The kitchensof Kerala.
Kerala is one narrow coast with many kitchens, many faiths and a thousand ways to cook rice. Here is the map behind our menu.
From Malabar to Travancore
Kerala is a narrow strip of coast between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, but on the plate it is a whole continent. Traders, pilgrims, kings and faiths have cooked here for thousands of years. Take the trip from north to south.
Kannur & Kasaragod
The far north
Where Kerala meets the Karnataka coast. Thalassery gave the country its famous biryani, Kannur its theyyam rituals, and Kasaragod brings a hint of Tulu cooking. Expect stuffed mussels, fiery fish curries and masalas ground with fresh coconut.
Kozhikode & Malappuram
The Mappila kitchen
Calicut is the port where Vasco da Gama landed in 1498, and the spice trade with Arabia still shapes the food. The Mappila kitchen (of Malabar's Muslim community) runs on dum biryani, paper-thin pathiri, stuffed chicken, halwa and spiced sulaimani tea.
On our menu right now
Palakkad
Rice and Tamil influence
Here the Western Ghats open into the Palakkad Gap and Tamil culture flows in. The fields grow the red matta rice that anchors the sadya. The Palakkad Iyer kitchen is a fully vegetarian masterclass in tamarind, coconut and jaggery: sambar, kootu, pulissery and mor kuzhambu.
On our menu right now
Thrissur
Pooram and feasts
Kerala's cultural capital and home of the Thrissur Pooram, when decorated elephants and drum ensembles fill the city. The district also holds ancient Muziris, where traders, Christians, Muslims and Jews arrived early. The table reflects it: temple-style sadya, Syrian Christian beef fry and the soft rice dumplings called pidi.
On our menu right now
Kochi & Ernakulam
A harbour of influences
Arabs, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, British and a Jewish community all left a mark on Kochi. You can taste it in fish molee in coconut milk, in the Fort Kochi bakeries with their cutlets and puffs, and in the catch from the Chinese fishing nets.
On our menu right now
Kuttanad & Kottayam
Water, toddy and Nasrani cooking
Rice paddies lie below sea level between canals. Expect karimeen (pearl spot) in banana leaf, duck curry and Kottayam fish curry soured with kudampuli. In the toddy shops, kappa (tapioca) comes with a fiery fish curry. Syrian Christian (Nasrani) cooking is at its richest here: appam with stew, roasts with coconut slices.
Idukki & Wayanad
Spice gardens and forest kitchens
Cardamom, pepper, coffee and tea grow in these hills, and the food is just as wild. Adivasi kitchens cook with bamboo rice, wild honey, tubers and millets. Wayanad gives us the fragrant gandhakasala rice.
Travancore
The grand sadya
Home of the grand sadya on a banana leaf: sambar, avial, olan, pachadi, parippu with ghee and payasam. Temples serve legendary offerings like Ambalapuzha's palpayasam, Aranmula feeds boat-race pilgrims with its valla sadya, Kollam is known for cashews, and the south adds ulli theeyal and puttu with kadala.
On our menu right now
Cultures at the table
Kerala's food doesn't belong to one community. It is a long conversation between many.
Temple & sadya
Hindu kitchens, from Nair households to Namboothiri temple kitchens: vegetarian feasts on a banana leaf, with twenty-plus dishes at Onam and Vishu.
Syrian Christians
One of the oldest Christian communities in the world. Their kitchen gave us appam with stew, fish molee, duck roast and beef with coconut slices, especially at Easter and Christmas.
Mappila Muslims
From centuries of trade with Arabia: dum biryani, pathiri, unnakkaya, chatti pathiri, and a long table of snacks to break the fast at Ramadan.
Coastal & fishing communities
The catch of the day, soured with kudampuli, simmered in coconut milk or fried crisp. Fish is close to a staple in Kerala.
Palakkad Iyers
Tamil Brahmin kitchens of the Palakkad valley: vegetarian, built on tamarind, coconut and jaggery, with dishes like kootu and mor kuzhambu.
Adivasi kitchens
In the hills of Wayanad and Idukki: bamboo rice, millets, root tubers and forest honey, cooked with whatever the season gives.
Kochi's Jewish community
One of India's oldest Jewish communities settled in Kochi. Its festive cooking is part of the city's mix of coconut, spice and baking.
Traders & seafarers
Arabs, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and British came for the pepper. The Portuguese brought chilli, cashew and cassava, now impossible to imagine in Kerala's cooking.
Where Kerala eats
Some of the best food never comes from a restaurant.
Chaya kada
The corner tea shop: milky tea, the newspaper, conversation and a parippu vada on the side.
Thattukada
Tin roadside stalls that stay open late: porotta and beef, omelettes, dosa.
Kallu shappu
Toddy shops where kappa and fiery fish curry are shared round a table. Loud and delicious.
Bakery
Kerala's bakeries are snack shops: vegetable cutlets, puffs, rolls and sweet buns.
Oonu
The rice lunch on a leaf with thoran, sambar, pickle and papadam.