NOTES ON KERALA CUISINE

1. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 1
KERALA
GODS OWN
COUNTRY.

2. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 2
SPECIAL FEATURES
 Four distinct groups in Kerala are
Syrian Christians.
the Muslims called moflas.
the nairs who are the warrior class.
Namboodri who are the Brahmins.

3. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 3
SYRIAN CHRISTIANS
 They prefer steak beef.
 Most of the curries are prepared using
coconut milk.
 For Christmas the specialty is wild duck
with mappas.

4. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 4
MUSLIMS OR MOPLAS
 They use rice, coconut and jaggery in abundance.
 There is a strong Arab influence as is seen in their
biriyanis and ground wheat and meat porridge called as
aleesa.
 Several flavored soups are made from both rice and wheat
with added coconut or coconut milk and spices.
 A distinct and unusual sweet is MUTTA MALA, chain
like strings of egg yolk cooked in sugar syrup.

5. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 5
NAIRS
 A weeding feast of nairs includes several
types of patchadis, pickles, chips and
payasams based on milk or coconut milk.
 Rice, dhal and bananas, however no meat
is served.

6. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 6
NAMBOODRIS
 The Brahmins are strictly vegetarians.
 They favour the idli, dosa and puttu for
their break fast with coconut or curd as
accompaniments.
 They eat rice with kootu, kalan and olan.
 The use of garlic is avoided.

7. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 7
FOOD SPECIALITIES
 Yellow banana chips fried in coconut oil and lightly
salted are famous and eaten in this region.
 Rice appams, a pancake also called as Vellappam is
common to all Keralaties and is eaten with meat stew by
Syrians and with avial by Namboodris and nairs.
 Idiappam a dish of cooked rice noodles, the puttu
consisting of rice rava and grated coconut and jack fruit
cooked with jaggery and cardamom are among the
common items.

8. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 8
 Kerala food in general hot and spicy.
 The food is traditionally eaten by hands
and served in banana leaves.
 Abundant use of coconut oil, mustard
seeds, curry leaves and coconut milk are
used in their day today cooking.

9. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 9
Spices in Kerala Cuisine
 As with almost all Indian food, spices play an important
part in Kerala cuisine.
 The main spices used are cinnamon, cardamom, ginger,
green and red peppers, cloves, garlic, cumin seeds,
coriander, turmeric, and so on.
 Few fresh herbs are used, unlike in European cuisine, and
mainly consist of the commonly used curry leaf, and the
occasional use of fresh coriander and mint.

10. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 10
 Tamarind, kodampuli and lime are used to make
sauces sour, as sour sauces are very popular in
Kerala.
 Sweet and sour dishes are however, rare, but
exceptions like the ripe mango version of the
pulissery and tamarind-jaggery-ginger chutney
known as puli-inchi are popular

11. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 11
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) and sambar,
dosa and chutney, pidiyan, Idiyappam (string hoppers - also known
as Noolputtu), 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 a curry of beef or fish moli (the most common dish
is black pomfret in a coconut based sauce).

12. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 12
Lunch and dinner
 The staple food of Kerala, like most South-Indian states,
is rice. Unlike other states, however, many people in
Kerala prefer parboiled rice (rice made nutritious by
boiling it with rice husk).
 Kanji (rice congee), a kind of rice porridge, is also
popular.
 Tapioca, called kappa in Kerala, is popular in central
Kerala and in the highlands, and is frequently eaten with
fish curry.
 Baked Tapioca dish

13. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 13
 Rice is usually consumed with one or more curries. Accompaniments
with rice may include upperis (dry braised or sauteed vegetables),
rasam, chips, and/or buttermilk (called moru).
 Vegetarian dinners usually consist of multiple courses, each
involving rice, one main dish (usually sambar, rasam, puli-sherry),
and one or more side-dishes.
 Kerala cooking uses coconut oil almost exclusively, although health
concerns and cost have led to coconut oil being replaced to some
extent by palm oil and vegetable oil

14. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 14
 Popular vegetarian dishes include sambar, aviyal, Kaalan,
theeyal, thoran (dry curry), pulisherry (morozhichathu in
Cochin and the Malabar region), olan, erisherry, puliinji,
payaru (mung bean), kappa (tapioca), etc. Vegetarian
dishes often consist of fresh spices that are liquefied and
crushed to make a paste-like texture to dampen rice.
 Common non-vegetarian dishes include stew (using
chicken, beef, lamb, or fish), traditional or (naadan-style)
chicken curry, fish moli, fried fish (Karimeen porichathu),
etc. Biriyani, a Mughal dish consists of rice cooked along
with meat, onions, chillies and other spices.

15. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 15
 Although rice and tapioca may be considered the original
Kerala starch staples, wheat, in the form of chappatis or
porottas, is now very commonly eaten, especially at
dinner time.
 Numerous little streetside vendors offer an oily porotta
(the croissant in its flakiness and oiliness) with meat, egg,
or vegetable curry for dinner. Grains such as ragi and
millet, although common in the arid parts of South India,
have not gained a foothold in Kerala.

16. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 16
Sadya
 Kerala is known for its traditional banquet or sadhya, a
vegetarian meal served with boiled rice and a host of side-
dishes.
 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 Kerala it is considered to be the last
dish to be served.

17. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 17
Sweets and Desserts
 Due to limited influence of Arab & Central Asian food on
Kerala, the use of sweets is not as widespread as in North
India.
 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 (rice), Ada payasam (with Ada, a flat form of
rice), banana, dal, etc.
 Ada payasam is especially popular during the festival of
Onam. Most payasams can also be consumed chilled.

18. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 18
 Jaggery or molasses is a common sweetening ingredient,
although white sugar is gaining ground. Fruit, especially
the small yellow bananas, are often eaten after a meal or
at any time of the day.
 Plantains, uncooked or steamed, are popularly eaten for
breakfast or tea.
 Other popular sweets include Unniappam (a fried banana
bread), pazham-pori (plantain slices covered with a fried
crust made of sweetened flour), and kozhukkatta (rice
dumplings stuffed with a sweet mixture of molasses,
coconut etc.).
 Cakes, ice-creams, cookies and puddings are equally
common. Generally, except for payasam, most sweets are
not eaten as dessert but as a tea-time snack.

19. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 19
Pickles and other side-dishes
 Kerala cuisine also has a variety of pickles
and chutneys, and crunchy pappadums,
banana chips, jackfruit chips,
kozhalappam, achappam, cheeda, and
churuttu.

20. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 20
Beverages Being mostly a hot and humid area, Keralites have developed a
variety of drinks to cope with thirst.
 A variety of what might be called herbal teas are served during
mealtimes. Cumin seeds, ginger or coriander seeds are boiled in
water and served warm or at room temperature.
 In addition to the improved taste, the spices also have digestive and
other medicinal properties. Sambharam, a diluted buttermilk often
flavoured with ginger, lime leaves, green chili peppers etc. was very
commonly drunk, although it has been replaced to some extent by
soda pop.
 Coffee and tea (both hot) drunk black, or with milk and white sugar
or unrefined palm sugar (karippatti), are commonly drunk.
 Numerous small shops dotted around the land sell fresh lime juice
(called naranga vellam, or bonji sarbat in Malayalam), and many now
offer milk shakes and other fruit juices.

21. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 21
Cooking Utensils
 There are utensils that are used in Kerala
which are significant to cuisine in Kerala.
An aduppu is a square hearth, Mun Chatti
is cooking pot made from clay, Cheena
Chatti (literally Chinese pot) is a deep
frying pan.

22. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 22

23. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 23
A typical sadya, where banana
leaves are used as plates

24. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 24
SIGNATURE DISHES
 APPAM
soft pancake made
from fermented rice
batter with soft
spongy middle which
is laced with crispy
edges. Served with
vegetables, chicken or
mutton stew.

25. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 25
PUTTU
a steamed cake
made from rice flour
and steamed in long,
hallow bamboo or
metallic cylinders.
Had with steamed
bananas and sugar or
with spicy curries.

26. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 26
 KOZHI STEW
made with chicken and potatoes simmered gently in a
creamy, white sauce flavored with black pepper,
cinnamon, clove, green chilly, lime juice, shallots and
coconut milk.
 MANGO MAPPAS
Syrian Christian specialty in which raw mangoes are
cooked in coconut based gravy mildly flavored with curry
leaves, garlic and shallots.
PODI PATHIRI / KOZHI PATHRI
roti made out of rice flour and is griddled in a thawa
until it puffs up and dipped in coconut milk before
service.

27. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 27
 MEEN CURRY
a thin stew of fish tempered with curry leaves,
green chilies, ginger, garlic and soured with
kodumpuli. Finally adjusted with coconut milk.
 PAYARU THORAN
blanched green beans sautéed in onions, garlic,
cumin and turmeric added with grated coconut and
tempered with mustard, curry leaves, dried red
chilies, split urud dhal.
 KOOTU
 KALAN
 OOLAN

28. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 28
A typical sadya, where banana leaves are used as
plates

29. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 29
Dosa

30. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 30
Idiappam- string hoppers

31. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 31
Meen poaluchathu

32. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 32
Idly

33. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 33
Baked Tapioca dish

34. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 34
Karimeen porichathu

35. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 35
Appam

36. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 36
Puttu

37. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 37
Meen vevichathu
 Fish in ferry red sauce were cooked three days ago and
left unrefrigerated. at weddings two or three dozens of
such pots filled with the same dish are cooked up to a
week in advance and just brought to boil every night.
 The secret lies partly in the pot. Terracotta breathes and
keeps the fish air cooled.
 What really preserves the fish and gives the vevichathu its
characteristic sour and smoky flavor is kodampoli also
known as fish tamarind, the sour rind of the of a fruit that
is first sunned and then arranged on a shelves of bamboo
slats set over the kitchen wood stoves to dry slowly.

38. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 38

39. NSK NOTES KUMARS REIPE FILE 39