Cuisine of Kerala

Kerala is known worldwide as a wonderful tourist destination. The backwaters, beaches and hill stations of Kerala are known for their calm and serenity, which provide a relaxing holiday in God's Own Country. Kerala Backwater offers tours to Kerala, India, that showcase the best of Kerala. One of Kerala's popular attractions is its delicious Kerala cuisine.

Kerala is a coastal state, it is a covered with emerald green paddy fields and has plantations where spices that have been exported worldwide for centuries, are grown. Add to this mixture a touch a coconut and a bunch of bananas and you're halfway to a recipe for Kerala cuisine, which you can try on Kerala Backwater tours.

The cuisine of Kerala is characterized by the use of coconut, either chopped or grated and used as garnishing, coconut milk or paste is used to thicken gravies and coconut oil is used for cooking. Breakfast specialties of the cuisine of Kerala are usually made from ground rice and pulses that are steamed or fried in different ways. "Puttu", a dish of steamed rice powder is a popular breakfast. Garnished with coconut and eaten with stew, curry, or bananas, Puttu is best eaten by hand, though it can be eaten with a spoon. Traditional south Indian specialties, such as dosas, idlis, sambhar and uttapam are part of the breakfast cuisine of Kerala, which you can enjoy, when you travel on Kerala tours with Kerala Backwater. Typically Kerala breakfast dishes include "Vallepam" - a frilly 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.

Lunch and dinner are similar in the cuisine of Kerala. Rice is the staple diet of Kerala, India. A typical lunch or dinner meal would consist of rice, dal - a gravy made of pulses, various seasonal vegetables cooked with coconut and different spices for flavor, a seafood curry and a sweet dish for desert, such as "payasam or "pradaman." Sweet dishes are usually made using rice, milk, sugar or jaggery and bananas and cooked to form a thick custard like consistency.

Seafood is very popular in Kerala and consumed with every meal. Various fish including sardines, mackerel, tuna, rays and shark are eaten, as are crabs, mussels and oysters. "Karimeen" or fried fish is a popular dish as is fish curry called "Fish Moilee."

Various locally available vegetables such as tapioca, cassava and yam form part of the cuisine of Kerala. Seasonal fruit such as papaya, jackfruit, mangoes and lime are eaten at different times of year. Bananas and coconut are available year round and are a staple of the Kerala diet. The refreshing juice of the tender coconut is a delightful drink, which you can enjoy on Kerala Tours with Kerala Backwater.

Apart from meals, various snacks are part of the cuisine of Kerala. These include banana chips, murku (friend rings made from a batter of rice, pulses and spices), shakaruperi (banana chunks coated with jaggery and ginger) and various kinds of halwa (thick pudding made from flour and sugar and flavored with fruits), which are eaten during the day. The best Kerala cuisine can be had during the festival of Onam. A grand lunch called "Sadya" is the highlight of Onam day.

Enjoy tasting the delicious cuisine of Kerala while on Kerala tours with Kerala Backwater.

Two of the integral constituents of Kerala cuisine are

Bananas in Kerala Cuisine:
Bananas in Kerala are a favorite with young and old. A very nourishing fruit, mashed bananas are fed to young infants as a wholesome food. Bananas in Kerala form a part of favorite dishes such as puttu (steamed rice powder and grated coconut eaten with fresh or steamed bananas), banana halwa (a hard jellylike sweet), and shakaruperi (fried banana chunks coated with jaggery and powdered ginger).

Traditional Kerala cuisine is incomplete without the pleasant taste of Bananas in Kerala. You can taste the delicious cuisine of Kerala, of which Banana is a wholesome part, on tours of Kerala, with Kerala Backwater.

Coconuts in Kerala Cuisine:
Coconuts in Kerala are used extensively in the delicious cuisine of this state. The juice of the tender coconut is drunk fresh, the soft flesh of the tender coconut is eaten raw, and the mature flesh is grated and added to curries or added as garnishing in either fresh or fried form. Coconut oil is extracted from the dry flesh of the coconut and is used for cooking. The distinctive taste of coconut oil adds a special touch to the cuisine of Kerala. The dried and desiccated flesh of the coconut, called copra, is stored for use in cookery and as offerings in temples. A favorite drink made in Kerala is toddy or fermented palm wine, which is extracted from the coconut palm. Coconuts in Kerala are essential for the preparation of favorite dishes such as coconut chutney, avial (mixed vegetable curry) and fish moilee. A true Malayalee cannot imagine what life would be like without coconuts in Kerala. You can taste the delicious cuisine of Kerala, of which coconut is an essential element, on tours of Kerala, with Kerala Backwater.