|
Kerala Tourism, Kerala Hotels, Kerala Resorts, Kerala Homestays, Kerala Honeymoon Tourism, Kerala Beaches, Kerala Houseboats, Kerala Spices, Kerala Arts
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Kerala Foods |
Kerala is known as the "land of Spices". Even the Kerala cuisine is known for its spicy and hot foods. Traditionally, in Kerala food is served on a banana leaf. One has to take food with right hand. Almost every dish prepared in Kerala has coconut and spices to flavour the local cuisine giving it a sharp pungency that is heightened with the use of tamarind, while coconut gives it its richness, absorbing some of the tongue-teasing, pepper-hot flavours. The unusual cuisine of Kerala brings to the
fore the culinary expertise of the people
of Kerala. Producing some of the tastiest
foods on earth, the people of Kerala are gourmets
with a difference. |
The cuisine is very hot and spicy and offers
several gastronomic opportunities. The food
is generally fresh, aromatic and flavoured.
Keralites are mostly fish-and-rice eating
people.Kerala cuisine is a combination of Vegetables, meats and seafood flavoured with a variety of spices. Seafood's are main diet of Coastal Kerala. Whereas Vegetable is the main diet in plains of Kerala and Meat is the main course among tribal and northern Kerala. |
The land and the
food are rich with coconut, though one can't
imagine Kerala food without chilies, curry leaf,
mustard seed, tamarind and asafoetida. |
These people put to good use whatever the land
offers and the result is a marvellous cuisine
that is simple yet palate tickling. They relish
equally a dish as simple as 'kanji' (rice gruel)
or as extravagant as the 'sadya' (feast). |
Just a pinchful of tamarind can substitute tomatoes, but there is no real substitute for curry leaf. Since time immemorial, coconut has been an integral part of the cuisine of Kerala. Tender coconut water is a refreshing nutritious thirst quencher. The crunchy papadam, banana and jackfruit chips can give french-fries a run for their money any day.
|
|
|
 |
Sadya
|
Sadya is the elaborate dish, which is a totally
extravagant affair. Avial, an all time favourite,
is a happy blend of vegetables, coconut paste
and green chillies. Avial's seasoning is a spoonful
of fresh coconut oil and a sprinkling of raw
curry leaves, stirred in immediately after the
dish is taken off the stove. |
Kottucurry' is made out of cubed potatoes,
onions and green chillies cooked in coconut milk
with plenty of red chilli. 'Olan', a bland dish
of pumpkin and red grams is prepared by cooking
it in thin gravy of coconut milk. |
|
|
 |
The
Tangy Rasam
|
The hot Rasam, served after a delectable array
of sweets, is a tangy deviation from the symphony
of tastes and is poured on another serving of
rice. The famous British 'Mulligatawny Soup'
is said to have derived its flavour from Rasam. |
Rasam is a mixture of chilly and pepper corns
powders boiled in diluted tamarind juice. The
pulissery is seasoned buttermilk with turmeric
powder and green chillies. 'Moru' or plain sour
buttermilk comes salted and with chopped green
chillies and ginger. |
|
|
 |
| Avial |
Combination of vegetables like pumpkin, drumstick, potato, chilly etc and coconut sauce, it is a very popular side dish. Even mango, jackfruit and cashew nuts are included in Avial. Avial is a dish that makes the most of the locally available vegetables. That's why a novice cook who is unsure of the names and prices of the fare but has to go vegetable shopping can safely ask for an avial kootu (an avial mixture) for, say, forty or fifty rupees and be assured of a variety of vegetables for the week. These don't include the leafy ones though. |
|
|
 |
Appam |
Appam is the soft pancake made from toddy fermented
rice batter, with a soft spongy middle, which
is laced with crispy edges. It is generally
consumed with either vegetable or chicken or
mutton stew, thoroughly mellowed with thick
coconut milk and garnished with curry leaves. |
|
|
 |
| Puttu |
| A type of steam cake,
'Puttu' is made from rice flour and steamed in
long hollow bamboo or metal cylinders. Depending
on the taste preference, Puttu can be had with
steamed bananas and sugar or with a spicy curry
made from gram or chickpeas. |
|
|
 |
Banana chips |
Banana chips are deep-fried and/or dried slices of banana. They can be covered with sugar or honey and have a sweet taste, or they can be fried in oil and spices and have a salty and/or spicy taste. Variants of banana chips may be covered with chocolate instead. Usually, the chips are produced from underripe bananas, of which slices are deep-fried in sunflower oil or coconut oil, which are then dried, and to which preservatives are added. These varieties of chips can be very oily, due to the deep-frying process. |
Another form of fried banana chips, usually made in Kerala (India) and known locally as 'upperi', is fried in coconut oil. Both ripe and unripe bananas are used for this variant. Sometimes they are coated with masala or jaggery to form both spicy and sweet variants. It is an integral part of the traditional Kerala meal called sadya served during weddings and traditional festivals such as Onam Banana Chips. Made from unripe bananas and deep fried in coconut oil, thesebanana chips are crispy and tasty. These South Indian fried snacks are largely demanded in domestic as well as international markets. |
|
|
 |
Jack fruit chips |
Jackfruit is one of the most loved fruits at my place, ranking second after mango. During season, both ripe and unripe fruit is used in many different dishes. The edible part of the fruit is called ghare(Konkani) or soLe(Kannada. Raw, but firm and fresh jackfruits, just out of the tree, are used for this. The fruit needs to be completely grown and have firm and thick flesh.We offer our clients mouthwatering jack fruit chips, which are packaged in various weights to meet clients requirements. Finely and thinly sliced unripe jack fruit is deeply fried in coconut oil and is made spicy and tangy by adding various spices. |
|
|
 |
Tapioca Chips |
These tapioca chips are made by deep frying of thinly sliced tapioca in coconut oil and mixing it with various spices. These famous South Indian snacks are available in standard packing material to maintain their flavor and crispiness. Tapioca is widely consumed in the state of Kerala. It is either boiled or cooked with spices. Tapioca with fish curry (especially Sardine) is a delicacy Kerala is known for. Thinly sliced tapioca wafers, similar to potato chips, are popular too. Cassava, often referred to as tapioca in English, is called Kappa Kizhangu or Poola (in northern Kerala) or Maracheeni Kizhangu or Cheeni or Kolli in Malayalam. Tapioca is used to make a granular product (Tapioca Pearls) called chowwary in Malayalam. Chowwary is used to make a light porridge by adding milk or buttermilk, recommended for patients recovering from illness. |
|
|
 |
Idiyappam |
String hoppers is a culinary specialty in Kerala. It is also called noolappam or noolputtu from the Malayalam word for string, nool, but is most commonly known as idiyappam or string hoppers. It is made of rice flour or wheat flour, salt and water. It is generally served as the main course at breakfast or dinner together with a curry (potato, egg, fish or meat curry) and coconut chutney. It is also served with sweetened coconut milk in Malabar region of Kerala. It is not usually served at lunch. Using wheat flour in preparation gives it a brownish hue. |
|
|
 |
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. |
In a South Indian meal, payasam is served after rasam rice, while rice with buttermilk forms the last item of the meal. Payasam also forms an integral part of the Kerala feast (sadya), where it is served and relished from the flat banana leaf instead of cups. In Malayalee or Kerala cuisine, there are several different kinds of payasam that can be prepared from a wide variety of fruits and starch bases, an example being chakkapradhaman made of jackfruit pulp, adapradhaman made of flat ground rice. |
|
|
 |
Tapioca And Fish Curry |
A sumptuous, mouthwatering delicacy, it's a not- to- be-missed combination of 'Kappa' and 'Meen curry'. With natural flavours erupting out of it liberally, the fish curry is made with garlic paste, onions and red chillies and seasoned with mustard seeds and curry leaves. |
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|