Cuisine of Kerala, gods own country is an exotic mixture of nature's very best. There are large variety of dishes which are peculiar to Kerala, be it vegetarian or the spicier non-vegetarian, be it the rice flavoured savoury 'appams' or thse crunchy chips variety, be it the delicious seafood delicacies or the leafy or root vegetables ..Kerala has it all. sadhya- the typical Kerala Hindu feast served on a banana leaf, is a sumptuous spread of rice and more than 14 vegetable dishes, topped with payasam or pradhamans, the delicious sweet dessert. The Muslims and Christians excel in their own particular non-vegetarian dishes like the 'pathiri', biriyani, chicken, fish dishes etc. Rice is the staple food and the curries are eaten usually with plain steamed rice. A typical breakfast can be Puttu, Vellayappam or Idiappam made with pounded rice flour. Almost every dish prepared in Kerala uses coconut - as oil or grated, ground or with its milk strained together with spices and tamarind to flavour them. Tender coconut water is used as a refreshing nutritious drink.
A typical Kerala feast, referred to as sadya, is spread out temptingly on a clean green banana leaf. And the food is to be eaten with the fingers. Even the dessert, payasam, that tastes like rice pudding, is served on the leafy plate.
The Muslims and Christians excel in non vegetarian cuisine. The pathiri, a sort of pancake made of rice flour, and biriyani which is a mouthwatering dish of rice cooked along with meat, onions, chillies and other spices are Muslim culinary delights. Christians have interesting recipes to make an array of fish dishes such as meen pollichathu, fish molee and so on. Christian cookery specially caters to people with a sweet tooth – crunchy kozhalappam, achappam, cheeda, churuttu etc.
A typical Kerala breakfast may be puttu, which is rice powder and grated coconut steam cooked together, idli and sambar, dosai and chutney, idiappam (string hoppers), or the most delicious of them all, the appam. Appam is a kind of pan cake made of rice flour fermented with a small amount of toddy (fermented sap of the coconut palm) which is circular in shape, rather like a flying saucer, edged with a crisp lacy frill. It is eaten with chicken or vegetable stew. Kanji (rice gruel) and payaru (green gram), kappa (casava) and fish curry are traditional favourites of Keralites.
Almost every dish prepared in Kerala has coconut and spices added to it – spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric etc. Spices are used in Kerala to tone up the system the way wines aid the digestion of western cuisine. The juice of tender coconut – ‘world’s safest natural soft drink’ – is a refreshing nutritious thirst quencher. The staple food of the masses is rice. Kerala cuisine also has a medley of pickles and chutneys. And the crunchy papadams, banana chips and jack chips can give french fries a run for their money any day.
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