Keralan food

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Keralan food is very different to, for instance, North Indian food, and therefore very different from the kind of food that is served in Indian take aways in the UK. North Indian food tends to be rich relying heavily on ghee and breads such as naans and parathas. The familiar onion bhaji and samosa are North Indian and are not widely available in Kerala. Keralan food on the other hand is much lighter; rice is the main ingredient in most meals and is used in place of bread.

The main reason for the difference in the diet of North and South Indians, apart for obvious cultural differences, is that North India has a dry climate whereas the South is tropical. Kerala's tropical climate also means that there is an abundance of fruits and vegetables growing here. Some of the fruits grown here are: numerous varieties of bananas, from very long to finger length, coconut, papaya, pineapple, oranges and mangos to name just a few. There are fruits here that we have never even seen or heard of before. Also, Kerala is one of India's main growers of spices; everything from chilli to cardamom to vanilla. Kerala grown produce is the main ingredient in the Keralan cuisine.

Anyone interested in some very nice Indian food recipes should visit nandyala.org.

At home in the UK we are not used to eating an awful lot. We usually have breakfast/lunch around 12.00 consisting of oats, soya milk, nuts, raisins and bananas and dinner of some sort at around 19.00. Eating in Kerala has been totally different. Since we use a lot more energy here we need more food, which means that we have occasionally managed three meals a day.

We had most of our meals in Kochi at Sarovaram Hotel, simply because it was extremely good. For breakfast there would be Idli, small steamed rice cakes eaten with sambhar, a spicy sauce that is unique to South India and is served with most meals, and coconut chutney. Alternatively, we would have appam, a type of rice pancake cooked in a special pan to give it a soft centre with lacey edging making it look a little like a large fried egg. Appam is served with a white stew of coconut flavoured with pepper. Finally, dosai, a very thin and lightly crisp dinner plate sized pancake made from a fermented batter of rice and lentils is a common breakfast. It is served either plain or with a masala (usually a filling of potato and vegetable) and with sambhar and coconut chutney.

Lunch generally means more rice though this time in its more recognisable form, i.e. boiled. The rice will be piled high on a fresh, green palm or banana leaf and around this the waiter spoons small portions of various vegetables, sauces, pickles, sambhar and curd. The photo below is from the lunch we had at Bimbis in Ernakulam. This was served in a thali tray. Whenever a cup is emptied the waiter will come around with a refill.
As it is seen in the photo there are five fingers in the rice. All meals, except soup and similarly runny substances, for instance puddings, are eaten with your right hand, i.e. without cutlery. In India the left hand is used to clean yourself with water after visiting the toilet, and is therefore perceived to be unclean. Also, to some particularly superstitious Indians, the left hand is perceived to be unlucky; this means that such people would be very reluctant to receive anything from someone's left hand. The food should never touch the palm of the hand. Keralans tend to only get food up to the first joint on the fingers whereas in other parts of India people are covered in food up to there knuckles.

We have found eating with our fingers quite liberating. It is hard to explain any better than Yann Martel wrote in Life of Pi:

The first time I went to an Indian restaurant in Canada I used my fingers. The waiter looked at me critically and said, “Fresh off the boat, are you?” I blanched. My fingers, which a second before had been taste buds savouring the food a little ahead of my mouth, became dirty under his gaze. They froze like criminals caught in the act. I didn't dare lick them. I wiped them guiltily on my napkin. I picked up the knife and fork. I had hardly ever used such instruments. My hands trembled. My sambar lost its taste.

Experiencing this way of eating does make you wonder why parents in the west tell their children off for touching their food. Of course, Indian food is particularly suited for eating with your fingers. Using your fingers is a much more efficient way of mixing the flavours so that the food tastes perfectly balanced; neither bland nor too spicy. For the first 12 days of our stay we didn't touch a piece of cutlery for our main meals, but when we hit Varkala..... You will see later.

A typical Keralan dinner is, unsurprisingly, rice with a stew and chutney, and some vegetables. Dosais are also very popular. We had a very nice room service meal at Sarovaram comprising of Dosai, parkoras (North Indian), sambhar and chutney. The drinks were fresh fruit juice with emphasis on fresh. Fresh fruit juices are very popular in Kerala since so many fruits are grown here. We have had fruit juice with most meals and have found them delicious, refreshing and cheap at Rs. 25 to 35.
In the unlikely event that one should get hungry between meals, plenty of delicious snacks are available, e.g. fried banana chips, roasted cashew nuts, spicy chick peas, grilled corn cobs and fresh coconut juice, from stalls located anywhere there are people.

One worrying side effect of eating the delicious foods of Kerala, or more precisely the high level of carbohydrate, is that Mort is piling on the pounds.

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This entry was posted by pundabee, on Saturday, November 18, 2006. You can leave your response.