14 DISHES OF MALABAR CUISINE

 

Malabar cuisine is a blend of Arabia, Zamorin and Chirakkal styles of preparing food, unique to the region spanning from Kasargod to Malappuram in Kerala. In my opinion, it is heaven for a food lover, offering some of the tastiest dishes that Kerala has to offer. Using the commonly available ingredients (fish, prawns & crustaceans aplenty from the sea and rice, plantains and coconut from the land), you see a wide variety of dishes ranging from options for breakfast to tea time snacks.

So what are the dishes you should try out when visiting the Malabar region of Kerala?

Breakfast:

Appam with Egg Curry

These lacy soft hoppers are one of Kerala's most famous breakfast (and dinner) options

You could also opt for Appam with Coconut Milk (and maybe some sugar drizzled on top?)

Puttu and Kadala curry

A very popular Kerala breakfast option made with rice flour and coconut. Other options include puttu with bananas.

Main Course:

Thalassery Biryani

Every time someone says that that damn potato-filled Kolkata biryani is better than the beautifully flavoured Thalassery fish / chicken / beef horned chicken with hooves / mutton biryani, a Kerala jungle crow screams out "Blasphemy"! 

Nool puttu/ Idiyappam (String Hoppers) with Prawn fry with Egg Curry 

Do I really need to describe this?

Kozhi Porichathu

Chicken Dry Fry Malabar style is a classic blend of spices and mouth-watering flavour!

Kerala style Fish fry

Blessed with the abundance of variety, from sardines to hamour (groupers), the Malabar style of fish fry offers a well-seasoned fried version

Crab Roast

Sinfully sweet meat that is also surprisingly healthy (you can get the details and recipe here)

Sulaimani Tea

After your heavy meal of a biryani and fish fry, calm that tummy with a tea popular in Malabar with roots going all the way across to Arabia. (You can read about the amazingly kind Operation Sulaimani initiative here and get the recipe too)

Tea-time / Roadside Snacks:

Sugeen

Fried dish filled with green gram, hints of jaggery, coconut and cardamom

Arikadukka / Fried Stuffed Mussels

Quintessential Malabar roadside seafood snack - the rice dough is placed in the opened mussel shells and then steamed so that the mussels and rice stick together. The shells are then removed and the dish coated in masala paste and deep fried. 

Thattu Dosa 

The thicker, smaller dosas are a common sight at thathu kadas (roadside mobile stalls) and ironically, even in 5 star hotels today.

 Sweets:

Kalathappam

Jaggery based rice cake with very unique 'incomplete striated columns' within, having a relatively crunchy exterior and a soft interior

Chatti Pathiri

A layered pastry that can be made in both sweet and savory form.

Image Source: Nitks (You can get the recipe here)

Unnakai

Distinctively shaped dish made of plantain (which forms the outer coating) and filled with sugar, beaten egg, coconut and nuts.

Have you been to the Malabar side (Kasargod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Wynad, Palakkad) of Kerala? Did you get a chance to try out the above dishes? What were your favourites?

Author's disclaimer:

No cows were harmed during the making of this post.
No peacocks cried either.