RAG Demo

Tag: Kerala

  • Cabbage Thoran

    Thoran is the everyday dry vegetable dish of Kerala, served at almost every lunch and always part of the sadya. Any vegetable can be made into a thoran, but cabbage is the most common because it is cheap and cooks fast. The defining feature is the coconut mix, which is crushed, not ground, so it stays fluffy and moist.

    The cabbage is shredded very fine and cooked until just tender, keeping a little bite. The result is light, slightly sweet, mildly hot from green chillies, with turmeric-tinted flecks of coconut throughout. A spoon of thoran on the side of rice and fish curry or sambar is a staple Malayali plate.

    At a glance

    RegionKerala
    CuisineKerala
    DietVegan
    CourseSide dish
    Prep time15 minutes
    Cook time10 minutes
    Total time25 minutes
    Serves4
    Spice levelMild
    DifficultyEasy
    Gluten-freeYes
    Key ingredientscabbage / coconut / green chillies / shallots

    Ingredients

    For the coconut mix

    • 3/4 cup grated coconut
    • 2 green chillies
    • 2 garlic cloves
    • 3 shallots
    • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
    • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

    For the thoran

    • 400 g cabbage (about half a medium head), finely shredded
    • 1.5 tbsp coconut oil
    • 1 tsp mustard seeds
    • 1 tsp urad dal
    • 2 dry red chillies, broken
    • 1 sprig curry leaves
    • 3/4 tsp salt

    Method

    1. Pulse the coconut, green chillies, garlic, shallots, cumin and turmeric in a grinder for 2-3 short bursts without water, or crush in a mortar, until coarse and fluffy.
    2. Toss the shredded cabbage with the coconut mix and salt by hand. Set aside for 5 minutes.
    3. Heat coconut oil in a wide kadai on medium heat. Add mustard seeds, and when they splutter add urad dal, red chillies and curry leaves. Fry until the dal is golden.
    4. Add the cabbage mixture and toss well to coat in the tempering.
    5. Make a well in the centre, cover and cook on low heat for 4-5 minutes. The cabbage will steam in its own moisture; no water is needed.
    6. Uncover and stir-fry on medium heat for 2-3 minutes until the cabbage is just tender and any moisture has evaporated. It should be dry and fluffy, not soggy. Serve warm.

    Tips

    • Shred the cabbage as fine as you can; thick pieces need water and lose their crunch.
    • Mixing the coconut in before cooking, as Kerala homes do, gives a more even flavour than adding it at the end.
    • The same method works for beans, beetroot or carrot.

    Serve with

    Kerala matta rice with sambar, moru curry or fish curry.

  • Malabar Chicken Biryani

    The biryani of the Malabar coast, especially from Thalassery and Kozhikode, is quite different from the biryanis of the north and of Hyderabad. It uses jeerakasala or kaima rice, a short, fragrant grain, and much less chilli. The influence of Arab traders and the Mappila Muslim community shows in its generous use of ghee, fennel and fried cashews and raisins.

    The chicken masala is cooked separately with plenty of onions, tomatoes, green chillies and ginger-garlic, and the rice is cooked in ghee and stock. The two are layered and sealed on dum. The result is aromatic and gently spiced, rich with ghee, with sweetness from fried onions. It is the dish of weddings and Eid in Malabar.

    At a glance

    RegionKerala
    CuisineMalabar
    DietNon-vegetarian
    CourseRice
    Prep time40 minutes
    Cook time75 minutes
    Total time115 minutes
    Serves5
    Spice levelMedium
    DifficultyHard
    Gluten-freeYes
    Key ingredientschicken / kaima rice / ghee / onion / curd

    Ingredients

    For the chicken masala

    • 1 kg chicken, biryani cut
    • 4 tbsp ghee or oil
    • 4 large onions, thinly sliced
    • 8 green chillies, crushed
    • 2 inch ginger and 12 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste
    • 2 tomatoes, chopped
    • 1/2 cup curd
    • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
    • 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
    • 1.5 tsp garam masala
    • 1/2 cup chopped coriander and mint
    • 1 tbsp lemon juice
    • 1.5 tsp salt

    For the rice

    • 3 cups kaima / jeerakasala rice, washed and drained 20 minutes
    • 3 tbsp ghee
    • 1 inch cinnamon, 4 cloves, 4 cardamoms
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1 small onion, sliced
    • 4.5 cups boiling water
    • 1.5 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp lemon juice

    For garnish

    • 3 tbsp ghee
    • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
    • 15 cashews
    • 2 tbsp raisins
    • 1/4 cup chopped coriander and mint
    • pinch of saffron in 2 tbsp milk (optional)

    Method

    1. For garnish, heat 3 tbsp ghee and fry the sliced onion on medium heat for 10-12 minutes until deep golden and crisp. Remove. Fry cashews and raisins in the same ghee, remove, and keep the ghee.
    2. For the masala, heat ghee in a heavy pan and fry the 4 onions on medium heat for 10 minutes until soft and light golden. Add the crushed green chillies and ginger-garlic and saute 3 minutes.
    3. Add tomatoes, turmeric, chilli powder and salt and cook until the tomatoes melt. Add the chicken and toss on high heat for 5 minutes.
    4. Stir in curd, garam masala and half the coriander and mint. Cover and cook on low heat for 20 minutes, without adding water, until the chicken is tender and the masala is thick. Add lemon juice.
    5. For the rice, heat 3 tbsp ghee in a large pot. Fry the whole spices, bay leaf and onion for 2 minutes. Add the drained rice and fry gently for 2-3 minutes until the grains turn opaque.
    6. Pour in the boiling water, salt and lemon juice. Cook covered on low heat for 10-12 minutes until the water is absorbed and the rice is just cooked with separate grains.
    7. To layer, spread half the rice over the chicken masala in its pot (or layer in a separate pot: masala, rice, garnish, rice). Sprinkle half the fried onions, cashews, raisins, herbs and a spoon of the reserved ghee. Top with the remaining rice and garnish, and drizzle saffron milk.
    8. Seal the lid with dough or foil, place the pot on a hot tawa and cook on the lowest heat for 20 minutes. Rest 10 minutes before opening and mix gently from the side while serving.

    Tips

    • Kaima rice is essential for the Malabar taste and texture; basmati makes a different dish.
    • The masala is cooked in the juices of chicken, curd and onions alone; adding water makes it soggy.
    • Fry the garnish onions thin and slow so they turn crisp, not bitter.

    Serve with

    Coconut and date chutney, raita with onion and cucumber, pappadam and lime pickle.

  • Appam with Vegetable Stew

    Appam and stew is the classic breakfast of Kerala's Syrian Christian homes, and it is the dish served on Easter and Christmas mornings. Appam is made from a fermented batter of rice and coconut, traditionally raised with toddy, and cooked in a small round pan called an appachatti, which is swirled to give it its bowl shape.

    A good appam has a lacy, crisp, golden rim and a thick, spongy, slightly sweet centre. The stew, or ishtu, is mild and fragrant: vegetables simmered in thin coconut milk with whole spices, green chillies and ginger, and finished with thick coconut milk. Nothing is fried brown or heavily spiced, so the coconut flavour leads.

    At a glance

    RegionKerala
    CuisineKerala
    DietVegan
    CourseBreakfast
    Prep time30 minutes
    Cook time40 minutes
    Total time70 minutes
    Serves4
    Spice levelMild
    DifficultyMedium
    Gluten-freeYes
    Key ingredientsrice / coconut / coconut milk / potato / carrot

    Ingredients

    For the appam batter

    • 1.5 cups raw rice (pachari), soaked 5 hours
    • 1 cup fresh grated coconut
    • 1/2 cup cooked rice
    • 1 tsp instant yeast
    • 2 tbsp sugar
    • 3/4 tsp salt
    • about 1 cup water

    For the stew

    • 2 tbsp coconut oil
    • 1 inch cinnamon
    • 3 cloves
    • 3 green cardamoms
    • 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
    • 1 large onion, sliced
    • 1 inch ginger, julienned
    • 3 green chillies, slit
    • 1 sprig curry leaves
    • 1 large potato, cubed
    • 1 carrot, cubed
    • 1/2 cup French beans, cut
    • 1/2 cup green peas
    • 1.5 cups thin coconut milk
    • 3/4 cup thick coconut milk
    • 1 tsp salt, or to taste

    Method

    1. Grind the soaked rice, grated coconut, cooked rice, sugar and yeast with water to a very smooth, flowing batter. Cover and ferment in a warm place for 8 hours or overnight, until doubled and bubbly. Stir in salt; the batter should be like thin pancake batter.
    2. For the stew, heat coconut oil in a pan on medium heat. Add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and peppercorns and fry for 20 seconds.
    3. Add onion, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves and saute for 3-4 minutes until the onion is soft but not browned.
    4. Add the potato, carrot, beans and peas with the thin coconut milk and salt. Cover and simmer on low heat for 12-15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
    5. Lower the heat to the minimum and stir in the thick coconut milk. Heat for 1-2 minutes until just hot; do not let it boil, or the milk will split. Switch off.
    6. To make appam, heat an appachatti on medium heat and grease lightly. Pour in a ladle of batter, lift the pan by its handles and swirl once so the batter coats the sides thinly and pools in the centre.
    7. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes until the edges are golden and crisp and the centre is set and spongy. Do not flip.
    8. Loosen with a spatula and serve straight away with the stew.

    Tips

    • The cooked rice in the batter gives appam its soft, spongy centre.
    • Thick coconut milk goes in at the very end on low heat to keep the stew creamy and white.
    • In cold weather, ferment the batter in an oven with only the light switched on.

    Serve with

    Serve the stew poured over the appam; chicken or mutton stew is the festive alternative.

  • The God of Small Things

    Set in the village of Ayemenem in Kerala, the novel moves between 1969, when the fraternal twins Estha and Rahel are seven, and 1993, when they meet again as damaged adults. Their mother Ammu, divorced and quietly defiant, lives on sufferance in her family's house alongside a pickle factory, a bitter grand-aunt and an Oxford-educated uncle who calls himself a Marxist.

    The arrival of the twins' half-English cousin Sophie Mol and Ammu's attachment to Velutha, a gifted carpenter from a Dalit family, bring the household's rules about who may love whom into sharp conflict. Roy reveals the shape of the disaster early and then circles back, so the suspense lies less in what happens than in how ordinary prejudice, politics and fear make it unavoidable.

    The prose is the book's signature: invented compound words, capitalised phrases borrowed from a child's way of seeing, and a looping chronology. It won the Booker Prize in 1997 and remains a defining Indian novel in English for the way it ties intimate grief to caste, gender and the small cruelties of respectable families.

    Book details

    AuthorArundhati Roy
    First published1997
    Original languageEnglish
    GenreLiterary fiction
    TypeFiction
    Pages (approx.)340
    SettingAyemenem, Kerala, 1969 and 1993
    AwardsBooker Prize 1997

    Themes

    • Caste
    • Forbidden love
    • Childhood trauma
    • Family

    Who should read it

    Readers who enjoy lyrical, non-linear fiction and are ready for a story whose tenderness and heartbreak arrive together.