Cuisines of Kerala
Keralites are fond of good food and produce some of the tastiest foods on earth. The cuisines are generally hot and spicy offering great taste and vigour. Kerala’s food is rich in coconut, chilies, curry leaf, mustard seed and tamarind. The Keralites have love in rice and fish.
Keralite’s morning meal consists of a dose of coffee followed by soft idlis or dosas served with chutney and sambar. Seasonal appams or periappams, made by mixing this paste with tomatoes, onions and other handy vegetables are also taken as morning breakfast.
The mid - day meal consists of rice soaked with moru (curd or butter milk) or rasam and a variety of vegetable curry or fish. Most dishes are cooked with coconut oil with extensive use of spices. These traditional meals are served on banana leaves.
Some of the most popular cuisines of Kerala are as follows:
Rasam
Rasam is a mixture, made by boiling chilly and peppercorn powder in the diluted tamarind extract. Another important Kerala food is 'Moru' or plain tart buttermilk, which comes as salted, garnished with chopped green chilies and ginger.
Appam
Appam, another well liked Kerala food, is a soft pancake made from toddy fermented rice batter, with a soft spongy center and is laced with crispy edges. Appam is usually eaten with vegetable, pullet, or mutton stew, thoroughly mellowed with broad coconut milk and garnished with curry leaves.
Puttu
Puttu is made from rice flour and cooked with steam in metal cylinders or long hollow bamboo. Puttu can be eaten with cooked bananas and sugar or with a peppery curry prepared from gram or peas.
Dosa and Idli
A huge varieties of of dosas and idlis creates an integral part of Kerala's morning meal cuisine, and can be seen and dined upon without even having to search for them. While Idlis are somewhat sour baked cakes, dosas, on the other hand, are a-kind-of flaky pancakes, made from a blend of fermented rice and very dark gram. Both these food items are traditionally served with sambhar or coconut chutney.
Tapioca and Fish Curry
It is a sumptuous and mouthwatering delicious food. It is a blend of 'Kappa' and 'Fish curry'. The delicious fish curry is made from garlic paste, onions and red chilies and seasoned with mustard seeds and curry leaves.
Seafood
Since Kerala is a coastal state, seafood is and will stay a popular cuisine. Varieties such as tuna, rays, sardines, mackerel, and even shark has made a part of the Keralite seafood cuisine, with fried fish or Karimeen, and fish curry, renowned as Fish Moilee, being the most well liked of fish dishes. Other seafood items like crabs, oysters and mussels are furthermore enjoyed passionately in Kerala.
Snacks
Apart from meals, various snacks are also joining an integral part of the Keralite cuisine. Snacks like banana chips, Murukku, made prepared from a batter of rice, pulses and flavors; Shakaruperi, banana chunks coated with jaggery and ginger; and diverse types of halwas made up from flour and sugar and with added flavor with fruits and nuts can be munched on all through the day.
Desserts
Desserts form an absolutely vital part of the customary Kerala meals. Desserts are served midway through the meals. Payasam is a popular dessert bowl of Kerala. It is a viscous bowl of dark molasses, coconut milk and flavours, with a generous garnish of cashew nuts and raisins. There are distinct types of payasams, such as the lentil payasam, Bengal gram payasam, jackfruit payasam and so on.
Adapradhaman, a wealthy payasam with thin rice wafers is considered a peak delicacy. Another kind of Payasam, which is furthermore very delicious, is Palppayasam. It is made from sugar, ghee and flavours, brewed in creamy white milk and given with 'boli', a golden yellow sugary pancake.