The cuisine of Kerala

KERALA'S TRADITIONAL RESTAURANT

The cuisine of Kerala is linked in all its richness to the history, geography, demography and culture of the land. Kerala cuisine has a multitude of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes prepared using fish, poultry and meat.

Kerala's long coastline, numerous rivers and backwater networks, and strong fishing industry have contributed to many sea and river food based dishes. Rice and cassava (Tapioca) form the staple food of Kerala. All main dishes are made with them and served along with Kootan; the side dishes which may be made from vegetables, meat, fish or a mix of all of them. The main dish for lunch and dinner is boiled rice. Owing to the weather and the availability of spices, the Kerala cuisine is richly spicy especially the hot ones -chilly, black pepper, cardamom, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon.

MEAL TIME

Kerala is known for its traditional banquet or sadhya a vegetarian meal served with boiled rice and a host of side-dishes served especially during special occasions and festivals. The sadhya is complemented by payasam, a sweet dessert native to Kerala. The sadhya is, as per custom, served on a banana leaf, and is a formal-style meal with three or more courses of rice with a side-dish (usually sambar, rasam, buttermilk, etc.). In south Kerala the Payasam is followed by more (butter milk). Whereas in North Malabar it is considered to be the last dish to be served. A typical sadhya would have Boiled Rice, sambar, Parippu, Aviyal, Kaalan, Pachadi, Kichadi,Thoran, Pulisherry, Olan, Puliinji, Pappadam, Mooru, Kaya upperi, Sharkara upperi,Achar, Banana,Paayasam

Sweets and Desserts

Kerala does not have any indigenous cold desserts, but hot/warm desserts are popular. The most popular example is undoubtedly the payasam: a preparation of milk, coconut extract, sugar, cashews, dry grapes, etc. Payasam can be made with many base constituents, including Paal payasam (made from rice), Ada payasam (with Ada-broken strips of baked starch from various sources)

 

Breakfast

Kerala cuisine offers many delicious vegetarian breakfast dishes that are often relatively unknown outside the state. These include Puttu (made of rice powder and grated coconut, steamed in a metal or bamboo holder) and kadala (a curry made of black garbanzo beans chana), idli (fluffy rice pancakes), sambar, dosa and chutney, pidiyan, Idiyappam (string hoppers - also known as Noolputtu and Nool-Appam in Malabar), Paal-Appam, a circular, fluffy, crisp-edged pancake made of rice flour fermented with a small amount of toddy or wine, etc. Idiyapam and Paalappam are accompanied by mutton, chicken or vegetable stew or fish moli (the most common dish is black pomfret in a coconut milk.
 

For over 2000 years, Kerala has been visited by ocean-goers, including traders from Greece, Rome, the eastern Mediterranean, Arab countries, and Europe. Thus, Kerala cuisine is a blend of indigenous dishes and foreign dishes adapted to Kerala tastes.