Kerala

We had some squid brought around by our friendly fisher woman. She buys the catch off the boat before dawn, and it's on our table by noon. The squid was a big hit, just perfectly spiced and cooked. Squid, rice, thoran, yoghurt. I've had squid around the world, and this was the best squid meal I've ever had. There was more to the meal: Prawn curry, my sister's favourite. Fried prawns, my favourite. The thoran. Pulisheri. These names refer to the type of preparation. The actual dish prepared will vary depending on produce availability and choice.

Then the rail journey. Breakfast next day at home: Idi appam Egg curry. Prawn curry with coconut. Okra mezhukkupuratti. Small bananas afterwards.

I think that's definitely part of the intent!

That menu would put many Malayalis off, too. I wasn't sure about it, but much of it worked well. I appreciated they were trying something new. There's room for all sorts of food and all sorts of views. Not sure about the cheese, though. Brave choice.

What happens to the smaller, thinner fish in the catch? Animal feed? Cheaper brands/sold to John West? School dinners? Not being facetious.

The next day we celebrated my niece's birthday at The Papaya Cafe in Cochin. There is a strong innovative drive in Kerala cooking, and people want something new as well as something old. We love putting things together. Here's the menu. https://papayamedia.in/Papaya_Menu_Main.pdf It's mixing western/ fast food ideas with traditional processes. The atmosphere is light, modern, with an up to the minute laid back funk sound track, not too loud to talk. They have art exhibitions including an NFT show last weekend. There are art books, art and literary magazines, old National Geographics, graphic novels and novels in Malayalam and English to browse. If it all sounds unbearably hip, I have to say it all worked well together. Plantain fritters in a cumin batter with a mild chicken curry. Chilli chicken wings Shrimp tempura with a virgin passion fruit mojito standing guard. The tempura was light.and crisp, the shrimp just firm. The virgin mojitos were superb. The wife loves mojitos but I've always been a bit disdainful. These would have been killer with some rum. Licencing laws are difficult here. A beef lasagna with tapioca mash, pasta sheets, parmesan and Kerala fried beef. Brown rice, chicken, salad Brown rice, chicken, coriander, papadom strips. Fajita chicken wraps. Tapioca and beetroot crisps on the side. Kappa (tapioca) au gratin sitting over a mild chicken curry. Pidi and chicken. Pidi are rice flour gnocchi, quite dense, about 1.5cm diameter, usually served with chicken or other meat curry. This was covered in melted cheese and topped with crispy papadom pieces. Odd, but not unpleasant. This was my main. Dessert was batter fried coins of banana with a jaggery (molasses) dipping sauce topped with plain ice cream. Hard to fault. Coffee only came with Italian names. I had a machiato. Overall, a great vibe and interesting, tasty food. Nothing too hot for the spice shy. The preparations were intriguing and thought provoking. The portions were large, and we over-filled on the starters despite the waiter's warning. I would go back given the chance, but order less. Oh, for a serviceable wine list! PS a note on pricing. Rs 9950, about £ 105, $125 for 15 people.

Yes. I admonished my brother in law too, but the road signs and maps plainly say Jew Town. The history of Jewish settlement in Kerala is amazing and worth a quick search.

Uhm... I've had curry wurst in Berlin?

Bought some books, including this cookbook.

The synogogue is in Fort Kochi, famous for its spice traders. I ended up in some place which looked as though Laboratoire Garnier had decided to trade spice but prices were perfectly reasonable. Prepacked and loose. I can make out Mace, cassia and star anise here. Green cardamom, turmeric, star anise. Dried ginger, clove (?), cinnamon. This is a mixture of Ayurvedic medicinal herbs. Add coconut oil to infuse, and you can then rub it in your scalp for those with grey or thinning hair. Different preparations for different complaints. @sartoric were you asking about something similar when you did your blog in India? I bought a few herbs and spices of varying difficulty to obtain in the UK, including this: Kudam puli, or pot tamarind, a souring agent for Keralan fish curries.

Next morning we made a quick visit to Jew Town in the Fort Kochi suburb. There has apparently been Jewish settlement in Kerala since the second sacking of Jerusalem.

The crab curry was prepared with little gravy. Thoran is usually vegetables stir fried with grated coconut. Mezhukkupuratti is vegetables stir fried without coconut. Pulisheri is a mild, slightly sour yoghurt curry. Only the crab curry was hot (spicy.)

So here we are, back on the Kayal. This backwater network is used for transport, coir production, agriculture, shellfish farming, fishing and is a major draw for the tourism industry. We hired a boat with crew for a few hours and headed out. Not much to do except chat, sip a beer, watch the world go by. We stopped at a waterside fish shop to supplement lunch. We handed over the catch to the galley crew, one man from Nepal and the other from Assam, neither of whom spoke much English nor Malayalam. The tour operator reassured us they could cook in the authentic Malayali tradition. We set off After a while I popped down to see how they were doing. They seemed to be doing alright. Crab Chicken. Prawns skewered on eerkil, the stalks of the leaves of coconut palms. Karimeen fish. Chicken curry Crab curry,cooked almost dry. Crab, Thoran, Mezhukkupuratti, Pulisheri. Banana fritters and masala chai to finish. Bonus pics:

That's a mystery to me, @Duvel !

My pleasure, @TicTac The vegetarian cuisine here is very subtle and nuanced. The nonvegetarian cooking is even more varied, but tends to operate at spicy to hot levels. I appreciate the vegetarian options more now than when I was young.

Sadya is a big subject. It is the meal served at the Onam feast. Onam is Kerala's most important festival. The rules for Sadya are strict and rigid with every dish and its position on the banana leaf prescribed by tradition. There is regional variation, but no variation within the region. I won't pretend to be an expert, and even Malayalis raised in Kerala get it wrong if they are not experienced.

Here is the man of the hour,our little Kailas during his Chorunnu (rice feeding) at Guruvayur. He is having just a dab of each of the servings on his little sadya. Rice, banana, jaggery/payasum, papadom, and 4 vegetable dishes.

I fully intend to cook from it, and to report back! The limiting factor is the real-life audience for my food, who don't like it hot. The family I was born into like Asian food hot. We'll see.

We stayed at the Hotel Gokul Vanamala which is just two minutes walk from the temple at Guruvayur. The town has developed almost solely for the purpose of servicing the temple. The hotel provides only vegetarian food. So, dosa overload! First, a couple of snacks on arrival. Banana fritters in a batter with cumin seeds and turmeric. Vegetable "cutlets." Usually these would be breaded meat patties with potato, onion and spices but here, all veg. Dosa. This was mine, I think. The accompaniments are, clockwise from the top, sambar, chutney and red chammanthi. These are all coconut heavy preparations. The chutney has no resemblance to English chutney what so ever. These side dishes are for dipping, and came with each of the dosas. Masala dosa. Aloo gobi, really North iIndian but welcome to accompany Malabar parotta. This is a lighter, flakier flatbread, composed of strips of pastry pressed together, quite different to the North Indian paratha. Paper roast, or paper dosa. Look at the size! The rice batter is spread over a much larger pan, giving a bigger proportion of crisp, even brittle dosa to the fluffy central portion. Lots of surface area for the Maillard reaction, producing that golden brown delicious crust. Battura, something like a big heavy puri. North Indian again. Apparently very good!

Back in the time line, we are on pilgrimage to Guruvayur Temple. For the duration of the trip, until after the temple, we are vegetarian - a couple of days. It's a long journey so we set off at 5 in the morning, catching breakfast on the road. A friendly lobby cat. Monsoon rains. Sambar at the fore, masala dosa at the rear. Sambar is a savoury vegetable stew: moringa pods, okra, yams, tomatoes, onions. It's an absolute staple in Kerala, to accompany dosa, rice, Idli... Fine for breakfast, lunch or supper. Plain dosa. These were massive. Dosa at home are much smaller. Hotel dosas are made on a larger pan, and crisper, fattier and cruncher. Upma with kadala curry. Kadala= Black chickpeas. Upma. Rice flour with layers of ground coconut, pressure steamed in metal cylinders. In the past we used bamboo stems bound in rope instead of steel. The texture is moist and crumbly, falling apart at the poke of a finger. Three idli: steamed rice flour dumplings. Denser than upma. Fried vada, red and green chammanthi for dipping. The red was a bit spicier, and the green more fresh and vegetal.

I just bought this while in-country. The writer takes a systematic approach to different types of dishes and then variations. He pays attention to regional and communal variations without getting bogged down. The recipes are approachable and the ingredient lists are achievable in any large UK city. There are a few line drawings, but no photographs. I have no idea about the availability of this book abroad. I am so looking forward to cooking from this when I get back to England.

The brand is Chaizup. Rs 10 a packet. We'll be keeping an eye out.

I am sure you are right, @KennethT I share your view of what constitutes a biriyani, but there is a lot of variation in what people think. The duration of the steaming you mention varies tremendously. If you're not pedantic, layered rice with chicken in an appropriately spiced gravy steamed through could be called a biriyani. In any case, it tasted fresh, and 6 hours later my digestive system is reporting no difficulties, so I'm happy. The rice used is a shorter grain than basmati. That's quite a specialist Kerala biriyani choice. Incidentally, no spoon was provided. I had one available in hand luggage. Hand hygiene can be difficult on the train.

I'm going to break continuity for a moment. It's been a busy few days and I will catch up when I have time, but I thought a live report would be fun. I'm on a train journey from Ernakulam/Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram. I've bravely ordered chicken biryani from a vendor on the train. along with an altogether less risky cup of tea. The biriyani is nothing tremendous, but a tasty, hot and filling meal. A chicken wing with the flat and the drumstick, in a biriyani flavoured sauce, with plenty of rice if you are actually hungry. Not photogenic, but for Rs 120, hard to fault. The tea was an instant, powdered tea. The vendor pictured above is carrying hot water in that polished vessel, which we thought would have contained brewed tea. We all agreed it was astonishingly good, with a rich cardamom flavour and aroma we never expected. Not bad, again, for Rs 20.

They were very small, but were gutted and washed before being dredged in seasoning to be fried.