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Kerala cuisine – Delight for all
 Food
for the Keralites is not just an essential activity; nor is cooking just
an art; it is a way of life and religion for them. It offers delight to
the vegetarians and the non-vegetarians. Not surprisingly, it is rich in
the meen delights as well as the delight of the gods, payasam.
The best thing about Kerala cuisine is that, its delicacies, in general,
revolve around discoveries, aromas and colours. Malayali food has indeed
attracted a great deal of attention of the world because of its culinary
specialty to carefully blend different spices and yield the subtle
variation in the flavours. For centuries, travelers from all over the
world arrived to the coast of Kerala - the Greeks, the Arabs, the
Romans, the Jews and later Vasco da Gama, the Europeans... Given the
various foreign influences, it is not incredible to think that the
Malayali cuisine is a culinary crossbreed, an impeccable fusion of many
cultures and palates.
Spice Up Your Life
There is no doubt that Kerala has several culinary traditions, both
region and religion specific, but there are two things that gives Kerala
cuisine an edge over others; its repertoire and undoubtedly coconut. A
great emphasis is laid on the ingredients used, the vessels it is cooked
in and bizarrely, the nature of fire used. The beauty of the Malayali
food is that, it offers a true taste of nature, a perfect amalgamation
of the real with the imagined. And so, it is about rice, flavoured by
the soil it has grown in, seasonal vegetables carrying morning dew on
their skin, fresh from the garden, fish straight from the backwaters,
spice that bears within, the fiery heat of the sun... It is about
countless flavours - coconut oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, tamarind
paste, asafoetida and chillies - each one of which rejoice a special
place in the Malayali's palate. One will be surprised to know in how
many forms a Malayali consumes coconut - as a thickener, as a paste to
add flavour, as a garnish in curries and soups and finally as an oil to
be partaken.
Puttu
A typical Malayali breakfast may include cylindrical 'puttu' (steamed
rice with coconut), 'iddli' (steamed cake of rice and black gram), and
sambar (vegetable curry) accompanied by puffy Kerala rice eaten with
one's fingers. One can also enjoy "Vallepam", a frilly, lacy-edged
pancake made from fermented rice paste, cooked in a curved pan and
served with stew or coconut milk. Also called hoppers, 'Vallepam' is
also made with egg and meat curry, and provides a completely different
experience for your buds. You can also go for crepe-like South-Indian
noodles, 'idiappam' or the cake-like, round spongy 'vattayappam' - all
of them cooked with easily digestible, crushed rice grains, a perfect
break from your overnight fast.
Addicted To 'Meen'
Kerala is also known as the fish-addicted state. Even though the same
ingredients are added, each colony within Kerala has its own unique way
of garnering them to cook dishes that are strikingly different from one
another. Taste a few of those dried, but delicious preparations of sole,
shark, crab, oyster and eel. Don't forget to ask for the most prized
fish preparation, "Fish Moilee" (fish curry) of the celebrated 'karimeen'
or the brackish fresh water fish, sold at every waterfront location. If
you have traveller's luck, you can even get the opportunity to taste the
Moplah biryani, actually worthy of a praise. Don't get overwhelmed to
see the plump grains of rice lie supine and separate with the content of
having had their fill with spices and meat juices, topped with brown
swirls of fried onion and raisins and chaperoned with a date chutney, a
raita and puffed golden papadums. Unfortunately, the taste can't be
expressed in words.
Payasam
There are several varieties of 'payasams'. One is in which rice, wheat
or vermicelli is boiled with milk and sweetened with sugar. It goes by
the name of 'pal payasam'. Another, is made of boiled rice or dal or
wheat, to which is added jaggery and coconut milk. Both are flavoured
with spices.
Pal Payasam Ingredients:
Milk 3ltrs
Dried red rice 180gm
Sugar 700gm
Method:
1. Boil the milk. Add sugar and mix well. When it boils again, add the
washed rice in it. Simmer in medium flame. Cook till the rice is done.
Serve hot.
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