BEYOND CURRY- A FINEDINING APPROACH TO GODS OWN CUISINE - KERALA

a finedining approach to gods own cuisine Kerala

‘Beyond curry’ Finedining Indian cuisine series

Introduction As a proud Indian and being a chef I have a moral duty to give back what I got from my gurus-teachers, through sharing my knowledge to my juniors.

So that they don’t have to start from where I started rather from where I reached. That will help my fellow chefs to conquer more heights for the benefit of Indian cuisine.

As far as I am concerned Indian Cuisine has much more to offer than what it is perceived internationally.

There is no other country in the world which is categorised as independent ruling states through the language people speak.

Each state has its own customs, heritage and culinary richness.

I like to share few good recipes from my mother, show our chefs the way to plate Indian chefs in fine dining concept without altering or adapting fusion cuisine to bring presentation styles We have the best cooking concepts, proper unique meal in all intervals of day whether its breakfast, lunch or dinner no other cuisine in the world can promise this.

Each Indian state has its own culinary heritage.as a first step I discuss with you my home state - Kerala.

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Kerala cuisine is a hidden gem of Indian culinary heritage.

Kerala, a southern state of India. Advertised by state tourism as gods own country for its natural beauty.When considering international recognition for Indian cuisine Kerala has not yet received its deserved place.

As a chef I am proud to represent my homeland, In this book the basic recipes are preserved to its complete origin from my mother even its presented in its luxurious way.

This book is done as a chef-learning diary than normal cookbooks; all the recipes are tested and tried in my home kitchen Through the book, I like to share more than Kerala and its cuisine.

We will discuss food designing, plating concept, restaurant business and being a restaurant owner. “Dear chefs always aim to own and cook in your restaurant, While working for others�

Bobby.r.g

Work Done for www.finediningindian.com

All contents copyright 2013 by bobby retnakumar geetha. All rights reserved. No part of this document or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of publisher.

Limit of liability and disclaimer of warranty: the publisher has used its best efforts in preparing this book, and the information provided herein is provided "as is." bobby retnakumar geetha. Makes no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Copyright Š 2013 bobby retnakumar geetha All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-291-39516-7

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Dedication

I dedicate the effort to my father late Shri. Padmanabha Pillai Retnakumar .

Contents

Acknowledgment 8 Kerala and it’s amazing cuisine 11 Kerala cuisine cooking ingredients 17 Cooking, preserving methods in Kerala

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Utensils used in Kerala home cooking

34

Food designing concept

37

Starting your own Restaurant 48 Recipe for cooking Birds 54 Recipes for cooking seafood 69 Recipes for cooking meat

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Recipe for cooking vegetable

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Recipe for cooking staples 105 Recipe for Pickle & condiments 123 Our online Internet pages

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Acknowledgment My sincere thanks to my wife Supriya in providing the necessary research and editorial support .my mother Geetha having inspired me to cooking through her culinary skills in early childhood days. My brother Arun for his love and support My heartfelt respect to teachers from my school , culinary instructors from college days IHM Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. My senior chefs in all levels, from whom I gained my cooking knowledge. My friends in all stages of my life, I remember all their contributions and support in my career To name a few Ms. padmakumari, chef rajshekar, chef pradosh pai, chef sony haq, chef ivan Thomas, mr. premchand, chef natrajan kulandai, chef arzooman irani, chef philippe maratier, chef Robert cauchi, chef andy brookes, chef kunj kashyap, chef vincent menager.

I tried to write a diary of my cooking cocepts with authentic recipes and merging with fine dining presentation.

This book is done completely at my home kitchen during my free times from my busy hotel kitchen work pattern.

All the publishing work I wanted to try myself to learn the art of self-publishing and impart the experience to my colleagues.

Certainly, I had my wife’s support. I would love to prove a point that all budding chefs has their own individuality , keep encouraging your own styles , write down your experiments one day you can also publish your own cook book. The book i believe is one of my life’s purposes.

To bring a change in the way we cook and present Indian food. In order to start with i decided to optimize on the

flavoursome Kerala cuisine my home cuisine.Then on later stages research on other great Indian cuisine revive their cooking potentials to the world one by one.

We have a great cuisine and its amazing regional variations. we do not have to copy other cuisines in order to achieve modernity. Our cooking methods are so strong and diverse when thought fully used for the benefit of each ingredient used; Indian cuisine is the best in all standards modern world kitchen.

I remember during my job search period.A question has been put forward to me on my campus interview for management trainee position in one of the prestigious hotel company in India ‘why you want to specialize in Indian cuisine and what you want to do’.

The answer got me my first job.My response was like this, ‘I strongly believe Indian cuisine is the only cuisine you cannot get the original taste without experiencing the authentic dish, and cannot replicate by reading the recipe. The changes i want to bring to Indian cuisine are simple cooking methods, recipe and positive eating habits’.

Through the book I like to influence thoughts of my great Indian chefs in presenting dishes to an international platform were chefs in other countries should get inspired from our cuisine. ‘ If I can inspire one of you to come up with a culinary manual of your own cooking style ’ then my objective is full filled With great regards and respect Bobby. R. G Page | 9

About finediningindian.com

Finediningindian.com is created to represent Fine dining Indian cuisine to world as a pioneer & strong contender to be one of the top cuisines in the world. With an intention in supporting great innovations in Indian cooking to get a worldwide popularity; We plan to achieve this by developing new cooking techniques & positive eating habits through Indian cuisine.

All these developments we will bring forward by keeping all authenticity of our great cuisine and cultural integration with it.

Our vision To be the leader in Inspiring, developing new generation Indian Cuisine and chefs

Kerala - Gods Own Country ‘Kerala’ or ‘keralam’ an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India.

Thiruvanthapuram is the state capital. Malayalam is the language-spoken language, English also understood by majority of keralites.

Kerala is India’s top tourist destination and is famous for beaches, backwaters, cuisine, hill resorts, yoga, Ayurveda treatments and many more. Kerala tourism board branded the state as ‘gods own country’ which lives up to the brand image and now one of the best destination in Asia pacific Kerala may not be popular around the globe, but the world kitchens cannot be complete without spices exported from India.

Kerala's history is closely linked with its commerce, which until recent times revolved around its spice trade.

Celebrated as the spice coast of India, ancient Kerala played host to travellers and traders from across the world including the Greeks, romans, Arabs, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, French and the British. Almost all of them have left their imprint on this land in some form or the other architecture, cuisine, literature.

Kerala is a land of multicultural and religious community were each community in the state celebrate their own festivals.

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There are some festivals unique to the state Kerala. Most important of them are ‘onam’ and ‘vishu’.

Onam is a traditional harvest festival of Kerala. This falls in the month of august to September. The festival is meant to celebrate the annual home coming of the king mahabali.

Festival happens for ten days and colourful carpet will be laid in front of every house during these days. There will be a traditional meal called ‘sadhya’ is served during this time, especially on the 9th and 10th day. Meal will be served in the traditional way in banana leaf with around 20 to 28 dishes.

Vishu is the traditional new year day of the state and is another traditional festival occasion for keala. Vishu has a lot of significance for Hindus as vishu marks the astronomical new year. People believe that vishu is the one of the festival, which brings prosperity and calm to the life.

This festival falls in the month of April and is considered the most auspicious day of the year.

Even on this day, a traditional meal ‘sadhya’ is prepared by the women of the house and the whole family will have the lunch together.

Kerala cuisine Kerala food is moderately spicy in nature, but most flavoursome, its recipes promotes locally grown ingredients for cooking.

Kerala is the home of ‘kera’ known as coconut tree and grows plenty in Kerala. Coconut is the base for many dishes and is one of the ingredients, which use in almost every dish in Kerala.

Coconut oil is used for cooking and the oil is extracted from the dried coconut ‘kopra’. Grated coconut and coconut milk are widely used in dishes for thickening and flavouring.

Rice and tapioca (cassava) is the most common food of Kerala.

Varieties of main dishes are made with these two. Seafood is also one of the very famous foods. Seafood such as fish, crabs, shellfish, lobsters and prawns are used for everyday cooking.

Sardine and mackerel are the variety of fish used common.

There different meat varieties used in Kerala kitchens includes poultry, red meats and few game birds also (now it is restricted by law).

Kerala breakfast shows a rich variety. Most of the breakfast dishes are made from rice flour. Some of the breakfast dishes are appam, idiyappam, idli, dosa and puttu. Along with this, some of the side dishes are made with coconut.

For lunch and dinner, the main dish is boiled rice. Along with this, there will be one or more curries and side dishes. There are vegetarian and non-vegetarian curries and side dishes.

Vegetarians consist of different varieties.

Popular vegetarian dishes are sambar, rasam, aviyal, kaalan, olan, erisherry, pulisherry, thoran, pachadi, kichadi etc.

Food in Kerala is generally steamed and a light tempering.

Most of the dishes are spicy dishes. Non-vegetarian dishes include chicken, fish and lamb. Curry, fry and ullarthu are made from these varieties.

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Now a day’s Kerala people are having chapattis or some food made of wheat especially for dinner. Grains like ‘ragi’ and ‘millet’ is common in some parts of south India.

Onasadhya Kerala is famous for its traditional banquet called ‘sadhya’. It is a vegetarian meal served with boiled rice as main dish and a lot more varieties of side dishes.

This traditional meal is prepared especially during special occasions and festivals and served in a banana leaf.

Kerala cuisine and eating habits of people is closely related to its festival especially onam. A proper sadhya is the traditional vegetarian feast of Kerala. Usually served as lunch, it consists of par boiled pink rice, side dishes, savouries, pickles and desserts spread out on a plantain leaf. Tradition insists that the tapering end of the leaf points to the left of the seated guest.

Rice is served on the lower half of the leaf. The feast begins with the serving of parippu, a lentil preparation made of small gram and ghee.

The second course is sambar, the famous south Indian vegetable stew in which any available combination of vegetables is boiled in a gravy of crushed lentils, onions, chillies, coriander and turmeric and with a pinch of asafoetida.

Avial, an unavoidable side dish is a blend of vegetables, coconut paste and green chillies Some of the other important side dishes include thoran, and olan.

Thoran can be minced string beans, cabbage, radish or grams, mixed with grated coconut and sautĂŠed with a dash of red chillies and turmeric powder.

Olan is a bland dish of pumpkin and red grams cooked in thin gravy of coconut milk.

The savouries include upperi, poppadum, ginger pickle, pachadi and kichadi. Upperi is deep fried banana chips.

Poppadum’s are fried creamy yellow, sun-dried wafer of black gram flour.

The ginger pickle is rich brown, hot and sweet ginger chutney while the kichadi consists of sliced and sautĂŠed cucumber or ladies finger in curd, seasoned with mustard, red chillies and curry leaves in coconut oil. Pickles are usually mango and lime.

Desserts are served mid-way through the meal. The payasam is a thick fluid dish of sweet brown molasses, coconut milk and spices, garnished with cashew nuts and raisins.

There could be a succession of payasams, such as the palada pradhaman and parippu pradhaman. pazham, a ripe small golden yellow plantain, is usually had along with the payasams.

After the payasams, rice is served once more with the spicy rasam.

Rasam is a mixture of chilly and peppercorn powders boiled in diluted tamarind juice.

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Kaalan, seasoned buttermilk with turmeric powder and green chillies, and plain sour buttermilk that comes salted and with chopped green chillies and ginger, are served before the feast is finally wound up.

Seasons of Kerala Constantly pleasant and equable climate throughout the year, Kerala is a tropical land with the coast running down its entire length and the western Ghats forming a protective barrier against the dry winds from up north.

The monsoons (june-september & october-november) and summer (February-may) are the seasons markedly experienced here, while winter is only a slight drop in temperature from the normal range of 28-320c.

Seasons has a great impact in farming community of Kerala, Almost 30 years back the main occupation of Kerala was farming which includes rice, coconut, spices, tapioca, banana and many tropical fruits, vegetables

Kerala Cuisine Ingredients Introduction

The picture is mainly I used in recipes given in book Spices form an Integral part of Kerala cooking.

Spices are defined as a strong flavoured and aromatic substance obtained from plant in seed, leaf, bud or flower form.

In ancient times, spices were as precious as gold and diamond.

India is one country in the world produce many kinds of spices and in that most quality spices come from Kerala.

Spices are considered good for our taste buds and health. The commonly used spices are cumin, green chilli, coriander, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, pepper, dried red chilli, curry leaf, coriander leaf, ginger, garlic, mustard seeds and asafoetida.

Wide variety of spices are grown and consumed in Kerala.

Pepper Pepper has been grown and used in Indian cuisine specifically in Kerala cuisine since 2000BC, Europeans and westerners came to Indian only due to the presence of pepper. Pepper is considered the Black gold. India and Vietnam are the largest producers of pepper.

Pepper mainly comes in two form Black and white, Black is produced by lightly cooking the unripen pepper with skin and drying. White is seed of pepper by removing the skin.

Cardamom Cardamom the most recognised sweet spice, grown on hillside of Kerala. World’s third most expensive spice by weight, outstripped in terms of its market value by only saffron and vanilla. Cardamom has a strong, unique taste, with an intensely aromatic, resinous fragrance.

Black cardamom has a distinctly more Smokey, though not bitter, aroma with a coolness some consider similar to mint.

Green cardamom is one of the most expensive spices by weight, but little is needed to impart the flavour.

Cardamom is best stored in pod form because once the seeds are exposed or ground they quickly lose their flavour.

Cardamom belongs to the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Today, the majority of cardamom is still grown in southern India; Elettaria pods are light green while Amomum pods are larger

Cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice which is very important in any Kerala meat preparation and spice blend ‘garam masala’ which is different to one used in north India .

It’s a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is cultivated on the hills of Kerala, it is called "karuvapatta" (Malayalam) or "dalchini" (Hindi), Its flavour is due to an aromatic essential oil, that makes up 0.5% to 1% of its composition.

This oil is prepared by roughly pounding the bark, macerating it in seawater, and then quickly distilling the whole. Cinnamon has been proposed for use as an insect repellent.

Cloves Cloves are grown in mountain areas of Kerala .Cloves are used in cooking either completely or in a ground form, but as they are extremely strong, they are used sparingly.

Cloves are widely used in Ayurveda medicine it is considered to have the effect of increasing heat in system, hence the difference of usage by region and season. In south Indian cuisine, it is used extensively in biryani along with other spices to flavour the rice.

Cloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae. The clove tree is an evergreen that grows to a height ranging from 8–12 m, having large leaves and reddish brown flowers in numerous groups of terminal clusters.

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The flower buds are at first of a pale colour and gradually become green, after which they develop into a bright red, when they are ready for collecting.

Cloves are harvested when 1.5–2 cm long, and consist of a long calyx, terminating in four spreading sepals, and four unopened petals which form a small ball in the centre.

Fenugreek Fenugreek is cube shaped small yellow seeds of fenugreek plant. Both its seeds and plant used for cooking. Fenugreek when sautĂŠed in oil produced excellent fragrant which is common to Indian curries. In Kerala cuisine fenugreek seeds are are mainly used than the plants. Most of Kerala fish dishes are enriched with the flavour of fenugreek seeds. That has the quality of masking unpleasant fishy smell.

Mustard seeds Widely used for the preparation of every dishes in Kerala.

Mustard seeds are the small round seeds of various mustard plants.The seeds are usually about 1 or 2 mm in diameter.

There are three main varieties of mustard. mustard seeds grow well in temperate regions. Mustard is considered to be a rich source of oil and protein. Seeds are available as whole seeds, split seeds or powder and paste.

It’s Ideal to store mustard seeds in a clean and dry container or jar because it forms clumps when wet.

Mustard is used in the tempering of spices. The procedure of heating oil and dropping mustard seeds and cooking them until they pop gives many dishes a distinctive flavour.

Mustard is really a preservative and they are used for pickling in most of Kerala households.

Chillies There is rarely any Kerala food without chillies in it. Chillies are fruits of the capsicum species. They are cultivated mainly in tropical and sub-tropical countries.

India is the largest producer and exporter of chillies. Ripe chillies, which are red in colour, are picked from the plant and dried in the sun.

Fresh unripe chilli comes in various shades of green and they are better for flavour. Both red and green chillies come from the same plant, it is just that the peppers change colour as they ripen even further and they have a strong aroma.Chillies are available fresh, dried, powdered and flaked.

Chillies have a higher level of vitamin a and c. Chillies add more taste and flavour to the main dish.

Curry leaf Curry leaf come from a beautiful tree called curry tree which grows well in tropical climate and which is native to India.

Curry leaf is present in almost each dish in Kerala. As the tree is widely grown the leaf cost cheap price. Curry leaves are available fresh and dried.

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They are dropped into hot oil that is poured on top of many dishes to add flavour. It lends its lingering aroma to a dish but normally not eaten by people.

Tamarind Tamarind tree is an evergreen, which is long lived, medium growth bushy tree. Tamarind tree fruit is called tamarind pod.

It is crescent shape and brown with a thin brittle shell. It contains a fleshy pulp. When it is matured, the flesh is coloured brown or reddish brown. Within this pulp, there is a seed, which is dark brown in colour.

The pulp is used as flavouring for its sweet, sour taste and is said to be high in acid, sugar, vitamin b and calcium. It is available as a pressed fibrous slab or concentrates paste.

Tamarind extract is used in some of the dishes, especially in fish curries to give a sweet and sour flavour to the curry.

Tamarind slabs and paste store well and will last for up to a year.

Kokum kokum is native to India and is endemic to the western coastal regions of south India.Kokum tree is of tropical evergreen origin.it is a sour fruit that resembles tamarind.

Kokum is deep purple in colour when ripe and have large seeds.

Fruits are pickled when ripe, the rind is then removed and soaked repeatedly in the juice of the pulp and then dried under the sun. The rind is used as the flavouring for food.

It has a sweet and sour taste and gives some kind of purple colour to the food.

Kokum are used to give sour taste to fish curries.

It enhances coconut-based curries and added to some vegetable preparations and pickles as well. Kokum is available as a dried rind or fruit. Deeper the colour, better the kokum. If stored in an airtight container, it may last up to a year.

Tapioca Tapioca is fully grown the root of the tapioca plant. The name derived from the ‘cassava’ or ‘yuca’ plant. It is often used to thicken soups and sweeten the flavour of the food.

Kerala is one of the few states in India, which use tapioca as staple food. Tapioca is gluten free and almost completely protein free.

In Kerala, tapioca is the best combination meal along with a spicy fish curry. I have provided the recipe in last chapter Kerala banana The two most famous Kerala banana varieties are Plantain (large yellow banana) and red banana.

Red is a variety of banana with reddish-purple skin and is smaller than other bananas. When comparing to other bananas the red banana is sweeter and softer. Redder the fruit the more taste.

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It is higher in vitamin c. Red bananas are eaten in the same way as yellow bananas and they are available year round.

Plantain is used in many forms in Kerala cuisine .

The famous Kerala chip is made from plantain. Numerous sweets and savouries also made from plantain. Plantain contains very little beta-carotene.

The vitamin C content of plantain is very similar to those of sweet potato, cassava and potato, but the concentration may vary with the crop, maturity at harvest, soil, and farming conditions.

An average plantain has about 220 calories and is a good source of potassium and dietary fibre Raw plantain is good for making Crisps.

Banana Flower and stem flower is only taken after the banana had grown to its full volume often used in Kerala cooking as a source for main vegetarian dish enriched with high national value.

Banana stem is the inner most part which is white in colour looks similar to palm heart also treated same as banana flower.

Both will oxidise faster if not kept in water after cutting

Brown rice Also termed as part milled rice and is a whole, natural grain.

Brown rice is nutritious than white rice. This rice is now more expensive because of its low supply and difficult of storage.

Brown rice has a shelf life of approximately six to seven months.

In Kerala, most of the families are using brown rice and rice is the staple food of Kerala.

Colacasia (chembu) A tuber were both leaves and root is used for cooking. The plant is called elephant ears due to the similarity over elephant ear due to its large size.

Colacasia is an Integral Part of ‘Sambar’ the very famous Kerala Dish that is necessary in all Vegetarian feasts. colacasia is high starch content and has a sticky nature . Good for sautĂŠing , stir frying with an addition of grated coconut Yam (Chena) Another tuber, which is very common in Kerala, its stem and root, is used for cooking. Unlike colacasia, the root is hard and requires long cooking. Yam is best for stewing . it can be used for stir-frying also but a pre-cooking is advised

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Coconut The name Kerala is originated from ‘ kera’ is referred to coconut tree, and coconut is termed as ‘nalikeram’.the Kerala cooking will not be completed without coconut .

Coconut has been used mainly in three forms grated coconut, coconut milk and coconut oil .

The Kerala dishes will not be original if you are not using coconut oil in cooking. According to the studies made by coconut board of Indian government Asafoetida Asafoetida is extracted from the root of perineal plant, which is native to Afghanistan and imported to India.

The plant is a species of ferula, looks similar to fennel.

Asafoetida mainly sold in two forms solid cake and powdered.

In olden days, Kerala household used solid asafoetida diluted in lukewarm water. Raw flavour of asafoetida is unpleasant, but when heated with oil or ghee(clarified butter) it gives a very appetizing flavour.

Asafoetida has great medicinal values it aids digestion and many curing properties that have been proved scientifically.

Jackfruit Jackfruit is the largest tree born fruit, grown extensively on tropical climate region. Archaeological surveys in Indian had found jackfruit cultivation back 3000 t0 6000 years back.

In Kerala cuisine jackfruit also used with its own respected place. Jackfruit is used both in its raw and ripened form. The flesh of the jackfruit is starchy and fibrous, and is a source of dietary fibre.

The flavour is similar to a tart banana. Varieties are distinguished according to the characteristics of the fruits' flesh.

Drumstick Drumstick is taken from drumstick tree. It is an exceptional nutritious vegetable tree with a variety of potential uses.

Drumstick is the most commonly used vegetable in Kerala.

It is a main ingredient to make curries and side dishes like ‘Sambar’, ‘Theeyal’ and ‘Thoran’. The leaf from the tree is full of nutritional value also said to have vitamin-C. Leaves are cooked and used like spinach.

Drumstick and its leaves are available plenty in Kerala and there will at least one tree in almost every house in Kerala.

Drumstick and leaves are helpful in increasing breast milk in the breast feeding months. Drumstick is believed to have great aphrodisiac properties.

Toddy Toddy is an alcoholic beverage taken from the sap of coconut tree or palm tree . It is a traditional beverage of Kerala traces goes to history.

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Toddy is collected in a mud pot from the unbloomed flower pod of coconut or palm tree. The pot is taken in the morning or evening, where morning is sweet and evening tend to more in alcoholic presence since it is allowed to ferment.

Toddy is traditional used to ferment rice to make appam (hoppers).Now yeast is used instead.

Cooking Oils used in Kerala cuisine Coconut oil Coconut oil edible oil extracted from the dried coconuts.

Coconut oil is commonly used in cooking. It gives flavour to the dishes. Coconut oil has a smoking point of 138c.

Coconut oil has a fairly long shelf life of about 2 years because of its natural saturated fat content. Coconut is composed mainly of medium chain fatty acids or medium chain triglycerides that are burned almost immediately to produce energy for the body. They are not converted into body fat or cholesterol to the degree other fats are.

Coconut oil, has low polyunsaturated fatty acid, is very stable and resistant to oxidation. Since coconut oil is naturally saturated, it does not need hydrogenation, thereby considerably reducing the chances of high blood cholesterol and high lowdensity lipo proteins .Coconut oil possesses a distinct short and medium chain fatty acid composition.

Over 70% of the saturated fatty acids present in coconut oil are short and medium chain containing less than 12 carbon atoms. The medium chain fatty acids account for 63.5% of the total fatty acids.

Coconut oil being naturally saturated oil does not contain any trans-fat. Virgin coconut oil is said to be a major source of lauric acid and vitamin e.it helps in the absorption of fatsoluble Vitamins a, d, e and k.

Mustard Oil Mustard oil is extracted from mustard seeds. The oil can be extracted from black, brown and white mustards. In Kerala mustard oil often used for pickling.

The oil is heated before cooking to reduce the strong smell and taste. Mustard seeds have high levels of Omega-3. Mustard oil is also used for Ayurveda massages to improve blood circulation.

Gingley Oil Gingelly oil is also known as Sesame oil. It is an edible vegetable oil extracted from sesame seeds. Gingelly oil is also used in some of the Kerala cuisine such as Dosa, Idly etc‌ This oil is perfect for deep-frying and can be used for stir frying meats and vegetables. Hindus use gingelly oil to light oil lamps for God. Gingelly oil is a source of vitamin.

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Cooking & Preserving Methods in Kerala cuisine Kerala cuisine is blessed with some fantastic cooking methods that have been carefully designed in maximum utilization of natural resources. I have clubbed our traditional cooking methods as per the definition of international cooking styles.

Therefore, I may not use traditional wording but the result is same as the method internationally.Kerala cuisine has a great tradition of vegetarian cuisine related to Hinduism long years back. Most of the vegetarian dishes are slow cooked and adapt boiling, stewing or combined form of these methods.

Along with influence of other Non-Hindu Communities in Kerala, some excellent Non-vegetarian recipes came to exist.

The traders who came to Kerala for spice trade bought together their cooking tradition and cooking methods.Kerala cuisine boasts traditional preserving method of food ingredients by Pickling and drying. Pickles are first dish served on the banana leaf for ‘Sadhya’.

Some common cooking methods still exist are Stewing Stewing is method of cooking all ingredients of a dish together in a liquid medium over low heat for a longer period. In Kerala cuisine, most of the curries are made in this style. The cooking period depends on numerous factors such as cuts of meat, quality of the ingredient , cooking equipment and method adopted . Vegetables like carrot, potato, green peas and tomatoes are the main ingredients for a stew.

In Kerala, most of the stewing curries are thickened naturally either by potato used in the stew or by reducing then finishing with coconut milk. Meats such as beef, chicken, lamb is suitable for slow cooking.

In a stew, the gravy usually covers the meat. One of the best ways is to sear the meat and vegetables before stewing. In Kerala cuisine, we have a prominent influence of Portuguese style of cooking and some of the stewing methods have been adopted with little changes to name .Vegetable stew or Ishtew used as an accompaniment to Chapatti and appam . Chefs being innovative to try lamb and chicken in similar style and got good success in those dishes.

Boiling Boiling is ancient and traditional cooking method used in Kerala cooking. It is the method of cooking food in boiling water. Boiling temparure is maintained above 99c and you can see the vigorous wavy motion of liquid on surface.

It is a very harsh technique of cooking. It is best to cook meat and root vegetables by boiling because of their hard texture.

Food like rice, potatoes are suitable for boiling. Rice is boiled first , dried and then part milled to remove its husk.

In Kerala almost all tea stall have a traditional boiler than is heated almost 24 hours by burning wood. it has multiple uses for steaming banana, boiling egg, making tea etc.

Frying Cooking method in which oil is used as cooking medium. The food is cooked quickly and gets crispy texture by frying in the Page | 31

oil. There are different types of frying methods you can adapt by adjusting the oil quantity. Different methods Pan-frying, Deep-frying, Sautéing, and Stir-frying. Sautéing and Stir-frying is always similar which use only little amount of oil for frying in a hot surface.

For Pan frying use only the required amount of oil to immerse one-third to one half of each piece of food , Deep frying is the method that totally immersing the food in the hot oil. Deep fried oil can be used again until the oil colour changes or taste varies, dishes used for deep-frying needs a coating layer marinade for giving a crispy out. some of the Kerala Dishes made by different frying methods.Deep-frying - Pazham pori, uzhunnu vadai , chicken fry . Pan frying - Kerala fish fry . Stir frying - Thoran , Sautéing - Vazhakka Mezhupuratty ( raw banana preparation).

Steaming A cooking method using steam produced by boiling water.

Where the food is not put directly into the boiling water, the food is kept separate from boiling water using a perforated plate and is cooked by only the contact with the steam from the boiling water. By cooking in this method, the food gets the moist texture. In Kerala, there is a special steamer pot. There are wide varieties of food in Kerala, mainly breakfast, which is steamed, for example:- Idly, Idiyappam, Kozhukatta etc…. while steaming we get a nutritious food than boiling hence no contact with water.

Pickling Pickling is a process of preserving food in brine or acidic medium. Brine is a solution of salt-water salinity mostly equal

to salt water. A common testing of brine quality is by dropping a clean washed raw and when it floats the proportion of salt to water is ideal. The food, which is preserved using this method, is called pickle. Pickling enhances the flavour by concentrating the flavors.Pickling promotes Osmosis process was by moving the molecules through permeable membrane to a higher concentrated solution there by equalizing both sides.Kerala has a large variety of pickles.

Some are raw mango, lemon, garlic, tomato, chilli etc‌ There are non-vegetarian pickles as well. The main fish used for pickling is Tuna. Prawns are also good for pickling. The fruits, vegetables and fish are mixed with ingredients such as salt, spices, mustard oil and are set to mature. Once open should preserve it, well and will last for up to a year or more.

Drying Drying is the oldest method of preserving food using natural sunlight most of the time. The process removes all moisture from the food and do open air drying using sun and wind.

Many foods are preserved by drying and can be stored for later use. In Kerala Fishes such as tuna, mackerel, sardine etc. are salted and dried .This is done mostly by the fishing community were they have stock of fish left after days sale, the fish is soaked in salt water for a couple of days and is dried in the sun. The fish can be later soaked and made to curry or powdered to make chutney’s. Dried mango is also very common in Kerala ,were sliced raw mango is soaked in brine for two days then strained and dried under sun or hot areas in kitchen.

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Kerala Cooking Utensils

Appa Chatti - concave shaped Pan for making Appam Cheena Chatti - Deep frying pan made of aluminium or cast iron , introduced to Kerala by china Dosa Kallu - Cast iron Griddle for making Dosas ( Rice pancakes).

Mun Chatti – Clay pot for cooking curries. Nowadays curries are also made in non-stick pans. However, clay pots are environment friendly, healthier option and add a distinct taste to the curry.

Puttu steamer – Special utensils for steaming roasted rice flour .

Idli/Idiyappam Tattu - Mould for making Idli and Idiyappam.

Seva Nazhi - Extruder or Mould for making Idiyappams.

Unniappam Pan – 12 or more Concave slot pan with 30-50 ml batter holding capacity in each slots, sweet snack is fried in hot oil.

Uruli/varpu – Flat utensils best for making large volume dishes, made with aluminium or bronze .

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Food design concept Food is the one item known so far which can create four known sense to our body. Senses food can influence Sight, smell, Taste, Touch.

Food design can be explained as a selective and thoughtful process of cooking and presenting food to maximise its visual sensory appeal to human being.

Food presentation is not limited to present foods ready to eat; it starts from selecting the ingredient, the cooking process, cuisine, chef’s skills and service wares used. My perception of food will not be same as yours, but visual appeal is mostly same to everyone.

“There is a great saying we eat with our eyes first”, it’s a very true statement a mediocre presented food will not get any value to chef.

After reading this book if you can gain some wisdom about cooking and presenting an excellent dish; our vision is achieved also please pass the knowledge you gained to your colleagues & juniors. ‘Knowledge is to share & share is to care’ Food design concept is developed in leading a next generation Indian cuisine movement by modifying, processing, arranging, or decorating food to enhance its aesthetic appeal..

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Nouvelle cuisine chefs often consider the visual presentation of foods at many different stages of food preparation, from the manner of tying or sewing meats, to the type of cut used in chopping and slicing meats or vegetables, to the style of mould used in a baked dish.

The arrangement and overall styling of food to the plate is termed as plating. some common styles of plating include a 'classic' or ‘Old school’ arrangement in which main item in the front of the plate with vegetable or starches in the back, a 'stacked' arrangement of the various items, or the main item leaning or 'shingled' upon a vegetable bed or side item. Item location on the plate is often referenced as for the face of a clock, with six o'clock the position closest to the diner.

A basic rule upon plating, and even in some cases prepping, is to make sure you have the five components to a dish; protein, traditionally at a 6 o'clock position, vegetable, at a 2 o'clock position, starch at an 11 o'clock position, sauce and garnish.

This kind of plating i am sure will be seen in culinary colleges only for teaching purpose , chefs are only limited to their creativity when it comes to plate designs now a days.

In today’s modern world of chefs this clock styles are out dated many don’t follow a guideline also it’s an abstract style, line style, pattern style and some even serve food straight on the cooking pan.

We live in an era of Minimalist food concepts, avoiding starch or minimal use of carbohydrates.

Lateral arrangement Slow roast lamb loin, coconut tossed rice dumpling, stir-fried spinach.

For presentation, purpose only In This style, we tried to arrange food on a line with alternate textures and items and given focus to texture and cooking since it is a Medium rare lamb loin. This style is fit for a confident chef to show his meat cooking skills.

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Stack Up style Chapatti and Vegetable stew in coconut milk In This style, we tried to stack or layer ingredients together and given focus to natural food colours. Colours preserved by apt cooking. picture is For presentation, purpose only Factors in food design How, what, where These factors have to complement each other rarely even contrasting when combined will result in excellent food presentation scenario.You have noticed in two presentation styles. How to maximise on your cooking skills and Ingredients used. Sometimes you need to play with contrasting colours when presenting complex dishes(more than three main Ingredients)

We learned cooking is the art and science of good eating. In addition, it can be defined as the study of food and culture, with a particular focus on gourmet cuisine.

One who is well versed in gastronomy is called a gastronome, while a gastronomist is one who unites theory and practice in the study of gastronomy.

However, many occasions chefs who challenge the laid down path have succeeded in creating a name for him-self. Many food presentations are closely related to the people culture & their eating habits, even religions have greater influence how food is cooked & presented.

In Indian cuisine the cultural influence is food is very high and as Indians, we have to preserve our cultural heritage.

Being modern in cooking & presentation skills is not to copying the west but to present in global standards while keeping our authenticity Many food presentations are closely related to the people culture & their eating habits, even religions have greater influence how food is cooked & presented. In Indian cuisine the cultural influence is food is very high and as Indians, we have to preserve our cultural heritage.

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How How - will define the material in which you are going to serve the food.

It can be any kind of material – metal, ceramic, wood...

However, to make sure it does not react with food ingredients Plates can come in any shape or sizes. You should be carefully select appropriate plates. Food placed in the plate should get 100% attention so the plate you select should act as a canvas for your food For dark colour food, items try to choose white plate For light colour food items you can try colour or shaded plates For saucy dishes, try deep plates with larger rims

Keep one thing in mind whatever the plates are it has to be large enough to leave enough empty space.

The plates can come in any size & shape you must select the appropriate one we will suggest strongly you should try same food in different plates to find the apt one.

What The food you place on the plate should get the prime focus and your plate will support you to get the result.

When you plan your food, it should be balanced in colour, texture & flavour. These three factors in food are the first we experience through our senses. It has a big impact in presenting the food.

Colour Colour of the food the first element, which influence our senses. Colours you can bring by combining or using natural ingredients alone. Spinach, tomato, turmeric, milk, squid ink, and so many ingredients Would you hesitate to eat an orange in purple colour? You will be reluctant.

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People associate certain colours with certain flavours, and the colour of food can influence the perceived flavour in anything from candy to wine. "Natural" foods such as oranges and salmon are sometimes also dyed to mask natural variations in colour.

Colour variation in foods throughout the seasons and the effects of processing and storage often make colour addition commercially advantageous to maintain the colour expected or preferred by the consumer.

Texture In simple texture is the combined effect physical variation from liquid, soft, hard or brittle state.

Texture/body/mouth feel is a product's physical and chemical interaction in the mouth, an aspect of food rheology.

It is a concept used in many areas related to the testing and valuating of foodstuffs, it is evaluated from initial perception on the palate, to first bite, through mastication to swallowing and aftertaste.

Many people will relate texture to a product's water activity, hard or crisp products having lower water activities and soft products having intermediate to high water activities.You always have the liberty to provide external textures to your dish, if it lacks texture combinations.

Eg: tuile, parmesan crisp, vegetable crisp, freeze dried fruits..

In Indian cuisine, we always had amazing range of dishes that varies in textures. In savoury, we have poppadum’s, kasta rotis, bujias and more to give a crunchy texture to our meal.

Flavour Flavour we chefs call it aroma- the sense which makes us feel the food appetising .if we preserve the flavour till it gets to the table we are successful .in Indian cuisine we have numerous spices that can influence flavour in a food. Use it wisely, some flavour can stop us from eating the food where as some can tempt us having more.

Your personal liking to flavours will not be your guest, so act clever keep a common flavour balance, if you are trying something new ask for opinion with your colleagues & regular guest before putting the dish on the menu.

Flavour is the sensory impression of a food or other substance, and is determined mainly by the chemical senses of taste and smell. The flavour of the food, as such, can be altered with natural or artificial flavourings, which affect these senses.

Flavouring, is defined as a substance that gives another substance flavour, altering the characteristics of the solute, causing it to become sweet, sour, tangy, etc.

The perfect seasoning also enhances the flavour tremendously.

In Chinese cuisine almost all dish they season with salt and sugar that results in bringing up the flavours that stimulates our appetite.

Of the three chemical senses, smell is the main determinant of a food item's flavour. While the taste of food is limited to sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and savoury (umami) – the basic tastes – the smells of a food are potentially limitless.

A food's flavour, therefore, can be easily altered by changing its smell while keeping its taste similar.

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Nowhere its better exemplified than in artificially flavoured jellies, soft drinks and candies, which, while made of bases with a similar taste, have dramatically different flavours due to the use of different scents or fragrances Taste Taste is one of the Five traditional sense humans receive through taste buds situated in mouth and tongue. Taste is perceived through sweet, bitter, sour, salty and Umami Umami The taste makes you feel like licking your finger after a tasting meal. If we identify those mixtures, we can replicate the delicious umami effect in to each of our dishes. In Indian food, knowingly or unknowingly we use lot of umami rich ingredients.

Our kind of taste enhancer "chat masala� has umami similar effect. That is why our traditional tandoor chefs dust every kebab with chat masala & makes you feel want more. Tomato is one of the natural fruit enriched with high Umami content and we use in high quantity Where Where - the most important factor that will determine how your food will be perceived. You would have come up with a fantastic presentation, excellent food, and great plate. Well! All of this will be worthless if the food you going to serve will be in a multi coloured discotheque or dim light pub.

Therefore, this factor is very much important even though we talked about this last. The food presentation is a cyclic process each factors is very dependant .

If you oversee one factor then the purpose is not served.

Never mind you can always re-look the process before you finalise your dishes.

We will strongly suggest when you do plating ,food trials or tasting do taste the food as a guest would do even if you pay for the cost that will be great so you understand the value you will get as a guest Some points we can consider about the where factor.

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Colour-lighting of the place

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Table cloth

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Out door or Indoor

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Theme of the service

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Time of service

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Being a Restaurant owner

Once you have decided to work for yourself, it is a great and bold decision you made for your life stick to it.

I will suggest it is better to have a service industry background to start a restaurant business. If you are only a promoter its fine when you have an expert team to take care of your business.

Kerala cuisine is an unexplored area of Indian cuisine. Its possibilities are unlimited and very cost effective in terms of producing fantastic dishes.

Kerala dishes are simple and lean compared to other rich cuisines of India it is mainly due to the coastal influence in Kerala cuisine.

Kerala cuisine has a fantastic legacy of seafood recipes, which will be an added advantage for any Indian restaurants.

Kerala cuisine has to be marketed to bring in clients since it is a new taste than the normal Indian cuisine restaurants.

There has to be a strong plan and decision to be made before you take your first step. Once you made your decision never look back whatever hardship it may take make your plan a reality. ‘Any remarkable Journey starts with a single step’ Style of Restaurant service Restaurant type of service you should decide according to the clientele you wish to cater. Clientele can be varied according to your restaurant position as in were its placed.

A city centre restaurant in a commercial hub can be a best suited for fast paced in formal dining service.

A restaurant to a residential area with a wealthy clientele crowd around can be a good place for a formal fine dining restaurant.

Casual Dining Casual dining can be defined as were the service to the required level to meet the customer expectation.

Most of the casual dining operates with lower staff to guest ratio. In this service style, you do not need maintain high etiquette of service standards.

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You can run a casual dining style service with employees of minimal service industry experience. However, train the team in service you want to deliver Fine dining Fine dining styles of service were the guest is offered full service option. Staffs are required to be well trained and highly professional in attitude.

Fine dining service style is high cost involved in setting to dayto-day operation. However, you can demand the price for the service and food you provide with confidence.

In India, stand-alone fine dining restaurants are less compared to other similar European metropolitans.

The reason is the cost involved and high standard to maintain.

However, many five star hotels has at least one fine dining restaurant most of them serve Indian cuisine.

When you want to provide fine dining service and Food, everything you select for your restaurant should be of High standards from Colour of paint used in restaurant to the staff uniform, from plates used to the Meat selection in menu.

Hard work and dedicated passion to excellent food is required to maintain the stature of the restaurant at the top level.

For Fine, dining food presentation and cooking methods chefs give extra care that adds up to the value.

Fine dining restaurant provide a memorable experience of service and food.

There are many Unwritten rules of Fine dining restaurants , that Include concept based menus, Amuse bouche before any orders, Tasting or de-gustation menu options etc. .

Chefs come up with their own ideology to be competitive enough in today’s fast paced culinary revolution.

Pre-Opening Stage Once you decided which style, you like adapt then start planning backwards from your ideal opening date.

All you strategies and ideas can be put down in black white, this will help later when you stuck somewhere always there will be a reference page.First and foremost thing you need to prepare is a detailed Business plan.

A business plan can be explained as a detailed list of steps that required to be performed for starting up and smooth running of any business.

People often think business plan is only essential for start-ups to secure financial assistance. It is not right since business plan is a detailed version of Business vision and strategies it will always support any trying period of the business.

A good business plan must contain detailed background information about the Business, Operational plan, Marketing Plan, Financial plan, Decision Making Criteria etc.

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Based on your Business plan create the check list that contain task, person responsible, Time frame , status of task. Checklist is very essential in tracking your business development.

An ideal task list can goes from Naming the restaurant, developing Vision& Mission statement, finding location for the restaurant, identifying and applying for the licences required, pre-opening marketing plans that can include advertisement for job vacancies, recruitment, Training, procurement of hard, soft items and the list goes on.

A large and detailed list ensures that all areas are covered and you can peacefully work on the list rather distracted from other opinions.

Recruiting the right staff with right attitude is the key part in pre-opening stage. Your staffs have to believe in your restaurants vision.

When all your hard work is in place and the opening day comes give, your best service the customers may not expect from day one.Keep an eye on competition and market trend always cater to your loyal customers expectation.

Create your own marketing strategies by involving local community, charity organization in coaching and organizing events for them. Remember always ‘ word of mouth’ is always the best, cheapest and long term advertisement method use it wisely Best Wishes for your venture I will be privileged to help you

The Recipe collection…

‘Whatever you cook give respect to the ingredient; a life is lost in transition being a food commodity’ Most common is farm raised chicken but I prefer locally grown country chicken, takes long hours to cook. Other food source birds found Kerala houses are duck, quail, Turkey, pigeon and few occasion wild birds but legally not allowed

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Recipe for Cooking Birds Nadan kozhi (country chicken) 55 Toddy shop inspired chicken delicacy Pravu(Pigeon) thoran Chicken stew Tharavu(Duck) Mappas

58 61 64 66

Nadan Kozhi , mulagu podi Idli Country chicken curry, steamed savory rice pudding tossed in gun powder.

Serves : 2 Portion Course : Starter For chicken wings 4 no: country chicken wings 40ml coconut oil 2g mustard seed 1no: whole red chilly 4no: curry leaf 3g chopped ginger Page | 55

4g chopped garlic 50g chopped onion 3g turmeric powder 5g coriander powder 5g red chilli powder 50g chopped tomato 50ml coconut milk Salt to taste For spice fried idli 1no: Idli (page no: 110) 20ml clarified butter 5g gunpowder (page no: 124) Salt to taste How to achieve Clean and trim chicken wings, keep skin intact for flavour .

Heat oil start with mustard seeds and red chili, allow mustard to crackle by then red chilly must have turned dark brown remove and discard. Chilly used for infusing the flavor.

Sautéing continuously immediately add ginger then garlic when turns golden add onion sauté till light brown color.

Now add chicken pieces, sprinkle salt sauce till the skin gets caramel color, salt helps in getting color quick by removing water from skin.

When chicken is colored add all powdered spices sauté for 30 seconds, if the pan is hot sauté by removing from direct fire, helps in preventing the spice being burned. Add chopped tomato allow it cook for a minute add water just to get enough

sauce to cover the chicken wings. Allow to cokk in medium heat ; check frequently to ensure you got enough liquid.

Once the chicken is cooked finish with coconut milk , check and adjust seasoning For spice fried idli Dice idli in to 10 equal cubes as shown in picture, each plate gets 5.Heat a flat pan sautĂŠ idli pieces in clarified butter once the golden color is achieved srinkle gunpowder and salt keep in a kitchen towel in a warm place For plating Consider using a deep pasta plate, place the wings with a spoon of sauce in centre, arrange idli pieces around keeping equal distance from chicken and between idli as possible, spoon around the sauce garnish with micro herbs ,we used mustard flower as it goes with the flavour.

Suggestion: For restaurants this is a brilliant idea of utilising one dish for garnish and as bread side portion. For home a recycling idea of extra Idlis that’s cooked in breakfast.

Chicken curry recipe try with other parts of chicken , boneless pieces if its restaurant. Then its best to add some chicken stock for more flavour and body for the curry sauce.

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Toddy shop inspired fried chicken delicacy with pickled shallots, chilly toasted dosa.

Serves: 2 portions Course: Starter 100g Chicken liver 100g Chicken hearts 100g Chicken gizzard First Marinade 10g Fennel powder 15g Ginger garlic paste 5g Pepper powder 10g Chilli powder 5ml Limejuice To taste salt

Second Marinade 20g Coconut powder 10g Rice flour Dosa Crisp 10g Ghee 4no: Dosa pan cake (Page 110) To Finish 200ml Coconut oil 4no: *Pickled shallots 2g micro cress How to achieve Soak offal’s in cold milk overnight, before preparation remove from milk remove any fat bits, fibres around the meat, wash thoroughly and pat dry.

Marinate chicken offal's with First marinade ingredients and salt as required, mix with second marinade keep aside.

Trim dosa pancake to a slab of 4cm x 7cm,Toast in a pan by smearing ghee till golden colour, sprinkle chilli powder and salt.

Shallow fry the marinated offal's using coconut oil just enough to give good crispy outside but pink inside to keep the natural flavour of delicate offal’s.

Remove and keep in paper towel to rest.Slice the pieces, Arrange on top of toasted dosa ,and place sliced pickled onion and micro cress Page | 59

Suggestion: When frying try not to crowd the pan , allow to colour before you turn the sides.

Resting is equally important as your cooking if you try to cut offal’s early the juices will be lost and result in dry meat texture.

Spice level can be increased by adding or reducing the chilli powder quantity. *Pickled shallots you may buy from market, or preserve in pickling mixture – 1part water,4-part neutral vinegar ,whole spices,0.5 part of salt,0.5 part of sugar warm all together cool down and pour in jar with peeled shallots use after 48 hours Toddy shop is always great culinary retreats were the spiced aromatic dishes are made to accompany purest toddy that is obtained by naturally fermented sap from coconut tree.

Nomadic stir-fried wood pigeon with coconut Pigeon thoran – a Kerala style stir-fry preparation with grated coconut here we used game bird.

Serves: 4 portions Course: Main 720g Wood pigeon First stage 30ml coconut oil 10g ginger-garlic paste 3g turmeric powder 50g shallots sliced 10g red chilli powder 2no: sliced chilly 1 Sprig Curry leaf 500ml chicken stock or water To taste salt

Second stage For stir-frying 50 ml coconut oil 3g mustard seeds 1 sprig curry leaf 10g chopped ginger 2no: green chilly sliced lengthwise 100g shallots peeled 3g turmeric powder 5g crushed fennel seed 10g coriander powder 10g jeera powder 50g fresh grated coconut To taste salt How to achieve Joint wood pigeon to 30-40gm.m pieces with bone, for fine cooking de-bone and make stock with bones.

Mix pigeon pieces with ingredients mentioned in first stage except oil and stock.

Heat a thick bottom pan with oil add the pigeon mix sautĂŠ to sear evenly add stock and cook the meat till tender.

Reduce the stock and allow absorbing completely to the meat.

For second stage heat coconut oil in a stir fry pan, splutter mustard seeds, curry leaf, ginger-garlic paste, green chilly, SautĂŠ lightly and add peeled shallots.

Mix in all powdered spices, crushed fennel seeds, cooked pigeon pieces stir-fry until all the spices are mixed properly and starts giving a roast flavour check seasoning and finish with fresh grated coconut.

SautĂŠ for few second till the coconut is spread evenly serve in deep plate garnished with micro cress or arrange on flat Suggestion: Game bird require long cooking periods, you can adapt modern cooking techniques of sous vide which help in controlled slow cooking

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Pan roasted corn-fed chicken and vegetable stew Stews are inherited from the colonial period it has a distant relation from European stew.

Serves: 2 portions Course: Main 2 no: corn-fed chicken supreme For chicken 3 g turmeric 2g cardamom powder 3 g garlic paste 3 g pepper powder To taste Salt For vegetable stew 100 g peeled diced carrot 100 g peeled diced potato

50g peas (peeled) 5no: cardamom pods 2no: bay leaves 100g diced onion 4no: slit green chilies 20g chopped ginger 200g coconut milk powder To taste Salt 30ml coconut oil 2g mustard seed 1sprig - Curry leaf How to achieve Marinate chicken supreme with ingredients mentioned in marinade cover and refrigerate. Boil 400 ml water with cardamom, bay leaf, ginger and green chilly add potato when half-done, add carrot , onion when both are cooked ,add peeled fresh peas remove from fire, strain and discard cardamom, green chili and bay leaf, in remaining stock dilute coconut milk powder Heat coconut oil in a sauce pan add mustard seed allow to crackle , add curry leaf ,mix in strained vegetables , pour in coconut milk simmer for a minute check seasoning and keep out from fire.

Pan fry chicken breast skin side first to a light brown colour and turn side, finish in oven , rest for 2 minutes serve on top of hot vegetable stew Suggestion: Vegetables should not be overcooked and the colour should be preserved, you can finish with a pinch of cardamom powder.

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Tharavu Mappas a Nouvelle way

In this recipe, you can make traditional (Tharavu) duck mappas, which is done in a curry style and combine with a slow roast duck breast with greater control in cooking texture.

Serves: 2 portions Course: Main Slow Roast duck 2no: duck breast 10ml limejuice 10g ginger garlic paste 3g turmeric powder 10g coriander powder 7g chilli powder .

For Duck mappas 2 no: duck breast diced 300ml duck stock or water 1g cloves 1no: bay leaf 2g cinnamon 50ml Coconut oil 2g mustard seeds 1sprig curry leaves 100g white onion sliced 10g ginger garlic paste 2no: green chilli sliced 3g turmeric powder 7g chilli powder 10g coriander powder 5g fennel powder 5g garam masala powder 70g tomato diced 150g coconut milk powder 100g potato (1 cm cubes) To taste salt How to achieve Trim duck breast remove excess skin or fat, dice one breast in to cubes same as potato second one score on skin side ideal for pan roasting, marinate both duck meat separately with a pinch of turmeric, chilly, salt and 2 g ginger garlic paste.

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Boil diced duck meat very tender with duck stock, clove, bay leaf, cinnamon and few sliced onion.

When the duck is soft, pick and discard the whole spices.

Dilute coconut milk powder adding stock keep a thick consistency.

Heat oil in a thick bottom pan, add mustard seed let crackle, add sliced onion, ginger garlic paste sate till light brown colour add all spice powder as per list sautĂŠ on slow heat without burning.

Mix in tomato and cooked duck along with the stock give a boil and simmer, stir in coconut milk add potato cubes cook slowly without bubbling until potato is cooked.

Meanwhile pan sear second duck breast skin side first applying coconut oil and turn side until the skin is nicely browned.

Roast in a pre-heated oven at 180c until the core temperature of meat reaches 63c or even Less as per your taste, allow it rest for half of your cooking time before slicing this will help all juices get absorbed back by the meat tissue.For the sauce, check seasoning adjust consistency as per your requirement ideally thick creamy texture.

Allow it rest for half of your cooking time before slicing this will help all juices get absorb back by the meat tissue.

Spoon stewed duck on two deep plate and trim sides of roasted breast divide in two equal pieces place on centre garnish with micro cress.

Suggestion: Duck should be treated same as red meat and given enough time to rest after roasting. Best is to cook medium rare.

Seafood recipes Chemmeen Varuthathu 70 Meen vevichathu 72 Meen porichathu 75 Karimeen pollichathu 77 Meen molly 78 Njandu piralan 80

Chemmeen varuthathu Spicy fried King prawn

Serves: 1 portion Course: Starter 3no: King prawn 1gm Turmeric powder 3ml limejuice 2no: garlic cloves 4no: curry leaves 1gm black pepper corn 5gm shallot peeled 5gm dry shrimp powder 2gm redchiliy powder 2gm coriander powder 3gm coconut milk powder 200ml oil to fry To taste salt

For beetroot air Follow same method as cardamom lime air in meen vevichathu recipe; add beetroot juice plus all other ingredients How to achieve Remove shell from the body part of king prawn leaving the head and tail end, devein and marinate with salt, lime juice and turmeric, Coarse grind garlic, shallots, pepper, curry leaf and mix in with prawn keep for 10 minutes.

Now add and mix all dry powder check salt and leave in fridge for 10 minutes before frying, this is to avoid losing spices when the prawns is dropped in hot oil.

Heat oil to 160c temperature as this is best for frying without burning the spices yet gives a crisp texture.

Suggestion: The same recipe you can try with fresh cleaned calamari (squid) rings . quick fry it without over cooking to keep it soft.but crisp spice coating. If you need a more crispy texture add Japanese bread crumb(the crumbs has more similarity to desiccated coconut) large crumbs give the mouth feel.

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Meen vevichathu Steamed and seared haddock loin with gingered vegetables, curried cauliflower emulsion, cardamom and lime air

Serves: 2 Portions Course: Main For fish 340g Haddock fillet 5g Garlic puree 2g Turmeric powder 2g green chilli paste 10ml oil Salt to taste

For Cardamom, lime Air 10g cardamom powder 10 ml limejuice 5g lecithin powder 100ml thin coconut milk For vegetable 70g Fine beans 30g Carrot diced 20g Peeled peas 2g Cumin seed 10ml oil 1g Pepper Salt to taste For Cauliflower emulsion 100g Cauliflower florets 20g Butter 2g Turmeric powder 20g chopped shallots 30ml Thick coconut milk 30ml water 1g white pepper powder Salt to taste How to achieve Portion fish to equal size portion, marinate with mentioned ingredient for fish and keep aside.

Blanch fine beans cut in equal length and split to half, dice carrot to 0.5cm cubes and blanch.

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Heat a thick bottom saucepan with butter, shallots & turmeric sautĂŠ for 30 seconds.

Add sliced cauliflower sautĂŠ for a minute; pour water and coconut milk like cook slowly until the cauliflower is tender.

Check seasoning. Puree to very fine emulsion using a commercial blender.

In a deep mixing bowl Mix lecithin powder, cardamom powder in warm thin coconut milk blend using a hand blender stop when the foam starts coming up add lime juice, during plating blend again till you get strong foam that stands when you take in spoon.

Heat oil in a small frying pan add cumin seed toss all vegetables prepared before , season and place to a kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

When time to serve steam fish in a steamer or steamer basket placing skin side on top.

Remove the fish when its 80% done. Pan-fry the skin side using a non-stick pan or using greaseproof paper.Start plating the vegetables as per the picture, when the fish gets golden colour place on top of the beans with skin side on top.

Heat and spoon the cauliflower emulsion as show in picture and place a spoonful of cardamom air on top of fish.

Suggestion: For steaming, consider using flat fish or flat cuts of fish that helps in cooking even. Pan searing the skin after steaming provides a unique crispy texture to steam fish.

Meen porichathu Masala fried rainbow trout. Spice mix I used, which can be easily adapted in any geographic area.

Serves: 4 Portions Course: Main 4 fillets Rainbow trout 4 no: baby plum 2 sprig Coriander leaf

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1st marinade 2 g turmeric powder To taste salt 1 no: lemon juice 2nd marinade 1 sprig curry leaf 5 no: garlic cloves 10 g fennel seeds 5 no: shallots 10 g black pepper corn 5 g red chili powder 10 g coriander powder How to achieve Clean the fish properly check for any pin bone, wash and pat dry. Score fish on skin side apply first marinade keep on side.

Grind together curry leaf, fennel seeds, peppercorn, shallots, garlic to a smooth paste, mix in coriander powder, chili powder, salt and apply the mixture evenly on both sides.

Keep refrigerated for at least half an hour.Heat coconut oil in a thick bottom fry on skin side for 80 % on medium fry, turn side and take out to a kitchen towel ‘fish will cook fast depend on thickness keep it moist for brilliant mouth feel’.Pan Fry plum tomatoes serve with coriander leaf.

Suggestion: Consider oily fish which is best suited for panfrying, to name a few mackerel, trout, salmon, sardine.., For restaurants you can keep the marinade ready in advance , apply first marinade and then second cook when ready to serve.Lobster, Prawn, fresh clam, mussel’s meat can be pan-fried using this style of marinade.

Karimeen pollichathu A traditional Kerala preparation where fish is spiced, wrapped in banana leaf and cooked on hot iron griddle. Karimeen is local name for peal spot, which is a fresh water fish native to Kerala backwaters.

Serves: 4 portions Course: Main 4no: Pearl spot cleaned 100ml coconut oil 1no: tender banana leaf For Marinade 10no: shallots 100g onions 10g ginger 20g garlic 15g chilli powder 5g pepper powder 10ml vinegar 1sprig curry leaves To taste salt How to achieve Make a rough paste with all the ingredients mentioned.

Score the fish on sides; apply the marinade on both sides.

Place the fish in the banana leaf and wrap gently..

Apply oil on a hot griddle. Gently place the wrapped fish in, cover with a lid and cook on a low fire until both sides are done.

Try with fillet of flat fish ( eg: turbot , sole, john dory) .

Page | 77

Meen molly A light fish preparation with coconut milk braised slowly flavoured with turmeric spiced with pepper and green chilli , best served with appam.

Serves: 4 portions Course: Main 600g White Fish 3g Turmeric 5g Salt For Molly sauce 50ml Coconut oil 2g Fenugreek seed 5g Mustard 1g Sprig curry leaves

20g Garlic thinly sliced 30g Ginger thinly sliced 150g Onion sliced 4no: Green chilly chopped 15g Turmeric 200g Coconut milk powder 5no: Baby plum tomato Salt To taste How to achieve Portion the fish into 50gm pieces, marinate with turmeric and salt, Pan Fry with coconut oil to sear evenly and keep it aside.

Dilute coconut milk powder to get a thick consistency Heat coconut oil in a deep thick bottom sauce pan add mustard seeds allow to crackle, Add curry leaf ginger, garlic, sauté to light golden then add sliced onion, sauté for a minute, Drop chopped green chilly sauté to remove the raw chilly flavour. Add turmeric powder, salt sauté without sticking to the pan, Pour 150 ml water or plain fish stock reduce the fire just keep for simmering.

Now add thick coconut milk adjust seasoning , slide in the fish pieces avoiding stirring rather try moving pieces by moving the pan, Add halved baby plum tomatoes; simmer for 15 minutes in low heat without the boiling bubbles, Better, result when consumed after an hour when flavours are settled properly.

Suggestions : Choose firm flesh oily fish, preferably round fish. After adding coconut milk do not boil adjust spiciness using crush black pepper .

Page | 79

Njandu Piralan An old-fashioned Kerala crab (Njandu) preparation originated from coastal areas, cooked in its own shells and sautĂŠed with spices.

Serves: 2 portions Course: Main 400 g Crab 30 ml Coconut oil 5g chopped Ginger 5 g Garlic chopped 100 g shallots sliced 1 sprig Curry leaves 3 g Turmeric powder 10 g Chilli powder 10 g Coriander powder 8 g Tamarind paste 2.5 g Fenugreek powder To taste salt How to achieve Cleaning the crab: Wash the crab well. Ensure that all dirt from the shell is removed. Wash it with a bristle scrubber if required.

Remove legs and claws, break each into two, and lightly crack the bigger pieces – this will help the spices to get to the meat easily.

Remove the top shell from main body and discard, Clean the meat that is in the bottom shell. Clear all hairy/hard spongy textures from the shell. Cut into four pieces.

For making Njandu piralan: Heat oil on a medium high heat in a pan, Put in curry leaves and stir.

Add ginger, garlic, and sautĂŠ, when it is light brown, add sliced onion and sautĂŠ until golden.

Reduce heat to medium, add chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and fenugreek powder, and roast well.

Add the tamarind mixture and mix well, Raise heat to medium high and add the water and bring to a boil.

Add salt and mix well. Add the crab pieces and mix well, Cook covered, mixing occasionally.

Cook for about 15 minutes, remove cover and cook until the gravy is thick enough to coat the crab.

Suggestions: For best results, cook at night, reheat, and reduce the gravy the next day. Do not refrigerate during the night. This way, the meat will absorb the spices well.

Page | 81

Red Meat recipes Kid lamb masala Lamb liver pepper fry Beef ularthu

83 86 89

Combination of Kid Lamb Masala, With spiced carrot puree, Appam & Fried egg yolk, caramelized vegetable.

The plate is a dedication to Christian and Muslim community for the contribution to Kerala culinary history. Lamb masala inspired from the Muslim preparation of Malabar region and the egg appam from the Christian household.

Serves: 4 portions Course: Main For Lamb masala 600 g lamb breast diced 30 ml coconut oil 5 g mustard seeds 1 sprig curry leaf 15 g ginger thin sliced Page | 83

20 g garlic thin sliced 2 no: green chilly sliced 150 onions chopped 5 g turmeric powder 10 g coriander powder 10 g cumin powder 15 g chilli powder 5 g garam masala powder 700 ml mutton stock Salt - to taste For carrot puree 100 g carrot 20g Grated coconut 3g Cumin 5ml Oil For slow dried vegetable 12 no: Carrot ribbon sliced fine 8 no: Onion sliced Fine 100g Sugar 100g Water For Plating 2 no: Appam (Page no. 112) 12no: Mint cress 4 no: egg How to achieve Marinate diced lamb with 1/3rd of turmeric, chilli powder, ginger garlic and green chilly add salt, boil adding lamb stock over slow heat till its tender and soft, may take up to an hour and half .

Meanwhile make carrot puree by lightly sautéing carrot with cumin, coconut in hot oil and puree finely.

For dried vegetable make stock syrup with boiling sugar and water until you get one string consistency.

Dip sliced vegetable in syrup arrange on grease proof paper or silicon mat, dry in a pre-heated oven with a temperature of 85c for 2 hours keep for long if the texture is not crisp enough.

Heat coconut oil, add mustard seeds, and curry leaf, ginger garlic, and green chilly slices sauté until light colour. Sauté in onion until light brown add all remaining spice powder sauté keeping the pan away from direct fire.

Add cooked lamb breast pieces mix them well keep back in fire sauté again without burning the spices add lamb stock give a boil and allow to simmer gently, dilute coconut milk powder to a thick cream consistency adding warm water.

When the sauce reaches a tick consistency mix in the coconut milk stir until you get a shiny smooth finished lamb sauce keep on a warm surface ready for plating.

For plating cut appam to four equal rectangular slabs, fry egg cut yolk using a round cutter, Arrange lamb masala on top of appam slab; place fried egg and vegetable crisp as shown on picture, spoon drops of carrot puree and finish with mint cress Suggestion: The method can be used for cooking game meats, egg can be substituted with quail egg that has more nutrients than normal egg.

Page | 85

Lamb liver pepper roast Combined with beetroot pachadi, broken wheat and vegetable upma .

Serves: 4 portions Course: Main For Lamb liver Fry 400 g Lamb liver 200ml Milk 5g Ginger garlic paste 2g Turmeric Powder 5g Fennel powder 10g Chilli powder 100ml Oil

For Pepper roast masala 50ml Coconut oil 5g mustard seeds 4no: green chilly 5g ginger garlic paste 4no: shallots halves 1sprig curry leaves 100g onion sliced 4g turmeric powder 5g fennel powder 10g coriander powder 5g chilli powder 5g black pepper powder 50g sliced tomato To taste Salt For wheat Upma 20ml Oil 2g Mustard seeds 60g Broken wheat dry 30g Courgette brunoise 30g Carrot brunoise 30g Onion brunoise To taste Salt For Beetroot pachadi Please Refer page 102

Page | 87

How to achieve Slice lamb liver to a 1-2 cm thick slice cover and soak in milk for two hours refrigerated , clean thoroughly, wash and pat dry.

Marinate liver with ingredients mentioned except oil cover and refrigerate.

For pepper roast masala heat coconut oil in a thick bottom pan add mustard seeds allow to crack, then add each fresh ingredients by the order sauté in between till the raw smell fades. Now add all remaining powder spices and salt sauté without burning. Add tomato sauté and check seasoning, add stock or water to give a shiny moist finish to the masala.For wheat, Upma boil wash, boil and strain broken wheat, sauté with oil and mustard with vegetables mentioned.

Pan fry marinated lamb liver to medium or medium-rare cooking (pink inside) yet crispy outside trim sides to show the cooking.

Spread warm vegetable upma , spoon in pepper masala mix and place sliced lamb liver on top, line with beetroot pachadi and finish with micro cress Suggestion: Use only good quality lamb liver, which is dark red and no other smell than fresh meat. Soaking in milk is very important to clear all impurities.

Beef Ularthu Beef often in kerala we get Buffallo meat, this is a merge of two cooking styles one of slow braising and then finishing the dish by stir-frying with coconut and crushed spices

Serves: 4por Course: Main For beef marinade 500g Beef chunks 15ml Coconut Oil 5g Turmeric powder 10g coriander powder 15g Chilli powder 50g Sliced onion 1 Sprig curry leaf Salt to taste Page | 89

For Spice Mixture 7g peppercorns 7g Fennel seeds 2g cinnamon stick 2g clove 2g cardamom For Stir-frying 50ml coconut oil 30g thin coconut slices 2sprig curry leaves 4no: green chilli slit’s 20g garlic julienne 20g ginger julienne 150g shallots 15g red chilli flakes Salt to taste How to achieve Dice beef to small sized cubes, wash drain and set it aside.

Dry roast the ingredients listed for spice mixture until spices give off their aroma and begin to get lightly darker; allow to cool. Grind spices into a coarse powder.

Marinate the beef pieces with half of above spice mix and all ingredients mentioned in Beef marinade.

SautĂŠ marinated beef in a thick bottom pan for a minute, add water or beef stock until the meat is covered slow cook until the meat is tender.

If any liquid left after the meat is tender, pick the beef pieces reduce the liquid by one third and mix in with beef pieces.

For stir-frying Heat a thick bottom sautĂŠ pan with coconut oil and add sliced coconut when it turns light golden remove and keep on a kitchen paper.

In same pan add other ingredients mentioned for stir-frying one by one according to order while sautĂŠing in between.

Now add cooked beef pieces, remaining roasted powdered spices, toss it over medium-low fire for 5 minutes, and be careful not to burn the spices by overheating.

Once the beef starts to dry and have attained the dark brown colour then add fried coconut slices and combine well.

Suggestion: You can try this cooking styles with alternate meats like game (wild meat), pork, venison.. .

Best result when made a day in advance the first stage braised meat, preserve in the same liquid. Reheat and reduce the juice, stir-fry next day. The flavour will be extraordinary.

Page | 91

Recipe for Vegetarian Avial

93

Chick pea curry

95

Koonu ulli theeyal

97

Sambar

99

Spinach Mezhukupuratty

101

Beetroot pachadi Calicut street style egg

102 103

Avial ‘a Kerala signature’ A complete mixed vegetable dish with mix of well-balanced ingredients, a must of all vegetarian feasts

Serves: 4 portions Course: accompany Main Vegetables needed 150g tender yam 150g ash gourd 150g raw banana 100g beans 100g carrots 100g drumsticks 1no: raw mango For Avial Mix paste 100 g grated coconut 3g cumin seeds 10g ginger Page | 93

3no: green chilies 2g turmeric powder 1sprig curry leaves To taste salt 50g yoghurt For Finishing 1sprig curry leaves 10ml coconut oil How to achieve Wash peel and cut the vegetables to 5cm length batons, marinate with turmeric and salt.

Cook covered in a flat bottom pan on slow fire until the vegetables are tender but without losing in colour.

Meanwhile grind the ingredients mentioned in avail paste together to a thick paste if required just add enough water to make a paste.

Now mix the paste together with cooked vegetables. Cover and cook for 2 minutes check seasoning.

To finish warm coconut oil in a small add curry leaves immediately pour over the cooked vegetable.

Suggestion: Vegetables can be pre-cooked before by blanching in salted boiling water to keep the colour, you can try any cuts or sizes to make the dish beautiful.

Kadala curry ‘Kadala’ local name for Chickpea a must combination for puttu (steamed breakfast dish with rice)

Serves: 4 portions Course: accompany Main 100g Black/white chickpea 30ml Coconut oil 2g Mustard seeds 60g Small onion chopped 10g Ginger garlic paste 1sprig Curry leaves 2no: Green chilli slit in fours 30g Chopped tomato 1g chopped coriander leaves Salt to taste Page | 95

For curry paste 60g Grated Coconut 10g Coriander powder 5g Red chilli powder 2g Turmeric powder 2g Fennel powder 2g Garam masala powder How to achieve Soak chickpea until it splits in one press, ideally overnight.

Wash and strain chickpea cook starting with cold water just half inch above the chickpea level with salt to taste. Cook until chickpea is very tender and mash with one press, keep in low heat.

On a thick bottom frying pan dry roast grated coconut until it turns golden brown. Add all powdered spices mentioned for the curry paste sauté until pleasant flavour arise without burning. Grind to smooth a paste adding enough water keep it aside.

Heat coconut oil in deep pan add mustard allow to crack.

When it begins to splutter, add sliced shallots sauté until light golden, add ginger-garlic paste sauté then followed by curry leaves and green chilli. Now add the ground curry paste, chopped tomato mix slowly on medium heat. Pour cooked chickpea along with water and stir to mix well, check and adjust seasoning.

Simmer slowly until you get a well-balanced flavour adjust the consistency by adding water if required.

Suggestion: Chickpea curry may use for any roast lamb dish garnish, for fine dining plating play around with chick pea turning in to puree or crushed cake.

Koonu ulli theeyal A signature preparation with roasted coconut , shallots and mushroom. you can try with prawns instead mushrooms.

Serves: 2 portion, Course: accompany Main 100g Quartered button mushroom 100g Sliced shallots 50ml Coconut oil 5g Mustard seed 10g Garlic thin strips 5g Chilli powder 10g Coriander powder 1sprig Curry leaves 10g Tamarind pulp 5g Jagery diluted Salt to taste For Theeyal Paste 5g Cumin seeds 10g Peppercorn 15g Coriander seeds 2no: Red chilli (whole) 5g fennel seed 100g Coconut grated

Page | 97

How to achieve Dry roast all spices for theeyal paste except coconut until the aroma rises, now add grated coconut sauté for giving a brown colour and crispy texture.

Make a fine smooth paste of grated roasted coconut and spices by adding very little water.

In a saucepan heat coconut oil, add mustard, curry leaf, garlic sauté then add sliced shallots over medium heat until it becomes light brown.

Now add washed mushrooms and mix with powdered spices sauté for a minute. Add theeyal paste to pan sauté on low heat for 2 minutes.

Add 100-150ml water to get a semi thick consistency sauce.

Dilute jaggery in lukewarm water and add to sauce along with tamarind pulp, check-seasoning simmer slowly until the mushroom is tender.

Suggestion: T he colour of dish should be dark brown, if need to add prawn make sure it’s only after removing from fire while its hot.

Prawn will be cooked to perfection.

Sambar Another gem of a classic mixed vegetarian dish similar to avail, a great combination with dosa/Idli and rice.

Serves: 4 portion, Course: accompany Main For lentils 50g Split yellow lentil-Toor dal 50g Red lentils-Masoor dal 2g Turmeric For Vegetables 50g Onion 50g snake gourd 50g Carrot 50g cluster beans 50g Okra 30g Colacasia/Taro 30g Aubergine 100g cucumber 1no: drumsticks 50g Potato 50g tomato 50g small onions For Flavoring 50g sambar powder 50ml tamarind juice 1sprig Coriander leaves

For Tempering 50ml coconut oil 1g Asafoetida 5g mustard seeds 3no: dry red chillies Curry leaves How to achieve Wash and boil lentil together with turmeric, salt and four times water to lentil quantity on medium heat stirring in between.

Wash peel and cut vegetables in 3cm cubes or size ideal to your requirement.

When lentil is half done add all vegetables to boiling lentil mix and allow the vegetable to cook simmering slowly.

Now add ingredients for flavouring one by one mixing in slowly without breaking vegetable simmer for few minutes until the raw flavour of sambar spice disappears.

For Tempering heat a small pan with add ingredients mentioned one by one while sautĂŠing in between, pour immediately this into the simmering sambar cover with a lid and remove from fire.

Allow the flavours to be infused check salt before serving a properly seasoned sambar brings out very stimulant flavours.

Suggestion: The colour of dish should be yellow to orange, a melange of flavours arising when its served, asafoetida should be used cautiously if used more can turn the food bitter, but a great digestive supplement.

Spinach mezukkupuratty SautĂŠed spinach with spice tempering, Used in lamb roast garnish, Serves: 4 portion, Course: accompany Main 240g baby Spinach/Red Spinach 20ml Coconut Oil 2g Mustard seeds 100g Shallots chopped 10g Green chilly chopped 1sprig Curry leaves Salt to taste How to achieve Wash, clean and cut spinach. Shred or keep whole but remove the stocks.

Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard seeds and once it is done add chopped shallots, curry leaves and sautĂŠ.

Finally add spinach and salt .Keep covered and Cook on low flame.

Suggestion: The colour of dish should be dark brown, when you add fresh cleaned prawn after removing from fire it turns to a perfect cooked prawn dish.

Page | 101

Beetroot pachadi One of the unique dishes in an onam sadhya, The recipe I used in lamb liver dish page 87 a colourful combination.

150g beetroots diced 50g coconut grated 5no: shallots chopped 3no: green chilly 5g ginger chopped 2sprig curry leaves 3g mustard seeds 1g fenugreek seeds To taste salt How to achieve Heat oil add fenugreek seed when its light brown add mustard seeds to crack. Add ginger, curry leaf, shallots, green chilly lightly sautĂŠ add beetroot cook until soft with enough water to cover the beetroot.

When cooked add grated coconut grind to fine puree and adjust seasoning Add curd according to the thickness and taste, as you desired.

Use a hand blender to blend fine if you desire a smooth finish pass through a fine sieve. Pachadi can be served room temperature or warm.

Calicut street style duck egg Duck egg, sweet peas Stir-fried with grated fresh coconut Serves: 1 portion, Course: starter/snack 2no: Duck Egg 15ml coconut oil 1gm Mustard seed 3g chopped ginger 4no: curry leaf 2g chopped green chilly 20g chopped onion 10g grated coconut 10g fresh peas 20g chopped tomato 1g white pepper powder salt to taste

How to achieve Beat egg in a small bowl with chopped onion, tomato, pepper and salt.

Heat Coconut oil in a thick bottom wok style pan, add mustard seed, when it starts cracking add ginger, curry leaf sauté for a minute.

Now add grated coconut sauté until light golden colour Add pea’s sauté and mix in beaten egg mix stirring continuously without sticking check seasoning and serve hot.

Page | 103

You Can substitute with hen egg , a right combination for you tea or light snack accompanied with bread.

Suggestion: The egg should be bright and colourful with garnishes, a perfect dish for a lazy afternoon, quick to make. Can try with all form of edible egg. You may avoid coconut if it’s not your taste and try with Japanese bread crumb.

Breads Kerala Porotta

106

Kuthu Porotta

108

Idli-Dosa

110

Appam

112

Puttu

114

Lamb Biriyani

115

Kappa Meen Curry

119

Page | 105

Kerala porotta Flaky bread cooked on cast iron griddle Serves: 30-40 portion, Course: accompany Main For Dough 500g Plain flour 3g baking powder 1no: egg( medium Hen) 4g teaspoon salt 6g tablespoon of sugar 240ml Milk For cooking 150ml neutral oil How to achieve For Dough In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar using clean hand. Combine egg and flour slowly, add milk little by little while combining the dough together add plain water if required knead tightly to get a Tight dough apply oil on surface and cover with a moist cloth rest for 30 minutes For Layers Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces approximately 60 gm. size, roll in to small ball shape and apply oil on each roll cover and rest for another 15 minutes.

Flatten the ball as thin as possible like dough sheet use oil instead of flour while rolling.

Apply oil on whole surface and cut the sheet lengthwise in two, take one part folding from one side to other width wise as you make ‘w w’ with dough sheet like a paper fan.

Now roll in the folded sheet lengthwise from one end to other like a spool and tuck the end under the roll so when you flatten the layer will not open up.

This is a very important process to get the layer, repeat the process with other side and with remaining dough. Cover the spiral rolls and rest for 15 minutes. Pre-heat an metal griddle or a flat pan, apply oil on a marble top using a rolling pin flatten rolls round with a 0.5cm thickness cook on medium to high heat on each sides smear with oil, to get golden brown spots and layers to puff up. When cooked properly you can break using two fingers.

Each porotta takes about 2-3 minutes for cooking. Maintain medium heat throughout to cook even without burning.

Now the technique to get the layer separated, remove parotta from pan smear line of oil with a brush now beat both sides of parotta using hard surface of your palm like a clap motion Try not to overdo otherwise you will end up breaking parotta in pieces.

Repeat the process for remaining parotta rolls.

Page | 107

Kuthu porotta

Kuthu parotta as the name says - Kuthu - acts of Motion were the cook use sharp steel spatulas to break and mix the parotta pieces to small flaky pieces.

Serves: 2 portion, Course: accompany Main or Tea time snack 200 g Chicken curry (page 55) 4 Plain parotta 30 ml Vegetable oil 50 g Onion-finely chopped 10 g ginger garlic paste 2 no: green chilly thinly sliced 30 g Tomato-finely chopped 1no: Egg 5g Pepper powder 10g fennel powder Salt to taste

How to achieve Break porotta in small pieces and keep aside.In thick bottom flat pan heat oil, add the onion, sauté until onion becomes light brown, add ginger garlic paste sauté till the raw flavor disappears.

Now add the tomato, green chili, curry leaves sauté till tomato gets tender. Add the chicken curry .Heat chicken by spreading and bringing to center with strong flat spoon.

Beat the egg and add over the cooked chicken pieces mix well, add the crumbled parottas chop further and mix simultaneously using the flat spoon , add pepper, fennel powder and salt check seasoning adjust if required.

The dish can be served on its own , for added value to finedining concept can top with fried egg on top can be quail egg,duck egg,chicken egg according to your service standards Suggestion Try keep the mixture moist , if required add more curry sauce , or water / chicken stock to keep the dish moist and tasty. The innovation of kuthuparotta can be defined as a brilliant utilization or recycling of left over.

You can use the same recipe of chicken wings to make chicken curry with boneless pieces or flake the wings to get meat without bones . .For me the best part in chicken is the wings as it is sandwiched between bones most juiciest part.This is an excellent dish can be easily adopted for onsite cooking for any Upmarket restaurant or Brunch concepts. A kerala version of Teppanyaki Page | 109

Idli-Dosa Traditional breakfast dish of Kerala Serves: 20-30 portion, Course: accompany Main or Breakfast dish

50g Black gram lentil split 200g White rice 5g Fenugreek seed To taste salt How to achieve Wash and soak together lentil, rice and fenugreek overnight or for 5 hours.Drain and wash again, strain without water. Grind it to a very smooth paste by just adding enough water. Best result when using a stone grinder.

Check the consistency by touching the batter with no granny feel. The batter gets shiny when grind to smooth.

Take the batter in a deep container and allow to ferment naturally keeping room temperature. The batter will rise so you have to choose correct container or else batter will over flow.

When the batter has risen you can stir and refrigerate if you want use it later.

Before cooking take out required amount and add salt ,adjust consistency by adding water .A thick batter for idli and thin for Dosa It is very important for the batter to be fermented if it is used for Idli as well otherwise when you steam idli it will be very hard. For Dosa it is optional for the batter to ferment.

For Idli Keep the batter in thick consistency grease the idli stand with oil and pour batter in each slot steam covered until you hear the whistle sound. If the steamer is without whistle steam for 5-10minutes.carefully open the steamer lid without dropping the vapour on cooked idli .

For Dosa Make the batter to a pouring consistency. heat a non-stick round flat pan spread the batter in round shape cook by turning sides apply oil on top for getting colour and crispy texture. when you make thin layer the dosa will be crispy, thicker for a soft texture.

Page | 111

Appam “appams� are a famous breakfast from Kerala. It is a relatively simple recipe, but may need some practice to perfect it, Known as Hoppers.

Serves: 25-30 portion, Course: accompany Main or Breakfast dish 250g raw white rice 50g cooked rice 200ml coconut milk 10g sugar 3g dry yeast 10ml Luke warm water Salt to taste Oil for cooking How to achieve Wash and soak rice for 3-4 hours until rice turns to bright white colour, Drain and keep aside. Grind raw and cooked rice in a blender with 100ml coconut milk.

Remove from grinder and add remaining coconut milk and salt.

Dilute yeast with Luke warm water and sugar allow proving for 5 minutes, and adding to the rice paste.

Mix well and make sure the batter is smooth pouring consistency, keep covered for another 2 to 3 hours and allow ferment.

Before cooking stir the batter , If it is thick add milk or water to make it thin pouring consistency.

Heat appam pan , a deep non-stick concave pan grease lightly with oil. Pour one big spoon of batter into pan.

Slowly rotate the batter in the pan in a circular motion so that a thin layer forms on the side while the middle remains thick.

Cover and cook until the middle part becomes fluffy and the edges become golden. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.

Suggestion: The batter will perform much better, and gives a fluffy soft inside when made a day before. check sugar in batter it should taste slightly higher than salt level in batter.

Sugar promotes the colouring of thin sides and gives a crunchy feel.

In the lamb masala recipe, we used the appam that is cooked in a flat pan than a concave for presentation purpose.

You are more than welcome to try different size or shape. The dish is called appam not the shape.

Page | 113

Puttu - a traditional Kerala breakfast dish Roasted and Steamed rice cake Serves: 2 portion Course: accompany Main or Breakfast dish 300g Raw Rice white/Brown 50g Fresh Grated Coconut Water to sprinkle To taste Salt How to achieve Wash Soak rice in water for 4 hours or till the rice swell and become bright white, Leave it to drain and grind it to a coarse to fine powder.

Dry SautĂŠ rice powder in a flat thick bottom pan on a medium heat to remove the raw flavour, Spread the rice on a flat tray and allow to cool. Mix rice powder with salt, sprinkle water just enough to wet the flour and combine well.

To check the consistency of the mixture hold a palm full mixture to make a tight ball, and when you press, it should break freely.

Keep the base of the steamer with hot water and allow boiling.

Place the perforated stainless steel disc in cylindrical mould.

Put a handful of grated coconut on top of perforated disc then put wet rice flour until half followed by another handful of grated coconut and fill another half with rice flour, finish with grated coconut on top. Close the lid and steam until you see the steam escapes through lid.

Lamb Biriyani Serves: 6 portion, Course: main

For the rice: 400g basmati rice 20g cinnamon 10g cloves 10g cardamom 5g black pepper To taste salt For Lamb 500g lamb boneless 100g clarified butter 150 ml neutral oil 250g onions sliced 150g tomatoes chopped 15g ginger sliced Page | 115

20g garlic sliced 6no: green chillies 5g turmeric powder 15g red chilli powder 15g coriander powder 15g garam masala powder 15g fennel powder 1g saffron 50ml Milk 200ml yogurt 20g mint leaves chopped 15g coriander leaves chopped To taste salt How to achieve Wash rice gently until the water becomes clear, Soak basmati rice for 30. Drain and keep aside.Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add ¼th of the sliced onions and fry them until they become golden in colour and crisp in texture.

Remove the onions in a paper towel and keep for garnish.

Clean and cut the lamb into 50g pieces. Wash and drain well.

Grind the ginger, garlic and green chillies in a food processor until it becomes a coarse paste.

Heat oil in a thick bottom pan and add remaining of sliced onions and fry until it becomes translucent. Add the ginger garlic chilli paste and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes, sauté until softened. Add all powdered spices sauté until the oil starts to separate. Add the curd, ½ of mint leaves, coriander leaves.

Now add lamb pieces and mix well. Season with salt, pour water or mutton stock until it cover lamb and cook until the mutton is tender cooked over low heat.

Frequently check to prevent the masala from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan. If needed add more water or lamb stock enough to cook.The lamb masala should have some thick gravy when cooked.

Boil rice along with all whole spices and salt, until it is 60% cooked. If you want Discard whole spices its best to tie in cheesecloth before adding to water, drain and reserve rice.

Pre heat the oven to 165c degrees.

Grease an ovenproof casserole with clarified butter. Spread half of the lamb masala and layer half of the part-cooked rice over it. Pour 2 tablespoon of clarified butter on top and sprinkle some fried onions, mint and coriander leaves. Repeat the step with remaining rice and lamb.Spoon around 50ml saffron soaked warm milk on top of biryani rice.

Place greaseproof paper covering rice and close the lid bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Check whether rice is cooked but retaining shape. Serve equal amount of rice and lamb Suggestion: A good biryani must have perfect cooked lamb and rice , rice should be free falling without sticking to serving spoon.

In traditional cooking half-burned wood pieces are placed on top and bottom of biryani casserole once it’s sealed with wet dough, opened only at the time of serving. once the dough is cooked it indicates the biryani also cooked.

You can substitute lamb with other meat, fish or vegetables.

Page | 117

Kappa , meen curry Tapioca and fish curry Tapioca or cassava was the main staple for all farmers in old days, were they cannot afford to buy rice.it was their main source of energy.

Serves: 6 portion, Course: main For Tapioca 500g Diced Tapioca/cassava 50ml coconut oil 3g mustard seed 50g grated coconut 5g cumin seeds 50g Sliced shallots 2 no: green chillies 10g garlic pods 1 sprig curry leaves Salt to taste

For Fish Curry 400g fresh anchovy (or sardine) Coconut paste 100g Grated coconut 15g chilli powder 10g Coriander powder 3g turmeric powder To Finish 30ml coconut oil 1g fenugreek seed 3g mustard seeds 20 g garlic sliced 15g ginger sliced 2sprig curry leaves 2no: slit green chilies 50g sliced shallots 1 medium size tomato cut in quarters (add only for sardine) 1no: Drumstick 50g tamarind pulp (add only for anchovy) 200ml Fish stock/water To taste salt How to achieve For Tapioca (kappa) Boil tapioca pieces along with salt with enough water to cover, when its half cooked, change water with fresh boiling water and adjust salt cook completely until soft .Drain off the excess water.

Grind together grated coconut, chillies, cumin, shallots, garlic; adding little water to make a coarse paste.

Heat coconut oil in a pan add mustard seeds, curry leaf allow to splutter and add the ground paste sautĂŠ for a minute.

Add cooked tapioca pieces mix well without crushing the pieces, till raw flavour of ingredients vanishes adjust seasoning and remove from fire.

The same fish curry recipe I tried with 400gms of cleaned sardine.

For fish curry Clean, wash and drain anchovy keep on side.

Grind all ingredients mentioned to a smooth coconut paste.

Take drumstick, scrape skin wash and cut 5cm long batons then split all pieces to half by length.

To finish the sauce heat oil in a thick bottom sauce pan add fenugreek seeds wait till it turns golden brown, Now add ingredients till drumstick one by one sautĂŠing in between.

Add coconut paste sautĂŠ for a minute add fish stock or water give the sauce one boil check seasoning. Keep this aside. slide in fish.

Add the remaining curry leaves and kokum star pieces give a boil remove from heat cover with a lid and allow to cook on the sauce heat. This helps the fish to retain amazing texture and flavour.

Pickles & Condiments Gun powder Chemmeen chamanthy

124 125

Coconut chutney

126

Tomato chutney

127

Tamarind chutney

128

Mango Pickle

129

Mulagupodi (Gunpowder) Spicy rice chutney powder kerala style Serves: 5 portion, Course: accompany Idli or dosa 200 g white rice 50g split black lentil 50g bengal gram lentil 5g cumin seeds 20ml coconut oil 2g asafoetida 6 red chillies 5g peppercorns 5g sesame seeds 1 sprig curry leaves Salt to taste How to achieve Dry roast the peppercorn, red chillies and curry leaves in oil till they change colour. Add the remaining ingredients and fry till they turn golden brown.

Spread in flat tray to cool down and powder finely.

Store in dry, airtight bottles. When serving, mix a few spoons of chutney with coconut oil to have with idli or dosa.

Can also eaten dry as a taste enhancer condiment.

Chemmeen chamanthy podi (spiced shrimp powder) Serves: 5 portion, Course: accompany Mainly rice or savoury rice porridge 150 g dry prawns 100g desiccated coconut 5no: whole dry red chilli 50g Shallots 20g Garlic crushed 2 sprig Curry leaves 30g Tamarind Salt to taste How to achieve In a Chinese style wok or similar pan, Dry roast prawns to a golden brown and keep it aside.In same pan dry roast coconut with garlic, shallots, red chilly whole and curry leaves till the coconut turns golden brown in colour and curry leaves turn crisp. saute it in low heat or else coconut will start burning but not be crispy.

Towards the last period of browning, add tamarind and salt to coconut and toss well till the mixture gets hot.Add roasted prawns check the seasoning if needed adjust salt.

Spread in flat tray cool and grind to a powder. Prawn chutney powder is ready. Keep in an air tight container at room temperature and can stay fresh at least two months.

Coconut chutney Serves: 5 portion, Course: accompany Idli or Dosa For coconut paste 150g Grated coconut 2no. whole dry red chillies 30g sliced shallots 5g Ginger Salt to taste For seasoning 30ml Coconut oil 2g Mustard 1no: Red chillies 1 sprig Curry leaves How to achieve Grind together coconut, red chilies, ginger and salt along with 1 cup of water.Heat oil in a pan or a kadai.

Splutter mustard seeds.

Add broken red chillies and curry leaves and saute for a second.Pour it over the chutney.

Tomato Chutney Serves: 5 portion, Course: accompany Idli or Dosa 100g chopped tomato 30ml Oil 2g Asafoetida 3g mustard seeds 1no: whole dry red chillies 3g Cumin seeds 10g chopped garlic 30g chopped shallots 2g Turmeric powder 10g Chilli powder 100ml water Salt to taste How to achieve Heat oil in a sauce pan .

Add asafetida powder, and then mustard seeds when it starts cracking add cumin seeds, dry red chillis and the garlic.

When the red chillies turn brown in colur, add the the tomato mixed with turmeric and red chilli powder.

SautĂŠ till the tomato starts leaving water and start sticking to pan.

Add water and cook on low heat till the tomato is cooked to mash like texture and water is fully absorbed.

Tamarind chutney Serves: 5 portion, Course: accompany Tea Time savoury snacks 200g tamarind 4 no: green chilies 10g ginger chopped 200g jaggery powder(palm 2no: whole red chilies 3g mustard seeds 2g red chili powder 20ml neutral flavored oil Salt to taste

How to achieve Heat oil in a deep bottom sauce pan.

Add mustard seeds after it start cracking , saute whole red chillies, then add the chopped ginger and green chillies and fry for a minute.

Add the tamarind pulp, red chili powder, jaggery, salt and cook on low heat till the mixture thickens.

When it gets a coating consistency similar to honey remove from heat to cool down. If you store in air tight container it can stay fresh up to 2 months.

Mango pickle Serves: 5 portion, Course: accompany biryani , rice dishes 200g dice raw mango 15g red Chilli powder 5g asafoetida 3g turmeric powder 2g mustard seeds 50ml mustard oil 20ml distilled malt vinegar Salt to taste

How to achieve Crackle mustard seeds in a pan of hot mustard oil . Remove pan from heat, add chili powder, salt, asafetida and turmeric. stir for about few minutes till the spice get roasted flavor but be careful not to burn.

Now turn off the heat and let the spices cool down. Add vinegar to this mixture. In a mixing bowl toss the cut mangoes and spice mixture thoroughly. Transfers to an airtight container keep safe this for 3 days for the flavor to get infused into mangoes.

cassava, 23

A Acknowledgment, 8

Casual Dining, 49 Cauliflower emulsion, 73

Appa Chatti, 34

Cheena Chatti, 34

Appam, 34, 83, 84, 105, 112 Asafoetida, 26

Chemmeen chamanthy, 123, 125 Chemmeen Varuthathu, 69

Avial, 14, 92, 93

Chick pea curry, 92

B

Chicken stew, 54

Banana Flower, 24

Chillies, 21

Beef Ularthu, 89

Cinnamon, 19

beetroot air, 71

Cloves, 19

Beetroot pachadi, 87, 92, 102

Coconut, 26

Being a Restaurant owner, 48

Coconut chutney, 123, 126

Biriyani, 105, 115

Coconut oil, 28

Boiling, 31

Colacasia, 25

Brown rice, 25

Colour, 43

C Calicut street, 92, 103

Contents, 7 Curry leaf, 21

D

Calicut street style egg, 92 Cardamom, 18

Dedication, 5

Cardamom, lime Air, 73

Dosa, 29, 34, 59, 105, 110, 111, 126, 127

carrot puree, 83, 84, 85

Drumstick, 27

Drying, 33

Kadala, 95

F

Kappa, 105, 119 Karimeen, 69, 77

Fenugreek, 20

Karimeen pollichathu, 69, 77

Fine dining, 50 finediningindian.com, 10

kera, 12 Kerala, 11

Flavour, 45 Food design concept, 37

Kerala banana, 23 Kerala Cooking Utensils, 34

Frying, 31

G

Kerala cuisine, 3, 9, 12, 14, 18, 20, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 48, 49

ginger pickle, 15

Kerala Porotta, 105

Gingley Oil, 29

Kid Lamb Masala, 83

Gods Own Country, 11

Kokum, 22

Gun powder, 123

Koonu ulli theeyal, 92, 97

I Idli, 34, 55, 56, 99, 105, 110, 111, 124, 126, 127

kopra, 13 Kuthu Porotta, 105

L Internet pages, 7 Lateral arrangement, 39 Introduction, 2, 17

M

J Mango Pickle, 123 Jackfruit, 26 Mappas, 54, 66

K Meat recipes, 82 Kaalan, 16

Meen, 69, 72, 75, 78, 105

Piralan, 80

Meen molly, 69, 78

Plantain, 24

Meen porichathu, 69, 75

Poppadum, 15

Meen vevichathu, 69, 72

Pre-Opening Stage, 51

Mezhukupuratty, 92

Preserving Methods, 30

Mun Chatti, 34

Puttu, 34, 105, 114

Mustard Oil, 29

R

Mustard seeds, 20

Rasam, 15

N

Recipe collection, 53

Nadan kozhi (country chicken), 54

Recipe for Cooking Birds, 54

Njandu, 69, 80, 81

Recipe for Vegetarian, 92

Njandu piralan, 69, 81

S

O

Sambar, 25, 27, 92, 99

Olan, 15

Seafood recipes, 69

Onam, 12

Seasons of Kerala, 16

Onasadhya, 14

Seva Nazhi, 34

P payasam, 15 Pepper, 18 Pepper roast masala, 87 Pickles & Condiments, 123 Pickling, 32

slow dried vegetable, 84 spice fried idli, 56, 57 Stack Up style, 40 Steaming, 32 Stewing, 30 Style of Restaurant service, 49

T

U

Tamarind, 22

Umami, 46

Tamarind chutney, 123, 128

upma, 86, 88

tapioca, 13

Upperi, 15

Tapioca, 23

Uruli/varpu, 34

Taste, 46 Tempering, 100

V Vishu, 12

Texture, 44

W

Theeyal, 27, 97 Where, 46 thoran, 13, 14, 54, 61

Y Toddy, 27 Yam, 25 Toddy shop inspired chicken delicacy, 54 Tomato chutney, 123

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