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| FOOD
IN KERALA |
Rice is the staple food of the people.
The Nair, Ezhavas and such other castes are not generally
vegetarians, though some individual members may avoid
non-vegetarians. There is no great difference in the dietary
habits of the Christians and Muslims. The routine dietary
in a family consists of breakfast, lunch, Tiffin and supper.
Kanji or Rice gruel with some vegetable curry and pickles
formed the main breakfast until very recently in almost
all families, but it has now been replaced by tea, coffee
or other beverages taken along with dishes like Dosai,
Iddali, Poori,Chappathi and Uppuma. The lunch is always
substantial ,the most important items of the menu being
cooked rice of Choru, special curries and butter milk.
Parboiled rice is used here instead of Kacha or raw is
that in all culinary preparations coconut oil is freely
used instead of gingilis or mustard oil used in other
parts of India . The tiffin in the afternoon consists
of a cup of tea or coffee and some sweet or delicacy.
The supper which is taken after sunset consists either
of Kanji or similar items as for lunch. When there was
acute scarcity of rice in the wake of the Second World
war, Wheat was used as a substitute for rice. Preparations
of wheat such as Poori , Chappathi and Uppuma are becoming
popular . Owing to the poor cattle wealth of the District,
milk is used only by richer sections of the community.
Pickles of mango, cherunaranga (lime fruit ), nellikka
(the fruit of phyllanthus emblica), etc ., are popular.
The condiments generally used are turmeric, pepper, ginger,
cardamom, cloves, spices, chilli, mustard, onion, garlic
etc. Hydrogenated oils like Vanaspathi are seldom used
.
SADHYA Steaming
hot rice is served on plantain leaves accompanied by kallan
(spiced up curry made of vllarikya and ripe mangoes in
butter milk), Olan (white pumpkins, potatoes, and coconut
in a wheyey gravy), and erisseri (jackfruit in a thick
peppery gravy). The dishes are made predominantly using
gourds and pumpkins, mangoes, jackfruit, and coconuts
which are found in abundance during the season. Crisp,
fried jackfruit fingers and pappadams supplement the typical
feast, with payasam made of rice and milk, ending it on
a sweet note |
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