessert, rasam
(fiery pepper water) is poured into cupped hands to be drunk and then a
little bit of curd to aid digestion.
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