Kerala Cuisine

The cultural diversity of Kerala evolved from the influence of various civilizations which have made a profound impact on today's Kerala palate. The crystallised patterns of Kerala cuisine are :

The Namboodiri cuisine : It is basically the cuisine of the palaces, strictly vegetarian sathwic , prepared mainly with fresh vegetables and fresh milk.

The Mopila cuisine : The cuisine of North Kerala, influenced by the Arab traders and the Mughal traditions of North India. The cuisine is basically non-vegetarian: fish, poultry and lamb, with a judicious melange of spices.

Central Travancore cuisine : The cuisine of the Christians of Kerala, localised with plenty of coconut -based flavours. The famous ethnic non-vegetarian specialities like duck roast, prawn mappas, karimeen pollichatu, piralan and appam & stew are from this region.

For those who are willing to experiment with local cuisine, Kerala offers several gastronomic opportunities. Rice is the staple diet. Fish, spices and coconuts are all part of a scrumptious Kerala meal. The food is flavoured with non-scalding spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, clove, garlic, cumin, coriander and turmeric. Spices are used to tone up the system the way wines aid the digestion in the Western cuisine. Kerala food is mildly flavoured, gently cooked and has a certain genteel delicacy on the stomach.

Appam - It is a kind of pancake made of rice flour fermented with a small amount of toddy(fermented sap of the coconut palm). Appam is circular in shape, edged with a crisp, lacy frill. It is eaten with chicken or vegetable stew. Kanji (rice gruel) and payaru (green gram), kappa (casava) and fish curry are traditional favourites of the Keralites.

A popular breakfast dish is puttu - rice flour dough lagered with grated coconut and steamed in a hollow Bamboo cylinder. It is eaten sprinkled with sugar or with mashed bananas or with a spicy curry made of channa or chic peas.

Iddilis - It is fluffy white steamed rice muffin-like dumplings and dosas which are thin pancakes made of yeasty rice and lentil batter are also popular in Kerala.

The other delicious rice preparations are masterpieces like, lemon rice and rice seasoned with coconut, peanuts, tamarind, chillies, curry leaves, urad dal and fenugreek seeds.

Almost every dish prepared in Kerala has coconut and spices added to it. Kerala cuisine also has a medley of pickles and chutneys.