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The Malabar coast has been a favourite pitstop among travellers, traders, and explorers since time immemorial. The Malabar region became home to countless ethnic groups and tribes over the years, who along with them, also brought some of their culinary practices. The region warmed up to various foreign foods like tapioca, and different kinds of meat and stew also became peculiar to the cuisine of the region. But what is also noteworthy about Kerala, which occupies most of the Malabar coast, is its love for local foods, and traditional understanding of the same. Food is not just for the tongue, it is also a means to nourish and nurture. Even the desserts have some medicinal properties or a purpose to fill. The prevalence of Ayurveda, and knowledge passed on to generations make Malayali cuisine exceptionally balanced and rejuvenating. Here are some healing foods and culinary practices you may not have known about.
From Backyard To Your Table
The houses in Kerala are famous for their huge backyards and gardens. Vegetables and greens are plucked straight from the garden, cooked and served. Beyond the usual suspects, you find a lot of interesting fruits and vegetables like jackfruit, elephant-foot yam or chenath, chembila or colocasia leaves that are all grown in-house. It is also not uncommon to use each and every part of the plant in making the delicacies like kuzhambu, a kind of a stew, pickles, or thoran, a class of dry stir-fry vegetable dish that is often combined with coconut. Thoran can be made of cabbage, beans, beetroots and just about anything. The banana chips that are now sold and packaged across the country, are a chai-time staple. And the bananas, you guessed it, are plucked straight from the trees, chopped up and fried in coconut oil, which is considered a much healthier substitute of refined oil.
Thoran, image by Instagram @cookwithlivya
Of Pastes And Mixes
It is also not uncommon to mix certain leaves, seeds and grains in drinks and laddoos to make a healthy and yummy concoction. Kozhukatta are rice balls or dumplings that are made with a wet mix of coconut, rice and jaggery, all of these are known to heal injuries and infuse you with energy. Veliparuthi leaves, though infamous for their bitterness, are traditionally mixed with milk, to make a healing potion that is known to help treat digestive issues. Kanji, a rice gruel, is also a common, everyday food. It is basically boiled rice served along with water it is boiled with. The mushy, fermented rice porridge is a favourite comfort food. Since it also helps boost immunity, it is a preferred dish when someone is sick, or needs to give their tummy a break after eating heavy, elaborate meals.
Eating As Per Season
With globalisation and agricultural advancement too, we are seeing many fruits and vegetables with longer shelf-life. Carrots are no longer a ‘winter food’, even mangos are available all through the season. But Indians have traditionally been firm believers of eating seasonal food, a practice that is common in some parts of Kerala still. For instance, keeping the food light and mostly vegetarian in hot, summer months. During summer, it is difficult for your tummy to break down and digest meat. That said, festive meals and wedding feasts continue to feature meals, it is the daily, homely meals that see an abundance of lentils and seasonal vegetables. Fruits like jackfruit and mangoes are consumed on a wide scale, in winters or slightly rainy months, meat comes back, and leafy vegetables like colocasia are also cooked on a large scale. Root vegetables like elephant yams are considered good for energy.
Isn't that fascinating? How many of these foods have you tried.
