Cuisine

Kerala has a distinctive cuisine, very unusual and different from the rest of India. Cooking in Keralan cuisine is tempered to your taste and offers several gastronomic opportunities to those willing to experiment with the local dishes.

The typical Keralaite loves his rice, especially the rich, unpolished brown verity called Chembavu. Rice is, in fact, the staple food of Kerala. Apart from being consumed boiled along with a variety of vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes, rice is pounded in to flour and used to make delicacies like Puttu, Idly, Dosas, the round spongy Vattayappam, the lazy – edged palappam, the pancake like a kallappam, the sweet Unniuyapam, the Iddiyappam, that looks like fine noodles , and the stuffed ball called Kozhukotta. And then there is the Pattiri, Chappathi like bread that come in different sizes, shapes and tastes. The thin plane variety is called Vattipathiry, the box type is Vettipathiriy and a sweet cake chatty Pathiriy there are also Pathiries stuffed with beef, chicken, mutton and fish. Except for the Brahmins who are strict vegetarian, most Keralite are eating meat and fish. However, Hindus usually refrain from no vegetarian food on auspicious days, though for the other community no festive occasion is complete without it. It is the influence of the foreigners-especially the Arabs-that unlike most of the other parts of the country, beef is quite popular in the state.

In Kerala puttu is a favorite breakfast dish. Layers of rice flour mix are alternated with grated coconut in a hollow bamboo or metal cylinder and steamed. Iddly and Dosas are also popular in Kerala.

The traditional Kerala meal is served on a plantain leaf. A typical vegetarian Onam Lunch modeled on the traditional meal called ‘Sadhya’-rice accompanied by dishes like Thoran, Kalan, Pachadi, and Olan is the best bet for those visiting in the state during the post-harvest Onam season. Thorans are made of finely chopped boiled vegetable avial, a mixed vegetable gravy dish thickened with coconut and yoghurt, is a special dish of the region. For dessert there is Payasam-sweat and porridge-like with vermicelli or rice, with sugar or jaggery. Traditional meals are eaten by hand.

Be it sea food, meat, vegetables, rice, or other cereals, the emphasis is on healthy food.  Spices that flavour the local cuisine give it a sharp pungency that is heightened by the use of tamarind and provides a unique taste.

Kerala is noted for a verity of pancakes and steamed rice cake made from rice. Although the same ingredients are used all over the state, each community has its on specialties.

The stew is a delicious dish vastly popular among Syrian Christians, chicken and potato are simmered gently in creamy white coconut milk flavored with black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, green chilly, lime juice and shallots.

Biriyani reigns supreme in the cuisine of north Kerala.

Seafood and beef are available in plenty. Fruit – based dishes form part of Kerala cuisine. Fruits are common in Kerala such as Jackfruit, Pineapple, Mangos and an endless variety of bananas are included in curries to accompanied rice and other dishes.