Kerala Called as the god's own country in India is famous for its views and especially for its spicy and hot foods. Its the reason why Kerala is called as the "land of Spices".
There is no sincerer love than the love of food. -George Bernard Shaw
Almost every dish prepared in Kerala has coconut and spices to flavour the local cuisine giving it a sharp pungency that is heightened with the use of tamarind, while coconut gives it its richness, absorbing some of the tongue-teasing, pepper-hot flavours. The unusual cuisine of Kerala brings to the fore the culinary expertise of the people of Kerala. Producing some of the tastiest foods on earth, the people of Kerala are gourmets with a difference.
The cuisine is very hot and spicy and offers several gastronomic opportunities. The food is generally fresh, aromatic and flavoured. Keralites are mostly fish-and-rice eating people.Kerala cuisine is a combination of Vegetables, meats and seafood flavoured with a variety of spices. Seafood's are main diet of Coastal Kerala. Whereas Vegetable is the main diet in plains of Kerala and Meat is the main course among tribal and northern Kerala.
Appart from the traditional sadhya which is the elaborate dish, which is a totally extravagant affair. Avial, an all time favourite, is a happy blend of vegetables, coconut paste and green chillies. Avial's seasoning is a spoonful of fresh coconut oil and a sprinkling of raw curry leaves, stirred in immediately after the dish is taken off the stove.
Kottucurry' is made out of cubed potatoes, onions and green chillies cooked in coconut milk with plenty of red chilli. 'Olan', a bland dish of pumpkin and red grams is prepared by cooking it in thin gravy of coconut milk.
These are the 10 Foods you must try if you are visiting Kerala
1) Puttu
Puttu is arguably the most iconic breakfast dish of Kerala. puttu is a humble yet healthy and filling breakfast that takes minimum time and effort to make. Who knew that steamed rice cake cooked with coconut shavings can be heavenly delicious until Keralites made puttu. Puttu is an extremely popular breakfast dish,not only in kerala but also in some parts of Tamilnadu and srilanka. It's usually served with kadala curry (black chickpeas/kala chana) but can also be relished with ripe bananas and grated coconut or other curries like chicken, fish and my favorite beef. It is the most commonly eaten food by people who comes to visit Kerala.
Across kerala you can find many varieties of puttu from kappa-puttu (puttu and tapioca ) to beef puttu, It would take you a life time to try all the variety of puttu.
2) Malabar Parotta with Kerala beef curry
The combination of portotta and beef is very mouth watering,people who have tried it at least once will never forget the how the fusion was. True enough, there’s no denying that the popularity of Kerala Porotta cuts across all age groups
Beef pieces cooked in freshly ground spices and sautéed with onions and the spices gives it a rich and aromatic flavour. Kerala Parotta or KP is a layered bread made out of plain flour, lots of oil and egg and is a thattu kada (road side eatery) best seller. Have you seen those shirtless guys waving dough around till it gets stretched into what resembles mini flying saucers? This art requires a lot of practice to master and since I don’t see myself mastering it anytime
3) Kappa and Beef
Kappa and beef is a wonderful dish from God’s Own Country – Kerala. It is a combination of Kappa (Yuca or tapioca) and beef. Kottayam Style Kappayerachi is very special. Cooked Tapioca and beef are simmered in a paste of fried coconut and spices, which makes this dish heavenly. You can have Kappayerachi as an entire Meal or as a Side Dish or as an evening Snack.
If you wanna taste the authentic taste of this food in my opinion don't go to any big hotels try the small street side stores or toddy shops.