CUISINE OF KERALA The Cuisine : Simple, spicy and memorable Famous Delicacies : Puttu, Iddli, Vallepam, Karimeen Most Exotic Dish : Payasam Munching Delight : Achappam' (rose cookies), 'Ethekka appam' (banana fritters)

Taste of Kerala - Where Cooking Is Not Only An Art, But A Religion

The yummy Kerala cuisines have their own flavor that make them unique among others. The delicious Kerala food will surely tempt your tongue leaving you wanting for more. The famous Kerala dishes include a long list on menu consisting of Idli,Sambhar,Vada and lot more.

People And Lifestyle

Kerala Festivals

Spice And Tea Gardens

Try to explain a moron how a sweet tastes like or what is the exact flavour of a spicy delicacy. It is challenging, isn't it? The thing about a palate is that everyone has it, but only a few understand its merit and still a less know what to do with it. It is like being an apprentice in photography. You have inordinate cameras but don't know how to use them, and once you know how, you only listen to your heart. The best thing about famous Kerala cuisine is that, its delicacies, in general, revolve around discoveries, aromas and colours. Malayali food has indeed attracted a great deal of attention of the world because of its culinary specialty to carefully blend different spices and yield the subtle variation in the flavours. For centuries, travellers from all over the world arrived to the coast of Kerala - the Greeks, the Arabs, the Romans, the Jews and later Vasco da Gama, the Europeans... Given the various foreign influences, it is not incredible to think that the Malayali cuisine is a culinary crossbreed, an impeccable fusion of many cultures and palates. Enjoy Kerala tours to savor the cuisine of Kerala.

Spice Up Your Life

There is no doubt that Kerala has several culinary traditions, both region and religion specific, but there are two things that gives Kerala cuisine an edge over others; its repertoire and undoubtedly coconut. A great emphasis is laid on the ingredients used, the vessels it is cooked in and bizarrely, the nature of fire used. The beauty of the Malayali food is that, it offers a true taste of nature, a perfect amalgamation of the real with the imagined. And so, it is about rice, flavoured by the soil it has grown in, seasonal vegetables carrying morning dew on their skin, fresh from the garden, fish straight from the backwaters, spice that bears within, the fiery heat of the sun... It is about countless flavours - coconut oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, tamarind paste, asafoetida and chillies - each one of which rejoice a special place in the Malayali's palate. One will be surprised to know in how many forms a Malayali consumes coconut - as a thickener, as a paste to add flavour, as a garnish in curries and soups and finally as an oil to be partaken. Come to Kerala to enjoy the famous food of Kerala India that is famous all over the world.

La Prima To Feast Upon

Before enjoying your day trip in your own way, don't forget to stuff yourself with several mouth-watering delicacies of Kerala, usually made from ground rice and pulses that are steamed or fried in different ways. Order for a typical Malayali breakfast which may include cylindrical 'puttu' (steamed rice with coconut), 'iddli' (steamed cake of rice and black gram), and sambar (vegetable curry) accompanied by puffy Kerala rice eaten with one's fingers. One can also enjoy "Vallepam", a frilly, lacy-edged pancake made from fermented rice paste, cooked in a curved pan and served with stew or coconut milk. Also called hoppers, 'Vallepam' is also made with egg and meat curry, and provides a completely different experience for your buds. You can also go for crepe-like South-Indian noodles, 'idiappam' or the cake-like, round spongy 'vattayappam' - all of them cooked with easily digestible, crushed rice grains, a perfect break from your overnight fast. The best way to bask the food in Kerala is by trying festival cuisine of Kerala.

The Thirst Quenchers

If planning to holiday in KErala then do not miss the mouth watering delicacies of Kerala. While chatting about Kerala, the first thing that comes to mind is the green fruit of this greener state. Get a raw coconut and taste the freshness of life with its refreshing and nutritious syrupy water. Besides, Malayalis also have other means to cheer up their evenings. It toddy and arrack constitute their hard drinks, the soft ones include the spiced up buttermilk. Lime leaves and crushed ginger are teased to add colour to the romance. One sip and you will be ported directly to the depths of a subterranean ocean. Many crouched hills of Kerala are carpeted with lush green tea gardens, from where those 'two leaves and a bud' transcends directly to one's cup. Don't forget to take a sip of the ginger-brewed black tea, a speciality of the middle class Malayali and a favoured drink for the reat of the world. Take a trip to Kerala to enjoy the popular festival cuisine of the state.

Addicted To 'Meen'

While you cruise through the long coastline and many inland waterways of Kerala, you can't resist yourself to taste some (or all) delicacies of this fish-addicted state. Fishes ar ethe prime food of Kerala. Even though the same ingredients are added, each colony within Kerala has its own unique way of garnering them to cook dishes that are strikingly different from one another. Taste a few of those dried, but delicious preparations of sole, shark, crab, oyster and eel. Don't forget to ask for the most prized fish preparation, "Fish Moilee" (fish curry) of the celebrated 'karimeen' or the brackish fresh water fish, sold at every waterfront location. If you have traveller's luck, you can even get the opportunity to taste the Moplah biryani, actually worthy of a praise. Don't get overwhelmed to see the plump grains of rice lie supine and separate with the content of having had their fill with spices and meat juices, topped with brown swirls of fried onion and raisins and chaperoned with a date chutney, a raita and puffed golden papadums. Unfortunately, the taste can't be expressed in words. Enjoy cuisine tours of KErala and sacor the cuisine of Kerala.

Palaharam Kazhikkanulla Samayam - Its Time For Some Hot Tidbits

God's own country is a huge hub of bananas and probably this yellow love of nature is second most popular fruit after coconut. Ask any Malayali and he will tell you the best banana chips are to be found only in Alathur, or only on that road going past Vadakkanthara. Banana chips bought in Kerala are fried in coconut oil which gives them their distinctive taste. Don't forget to taste a handful of those 'nendrankai' chips that are subtly sweet and have a slightly charred taste. Travellers can also go for jackfruit (chakka) chips, which are a seasonal speciality, sold generally from January to June with an indefinable taste - not salty, not sweet but apparantly good to eat. If you find someone from the Christian community, don't sacrifice a visit to their place for some trivial reason. Enjoy platefulls of mouth-watering 'achappam' (rose cookies), 'kuzhalappam' (a cylindrical crisp cookie) or ubiquitous 'ethekka appam' (banana fritters) during tea-time.