| Kerala cuisine is very hot and spicy.(Guess, one would expect that in the spice capital of the world!).Like most places in india, food is traditionally eaten by the hand and served on a banana leaf. Another interesting feature is the abundant use of coconut oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, and coconut milk.
Kerala also has it's own fermented beverages -the famous "kallu" or (toddy) and "patta charayam" (arrack). Arrack is extremely intoxicating and is usually consumed with spicy pickles and boiled eggs (patta and mutta). Unlike the west, where food is consumed by courses, along with the appropriate wines, most indian dishes do not follow courses and do not go along with any alcohol, with the exception of beer.
As with many aspects of keralan culture, the cuisine has been influenced by numerous tradition. It is a creative anddelectable combination of vegetables , meats and seafood flavoured with a variety of spices and almost always cooked in coconut milk. The result is delicately prepared dishes, which are healthy and exciting.
Some believe the cuisine of Kerala has been influenced by Ayurvedic philosophies, which prescribed combination of ingredients with the particular purpose of promoting health and vitality. |