kerela cuisine Introduction The cuisine of Kerala is linked in all its richness to the history, geography, demography and

culture of the land. Since many of Kerala's Hindus are vegetarian by religion, and because Kerala has large minorities of Muslims and Christians that are predominantly non-vegetarians, Kerala cuisine has a multitude of both vegetarian and dishes prepared using fish, poultry and meat. For over 2000 years, Kerala has been visited by ocean-goers, including traders from Greece, Rome, the eastern Mediterranean, Arab countries, and Europe. Thus, Kerala cuisine is a blend of indigenous dishes and foreign dishes adapted to Kerala tastes. Coconuts grow in abundance in Kerala, and consequently, grated coconut and coconut-milk are widely used in dishes and curries as a thickener and flavouring ingredient. In Kerala, Tapioca is known as the poor mans starch. Having been a major production area of spices for thousands of years, black pepper, cardamom, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon play a large part in its food. Spices in Kerala Cuisine The main spices used are cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, green and red peppers, cloves, garlic, cumin seeds, coriander, turmeric, etc. Historical and cultural influences Pre-independence Kerala was split into the princely states of Travancore and Kochi in the south, and the Malabar district in the north. Both Travancore and Malabar cuisine consists of a variety of vegetarian dishes using many vegetables and fruits that are not commonly used in curries elsewhere in India including plantains, bitter gourd ('paavaykka'), taro ('chena'), Colocasia ('chembu'), Ash gourd ('kumbalanga'), etc. Malabar has an array of vegetarian and nonvegetarian dishes such as pathiri, porotta, and the Kerala variant of the popular biriyani, probably from Arab lands. In addition to historical diversity, the cultural influences, particularly the large percentages of Muslims and Syrian Christians have also contributed unique dishes and styles to Kerala cuisine, especially non-vegetarian dishes. Based on the religions and topography, Keraliya paachaka shailee is sub divided into three distinct but very overlapping categories. The differences show up only in a few of the dishes which are a speciality that are made on religious occasions.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENTS: Chembu: It is a vessel made out of copper or brass used for steaming or boiling food. Now aluminium is more frequently used. Puttu kuti: It is used for steaming rice flour paste called puttu. It has a round base pot in which water is boiled, and a tall cylindrical tube above this base in which rice flour and coconut are layered and steamed.

Cheena chatti: Literally meaning Chinese pot, this is a round-bottomed vessel with two handles similar to a wok. The round bottom spreads the heat evenly through the base and into the food; which makes it ideal for sauting and deep frying. Appam chatti: This is a heavy round bottomed vessel made of iron with a lid similar to the cheena chatti. It is used to prepared stews. Kalam: It is a large rice vessel in which water, tapioca or rice is boiled. Urali: This is a wide mouthed squat vessel made of bell metal which gradually warms up and retains heat for a long time. It is multipurpose: it is used to fry and roast meat, to cook halwas and to dry roast rice flour. Meen chatti: It is a round bottomed earthen pot used to prepare fish curries.

A Typical Day Breakfast Kerala cuisine offers many delicious vegetarian breakfast dishes that are often relatively unknown outside the state. These include Puttu (made of rice powder and grated coconut, steamed in a metal or bamboo holder) and kadala (a curry made of black garbanzo beans (chana), iddali (fluffy rice pancakes), sambar, dosa and chutney, pidiyan, Idiyappam (string hoppers - also known as Noolputtu and Nool-Appam), Paal-Appam, a circular, fluffy, crisp-edged pancake made of rice flour fermented with a small amount of toddy or wine, etc. Idiyapam and Paalappam are accompanied by mutton, chicken or vegetable stew or a curry of beef or fish moilee (the most common dish is fish in a coconut based sauce). Lunch and dinner The staple food of Kerala, like most South-Indian states, is rice. Unlike other states, many people in Kerala prefer parboiled rice. Kanji (rice congee), a kind of rice porridge, is also popular. Tapioca, called kappa in Kerala, is popular in central Kerala and in the highlands, and is frequently eaten with fish curry Rice is usually consumed with one or more curries. Accompaniments with rice may include upperis (dry braised or sauted vegetables), rasam, chips, and/or buttermilk (called moru). Vegetarian dinners usually consist of multiple courses, each involving rice, one main dish (usually sambar, rasam, puli-sherry), and one or more side-dishes. Kerala cooking uses coconut oil almost exclusively, although health concerns and cost have led to coconut oil being replaced to some extent by palm oil and vegetable oil. Popular vegetarian dishes include sambar, aviyal, Kaalan, theeyal, thoran (dry curry), pulisherry (morozhichathu in Cochin and the Malabar region), olan, erisherry, pulinji, payaru (mung bean), kappa (tapioca), etc. Vegetarian dishes often consist of fresh spices that are liquefied and crushed to make a paste-like texture to dampen rice. Common non-vegetarian dishes include stew (using chicken, beef, lamb, or fish), traditional or chicken curry (Nadan Kozhi Curry), chicken fry (Kozhi Porichathu/Varuthathu), fish/chicken/mutton molly(fish or meat in light gravy), fish curry (Meen Curry), fish fry (Karimeen Porichathu/Varuthathu), lobster fry (Konchu Varuthathu), Spicy Beef Fry (Beef

Ularthiyathu), Spicy Steamed Fish (Meen Pollichathu) etc. Biriyani, a Mughal dish consists of rice cooked along with meat, onions, chillies and other spices. Sweets and Desserts The most popular example is the payasam: a preparation of milk, coconut extract, sugar, cashews, dry grapes, etc. Payasam can be made with many base constituents, including Paal payasam (made from rice), Ada payasam (with Ada, a flat form of rice), Paripu payasam (made from dal), Pazham pradhamam (made from banana), Gothambu payasam (made from wheat). Ada payasam is especially popular during the festival of Onam. Most payasams can also be consumed chilled. Jaggery or molasses is a common sweetening ingredient, although white sugar is gaining ground. Fruit, especially the small yellow bananas, are often eaten after a meal or at any time of the day. Plantains, uncooked or steamed, are popularly eaten for breakfast or tea. Pickles and other side-dishes Kerala cuisine also has a variety of pickles and chutneys, and crunchy pappadums, banana chips, jackfruit chips, kozhalappam, achappam, cheeda, and churuttu. Beverages Sambharam, a diluted buttermilk often flavoured with ginger, lime leaves, green chilli peppers etc is a common drink in kerala. Coffee and tea (both hot) drunk black, or with milk and white sugar or unrefined palm sugar (karippatti), are commonly drunk.

ONASADHYA Onam is the harvest festival and is also according to folklore the time of the year when the king Mahabali, the legendary ruler of an ancient golden era in Kerala, returns from the depths of the nether world to visit his beloved subjects. Onasadhya is the most delicious part of the grand festival called Onam. It is considered to be the most elaborate and grand meal prepared by any civilisation or cultures in the world. It's a feast which if enjoyed once is relished for years. Onasadhya is prepared on the last day of Onam, called Thiruonam. People of Kerala wish to depict that they are happy and prosperous to their dear King Mahabali whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam. Rice is the essential ingredient of this Nine Course Strictly Vegetarian Meals. All together there are 11 essential dishes which have to be prepared for Onasadhya. Number of dishes may at times also go up to 13. Onasadhya is so elaborate a meal that it is called meals, even though it is consumed in one sitting. Onasadhya is consumed with hands; there is no concept of spoon or forks.

Traditional Onasadhya meal comprises of different varieties of curries, upperies - things fried in oil, pappadams which are round crisp flour paste cakes of peculiar make, uppilittathu - pickles of various kinds, chammanthi - the chutney, payasams and prathamans or puddings of various descriptions. Fruits and digestives are also part of the meal. The food has to be served on a tender Banana leaf, laid with the end to the left. The meal is traditionally served on a mat laid on the floor. A strict order of serving the dishes one after the another is obeyed.

Cuisine of Maharashtrta The people of Maharashtra regard their food as 'Anna he poornabrahma' which means 'anna', or food is equal to 'Brahma', or the creator of the universe. In other words it means food is God, thus it should be worshiped. Maharashtrians also believe in offering their food first to the lord as a thanksgiving ritual for all that he has given. On festive occasions, some specific mithais (sweets) are offered such as Ukadiche Modak (Ganesh Chaturthi) and Satyanarayan Puja Sheera. By regions of Maharashtra The cuisine of Maharashtra is largely influenced by the landscape, the people and the crops grown in various regions. It is not only memorable for its subtle variety and strong flavours, but also because of the legendary hospitality of Maharashtrians. In affluent homes, feasts often start at mid-day and end when the sun turns towards the western horizon. The people are known for the aesthetic presentation of food, which adds extra allure to the feasts. For instance, in formal meals, it is a practice to sing sacred verses to dedicate the meal to God. The guests sit on floor rugs or red wooden seats and eat from silver or metal thalis and bowls placed on a raised 'chowrang', or a short decorative table. Rangolis or auspicious patterns of coloured powder are drawn around the thali or the chowrang. To avoid mixing flavours, each guest is given a bowl of saffron scented water to dip the fingers in before starting on the next course. There is a specific order of serving of savouries and sweets, curries and rice or rotis, and a person who does not know this is not considered to be well trained in the art of hospitality. Agarbattis spread fragrance everywhere and the host believes the satisfaction of his guests to be his true joy. Konkan The traditional crops of the Konkan region, the West coast of Maharashtra, are coconuts, mangoes, cashews, rice and a variety of pulses. The region also grows a great quantity of kokum, a sweet-sour fruit. Fish is available in vast varieties and seafood is in abundant supply. All these ingredients find place in the traditional and exotic Konkani food. Be it the mild, naturally fragrant vegetable mixture served with local papads, or a spicy-hot fish and meat curry with a coconut milk base, Konkani food is a gourmet's dream come true.

South Maharashtra This region is rich in sugarcane fields, rice farms and milk. Well-irrigated farms produce plump, juicy fruit and vegetables throughout the year. In the winter months, southern Maharashtra becomes a crucible of bubbling sugarcane juice, heated to make jaggery and sugar. This season offers a feast of coconut kernels cooked in the syrup and eaten with peanuts and fresh chana. Winter also means plenty of milk, and typical milk sweets like basundi, masala milk, shreekhand and kheer. It is a social event in these areas to go to the riverbank for a picnic or row down the river to eat young roasted corncobs (hurda) with pungent chillies and green garlic ground to make a tongue-scorching chutney. Milk, nuts, rough bhakaris of jawar, hot meat curries and chilli-spiked snacks are favourite foods here. Vidarbha Though the Konkan strip and southern Maharashtra have their own excellent cuisine, nothing can beat the exoticism and variety of the food offered by northern Maharashtra Vidarbha and Khandesh. The central Indian plateau is not as lush as the coast; therefore, coconuts and mangoes do not grow here. But Vidarbha is rich in peanuts, rice and, most of all, citrus fruit, like oranges and sweetlimes. In the winter, lorry-loads of oranges crisscross the highways, taking mountains of juicy tangerines all over the state. Vidarbha's cuisine is usually spicier than that of the coastal and southern regions. The ingredients commonly used are besan, or chickpea flour, and ground peanuts. Pune Home to the Peshwas and marathas, Pune is a historic city. The food of these communities is delicate, sparsely designed and entirely vegetarian. Puneri misal, thalipeeth, puri bhaji and dalimbi usal are not only tasty and nutritious, but inexpensive to make. These foods are available at traditional restaurants in Pune and Mumbai . Pune's restaurants have sold this sort of food for centuries and preserved the ambience of the cuisine - laid-back, simple and served with hospitality. Kolhapur Kolhapur is as famous for its spicy mutton curries as its Mahalaxmi temple or palaces. Popularly called 'Matnacha rassa', red-hot mutton dish is served with robust chappatis, a white gravy to dilute its pungency or a chilli gravy for the bravehearts experts in the art of digesting pure fire. Frankly, this curry can make the ears sing, and is not for all. Kolhapuri misal is one of the spiciest dish.It is very famous in Maharashtra. Aurangabad The cuisine of Auguranbad has been highly influenced by the North Indian method of cooking, as a result of the long Moghul rule in the region. Aurangabad's food is much like Moghlai or Hyderabadi food, with its fragrant pulaos and

biryanis. Meat cooked in fresh spices and herbs is a speciality, as are the delectable sweets. Nagpur The city of Nagpur inherits a glorious history and varied rich cultural influences and has burgeoned in recent times as a gourmet city. There are unusual snacks, curries, pulaos and sweets to pamper avid eaters. The food is generally spicy, with a good amount of ghee, and peanuts, dried copra and dal are often the basis of the flavours. Nagpur is also famous for its spicy non-veg preparations known as Saoji preparations, that are generally made by using clove-pepper paste instead of red chilly powder. Festival Delicacies Maharashtrians celebrate their festivals with characteristic fervour and food forms an integral part of the celebrations. sweetmeats are identified with particular festivals: Diwali Diwali inspires a variety mouth-watering preparations like karanji, chakli, kadboli, anarasa, shankarpali, chirota, shev, chivda and varieties of ladoos like Dink ladoo, Besan ladoo, shingdana ladoo, Rava ladoo, and so on are consumed in Maharashtrian households by children and adults alike. Diwali is considered one of the most auspicious festivals in Maharashtra. Ganesh Chaturthi The most delectable offerings during Ganesh Chaturthi are modaks, small rice or wheat flour dumplings stuffed with coconut and jaggery. They are best when served with ghee. Holi On this spring festival day, people enjoy a puran poli, a sweet, stuffed chappati made of channa dal and refined flour (maida), served warm with clarified butter or a bowl of milk or sweentened coconut milk. Other delicacies prepared exclusively for festival days are shrikand, motichur ladoo, basundi and kheer. STAPLE FOOD

As in most of the other states of India, rice is the staple food grain in Maharashtra too. Like the other coastal states, there is an enormous variety of vegetables in the regular diet and lots of fish and coconuts are used.Chicken and Mutton is more widely eaten in the central region of Maharashtra.

coconut oil is not very widely used as a cooking medium in this cuisine. Peanuts and cashew nuts are widely used in vegetables and peanut oil is the main cooking medium. Another feature is the use of kokum, a deep purple berrythat has a pleasing sweet and sour taste.