Menu
Appam-8
Chicken biriyani- 130
Beef biriyani- 130
Kappa (Tapioca)- 40
Kappa Biriyani -130 (beef)
-150 (chicken)
Idiyappam (string hoppers)- 8
Chappatti- 10
Parotta- 10
Coconut shell Puttu- 20
Mackerel with chilli )90-120
Mackerel with grated coconut )
Kera fish with chilli- 100-130
Karimeen (Kingfish) Vattattharachathu curry- AS PER SIZE
Beef roast (fry)- 120
Chicken Vattawuttharachathu - 130
Chicken Roast- 150
Chicken Fry- 140
Chicken Varattiyathu (Fry)- 160
Duck Curry- 170
Poti Fry- 80
………………..
This is the Menu board from a restaurant called Erivum Puliyum, literally “Heat and Sour.” It refers to the taste of chillies and tamarind, essential in Kerala cooking and especially for fish. We walked in at 9 PM needing to order a take-away for 15 people, WhatsApped the photo to our group and the restaurant delivered the food in 40 minutes. The place is a favourite of my sister’s when she is in Cochin. It’s rough and ready but very popular, and the menu shows what can be had for a very modest outlay. The current exchange rate is 83 rupees to the pound sterling, 64 rupees to the US dollar. But it’s difficult to access without the language.
Kappa Biriyani uses tapioca instead of rice. Innovation continues in surprising ways! This dish has taken off big time in Kerala recently, and is completely new to me. Nice, but whereas rice biriyani has a resonance of the Mughal Court, kappa biriyani leans towards the toddy shop.
Varattiyathu, roast, fry are somewhat interchangeable terms in cooking and not necessarily related to what you might expect. Anywhere from deep-fried to slow cooked in a dry sauce would fall in that spectrum. Some of the dishes refer to “with chillies” or “with coconut.” Since both are present in just about everything you can eat in Kerala, I guess this means “with even more!”
Poti Fry- I had no idea. Googling leads to Boti Fry, lamb gizzards apparently. Sadly, I missed the opportunity.
Google tells me Kera is Amberjack.
Karimeen is what I always thought translated to Kingfish, but google offers Pearl Spot or Green Chromide.
You can see the prominence of beef on the menu. The owner says there’s been some trouble with the recent rise of Hindu fundamentalists who object to the sale of beef. In Kerala there’s never been a distinction between beef and buffalo- you either ate it or you didn’t, and we didn’t interfere with other people’s choices. Now, as elsewhere in India, we are seeing restaurants advertising buffalo to try and avoid the ire of religious types. I’m not saying it was a paradise of tolerance and mutual respect, but that was certainly how we saw ourselves. This shift is also reflected in the confused and confusing approach to getting alcohol in Kerala. Suffice to say, at present it is not a dry state, but you will have difficulty buying a legal drink on public holidays and on the first day of every month. It’s all political.
Talking of politics; no pics of the food, so here’s a picture of Noam Chomsky at a place where we ate.
Future installments will not be so text-heavy.
