The Food Paradise - Kerala

 Paripuvada - Lentil/Dal Fritters, Image by Abhishek Scariya

Food delights me. Have always thought that food defines different cultures - the smell, the look, the feel of food is completely different throughout the world. Let's begin with my homeland - Kerala, India. If you happen to come to Kerala, a state in the southern part of India and is capable of handling some serious spices you should definitely try out these dishes. The two elements that differentiate our food from other parts of India is the use of coconut and curry leaves in almost all the dishes.

To get the complete picture you should always enjoy the meal with your hands - No spoons and forks allowed. It always tastes better when you mix it all with your hands, if you get a chance to eat in a banana leaf - just jump right in don't even think.

 A few dishes that one must eat in a lifetime, never to miss if you get a chance to try it out.

• Coconut fish curry with the 'famous' matta rice: It generally comes with a side dish or two, nothing meets the pleasure of eating the rice mixed with the fish curry adding a small pinch of lemon pickle.

      Fish Curry with Tapioca, matta rice and coconut chutney. 
 Image via Curry Leaves

• Pathiri soaked in coconut milk with spicy chicken/mutton curry: The pathiri completely soaked in coconut milk, diluting the spices in the curry and giving it a slight hint of sweetness.

• Appam and Mutton stew: Appam is a sweet fluffy soft pancake. When it meets the creamy mutton stew we know its a match made in heaven. 

• Kappa and Fish curry: Kappa happens to be tapioca, mix it with the red spicy fish curry which is made without coconut. Try it from the toddy shop's in Kerala, they are the experts.

• Beef and Parotta: Take a small piece of parotta and dip it in the hot gravy scooping a small chunk of the chewy, juicy beef, its just pure heaven. Try it from one of the roadside shops that open at night. 

• Chemeen fry/curry, Fish fry, Karimeen Pollichathu, Kakka fry, anything related to seafood, we got it all covered from clams, prawns to all sort of fishes.

• Beef/Chicken roast with chapatti: The semi gravy dish which doesn't actually consist of any gravy but is a combination of onions and tomatoes with the spices. It's not something you would expect on this list but I have immense love for this dish that had to include it.

• Calicut Biriyani: Our Biriyani is slightly different from the North Indian version, its subtle not with a lot of spices but to the point. The major difference would be the rice; we don't use the long basmati rice but the smaller ponni rice. Have a small soft corner for the ponni version thou.

• Steamed Rice Cake aka Puttu: Have it hot and steaming, it just goes with anything from plain sugar, black tea, curries and even with the mixture which is actually a snack. It's the ultimate all in one.

• Dosa and Idli with Vada: This is kind of borrowed from our neighbouring state but we love it dearly, nothing goes well with sambar better than dosa/idli. The vada is the cherry on the top.

In the vegetarian section, the varieties are never-ending. The best way to try out most of our vegetarian dishes is to eat a Sadhya. A Sadhya is basically a vegetarian meal which consists of around 20 varieties of dishes served in banana leaf. It's a complete meal including dessert and chips.

Desserts, to be frank, we are not experts in that particular section but we do have some specialities - Palada, Paripu and Adapradaman. These are payasam which happen to be a different form of kheer, more liquidy. The simpler version is the semiya payasam, subtle and sweet. In the snack section try out our Pazhampori, Paripuvada, Unniappam, Sukhiyan, Undampori, Aviyalvelachathu, the list is never ending - all these are fritters with different fillings. Last but not the least the Jackfruit; the scrumptious fruit is eaten raw, cooked, deep fried as a snack and even in the form of deserts - Chakka payasam.

I have not even covered half the delicacies in Kerala. Each city has there own varieties and speciality dishes. Even I have not tried it all out but its a "food heaven" for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. Hope I was able to give you a small insight into the cuisine available in Kerala, try it out for yourself and you will come back for more.