| Kerala has a distinctive cuisine, very unusual and different from the rest of India. Cooking in Kerala is all about discovery, aroma and colour. Kerala cuisine is very hot and spicy and offers several gastronomic opportunities to those willing to experiment with the local dishes |
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| The typical Keralite loves his rice, especially the rich, unpolished brown variety 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 into flour and used to make delicacies like Puttu, Iddilli, Dosa, the round spongy vattayappam, the lacy-edged palappam, the pancake like kallappam, the sweet unniyappam, idiyappam that looks like fine noodles, and the stuffed ball called kozhukotta. And then, there is the pathiri, chapathi-like bread that comes in different size, shapes and tastes. The thin plain variety is called vattipathiri, the box type is pettipathiri and a sweet cake, Chattipathiri. There are also pathiris stuffed with beef, chicken, mutton and fish. Except from the Brahmins who are strict vegetarians, most Keralites eat meat and fish |
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| However, Hindus usually refrain from non-vegetarian food on auspicious days, thought for the other community no festive occasion is complete without it. |
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| It is the influence of the foreigners-especially the Arabs-that, unlike most of the other part of the country, beef is quite popular in this state |
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| In Kerala Puttu is a favourite breakfast dish. Layers of rice flour mix are alternated with grated coconut in a hollow bamboo or metal cylinder and steamed. Iddilies and dosas are also popular in Kerala |
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| The traditional Kerala meals is served on plantain leaf. A typical vegetarian Onam lunch modeled on the traditional meal called ‘sadya’ – rice accompanied by dishes like thoran, kaalan, pachadi and olan is the best for those visiting the state during the post – harvest Onam season. Thorans are made of finely chopped boiled vegetables. Avial, a mixed vegetable gravy dish thickened with coconut and yoghurt, is a special dish of the region. For dessert, there is payasam-sweet and porridge-like with vermicelli or rice, with sugar or jaggery. Traditional meals are eaten by hand |
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| Be it seafood , meat, vegetable, rice or other cereals, the emphasis is on ‘healthy food’. Spice that flavour the local cuisine give it a sharp pungency that is heightened by the use of tamarind |
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| Kerala is noted for a variety of pancakes and steamed rice cakes made from rice. Though the same ingredients are used all over the state, each community has its own specialties. |
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| The stew is a delicious dish, vastly popular among Syrian Christians. Chicken and potato are simmered gently in creamy white coconut milk flavoured with black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, green chillies, lime juice and shallots. Biriyani reigns supreme in the cuisine of north Kerala. Seafood and beef are available in plenty. Fruit-based dishes also from part of Kerala cuisine. Fruits common in Kerala such as Jack fruit, pine apple, mangoes and an endless variety of bananas are including in curries to accompany rice and other dish |
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| Sadya - Traditional vegetarian feast of Kerala |
| Sadya is the traditional vegetarian feast of Kerala. Usually served as lunch, it consists of par boiled pink rice, side dishes, savouries, pickles and desserts spread out on a plantain leaf. Tradition insists that the tapering end of the leaf points to the left of the seated guest. Rice is served on the lower half of the leaf. |
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| The feast begins with the serving of Parippu, a liquid curry made of small gram and ghee. The second course is Sambar, the famous South Indian vegetable stew in which any available combination of vegetables is boiled in a gravy of crushed lentils, onions, chillies, coriander and turmeric and with a pinch of asafoetida. |
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| Avial, an unavoidable side dish is a blend of vegetables, coconut paste and green chillies. It is seasoned with a spoonful of fresh coconut oil and some raw curry leaves stirred in immediately after the dish is taken off the stove. |
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| Some of the other important side dishes include Thoran, and Olan. Thoran can be minced string beans, cabbage, radish or grams, mixed with grated coconut and sautèed with a dash of red chillies and turmeric powder. Olan is a bland dish of pumpkin and red grams cooked in thin gravy of coconut milk. |
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| The savouries include Upperi, Pappadam, Ginger pickle, Pachadi and Kichadi. Upperi is deep fried banana chips. Pappadams are fried creamy yellow, sun-dried wafer of black gram flour. The Ginger pickle is a rich brown, hot and sweet ginger chutney while the Kichadi consists of sliced and sautèed cucumber or ladies finger in curd, seasoned with mustard, red chillies and curry leaves in coconut oil. Pickles are usually mango and lime. |
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| Desserts are served mid-way through the meal. The Payasam is a thick fluid dish of sweet brown molasses, coconut milk and spices, garnished with cashew nuts and raisins. There could be a succession of Payasams, such as the Palada Pradhaman and Parippu Pradhaman. |
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| Pazham, a ripe golden yellow plantain, is usually had along with the payasams. After the payasams, rice is served once more with the spicy Rasam. Rasam is a mixture of chilly and peppercorn powders boiled in diluted tamarind juice. Kaalan, seasoned buttermilk with turmeric powder and green chillies, and plain sour buttermilk that comes salted and with chopped green chillies and ginger, are also served before the feast is finally wound up. |
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