Kerala Cuisine

Kerala has a distinctive cuisine, very unusual and different from the rest of India. Cooking in Kerala is all about discoveries, aromas and colors. Kerala cuisine is very hot and spicy and offers several gastronomic opportunities to those willing to experiment with the local cuisine.

A tropical paradise of undulating palms and warm sandy beaches, Kerala is a narrow strip of coastal territory sloping down from the Western Ghats in a riot of green, luxuriant vegetation. 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.

Influence On Kerala Cuisine
Seafarers have also played an important role in shaping the history, socio-cultural background and food of Kerala. Christianity came here as early as AD 400, and Judaism and Islam also came via the sea. Over the years, voyagers from Greece, Italy, China France and Africa came to the spice coast of Malabar. Kerala's cuisine with its fascinating array of meat and fish dishes is a constant reminder of the many foreigners who once came here. Kerala' s long stretch of coast and rich sea life ensure that seafood, coconut and other such things are a part of the Malayali kitchen.

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 and nowhere is this more visible than in their food. These people put to good use whatever the land offers and the result is a 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. It is the influence of the foreigners that, unlike most 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.

Methods for 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).

How To Eat 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.