Local Dishes

1. സദ്യ

   sadya

   Sadya (banana-leaf vegetarian feast)

   Usage

   A rice-based feast with many side dishes served on a banana leaf, laid on for Onam, Vishu, temple festivals and weddings. The single order that best represents Kerala cooking

2. അപ്പം

   appam

   Appam (fermented rice pancake)

   Usage

   A bowl-shaped pancake of fermented rice batter: soft in the middle, thin and lacy at the rim. The version leavened with palm toddy instead of yeast is called kallappam in central Kerala

3. പുട്ട്

   puṭṭu

   Puttu (steamed rice-flour and coconut cylinder)

   Usage

   The classic Kerala breakfast: rice flour layered with grated coconut and steamed in a cylinder. Called pittu in south Malabar and Thalappilly, poottu in parts of Thrissur. Usually eaten with kadala curry or banana

4. കടലക്കറി

   kaṭalakkaṟi

   Kadala curry (black chickpea curry)

   Usage

   A curry of black chickpeas, most often served alongside puttu, appam or chapati. "Puttum kadalayum" is the standard pairing

5. ഇടിയപ്പം

   iṭiyappam

   Idiyappam (steamed rice string hoppers)

   Usage

   Rice dough pressed through a mould into fine strands and steamed. Also called noolputtu ("thread puttu"). Eaten at breakfast or supper with curry or sweetened coconut milk

6. പൊറോട്ട

   poṟōṭṭa

   Porotta (layered flatbread)

   Usage

   A many-layered flatbread of refined wheat flour and oil, also spelled parotta. The default partner to a meat curry in a Kerala eatery, and not the same thing as North Indian paratha

7. പത്തിരി

   pattiri

   Pathiri (rice-flour flatbread)

   Usage

   A thin round bread of rice flour, best known from the Muslim communities of the Malabar coast. "Pathiri and chicken" is a standard pairing at feasts and at the breaking of the fast

8. ചട്ടിപ്പത്തിരി

   caṭṭippattiri

   Chatti pathiri (Malabar layered bake)

   Usage

   A layered baked dish from Malabar, central to pre- and post-wedding celebrations and to iftar, and especially popular during Ramadan. Made in both sweet and savoury versions

9. തലശ്ശേരി ബിരിയാണി

   talaśśēri biriyāṇi

   Thalassery biryani

   Usage

   The biryani of Thalassery in north Kerala. It uses short-grain kaima / jeerakasala rice rather than long-grain basmati: the rice is fried in ghee, then layered with spices and chicken and finished by dum steaming

10. കപ്പ ബിരിയാണി

    kappa biriyāṇi

    Kappa biryani (tapioca with meat)

    Usage

    Despite the name there is no rice in it: tapioca cooked and mixed with meat. Also called ellum kappa or kappa irachiyum, most popular in central Kerala and a signature dish of roadside stalls and toddy shops

11. അവിയൽ

    aviyal

    Aviyal (mixed vegetables in curd and coconut)

    Usage

    Several kinds of vegetable bound with thick curd and ground coconut. A centrepiece of the sadya, vegetable-forward and only mildly spiced

12. തോരൻ

    tōran

    Thoran (vegetables stir-tossed with grated coconut)

    Usage

    Chopped vegetables tossed with grated coconut, a sadya staple. Note that in north Kerala the same dish is called upperi, and in Tamil Nadu poriyal — the word shifts by region

13. ഓലൻ

    ōlan

    Olan (ash gourd and cowpeas in coconut milk)

    Usage

    Ash gourd and cowpeas simmered gently in coconut milk. Distinctively restrained in its spicing compared with other Kerala curries, and a core dish of the Onam sadya — a good choice if you avoid heat

14. കാളൻ

    kāḷan

    Kaalan (thick sour curd curry with plantain or yam)

    Usage

    Curd and coconut cooked with green plantain or yam into a thick, notably sour curry. A traditional sadya dish

15. എരിശ്ശേരി

    eriśśēri

    Erisseri (pumpkin or yam simmered with pulses)

    Usage

    Plantain, yam or pumpkin cooked with pulses and topped with roasted coconut, served at the sadya. Called elisseri in some districts

16. ഇഞ്ചിപ്പുളി

    iñcippuḷi

    Inji puli (ginger-tamarind relish)

    Usage

    A relish of tamarind, ginger, green chilli and jaggery that is sour, hot and sweet at once. Also called puliyinji or inji curry, and served in a small dab at the edge of the banana leaf

17. സാമ്പാർ

    sāmpār

    Sambar (lentil and vegetable curry)

    Usage

    The basic lentil-and-vegetable curry of all South India. In Kerala it turns up on the sadya leaf, in every rice meal, and alongside idli and dosa

18. കരിമീൻ പൊള്ളിച്ചത്

    karimīn poḷḷiccatu

    Karimeen pollichathu (pearlspot grilled in banana leaf)

    Usage

    Karimeen (pearlspot) from the Kerala backwaters, coated in masala, wrapped in banana leaf and grilled. Available across the state, but Kumarakom is the place it is famous for

19. മീൻകറി

    mīnkaṟi

    Meen curry (fish curry)

    Usage

    The most everyday fish dish in Kerala. Which fish it is changes with the shop and the season, so it is worth asking

20. കേരള ബീഫ് ഫ്രൈ

    kēraḷa bīph phrai

    Kerala beef fry

    Usage

    A beef dish. Beef fried slowly in coconut oil with masala, onion and curry leaves, also called beef ularthiyathu. Kerala has Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities living side by side and beef is an ordinary item on eatery menus here. Avoid if your diet or faith excludes it

21. പായസം

    pāyasam

    Payasam (sweet milk pudding)

    Usage

    The South Indian sweet that closes a sadya. Malayalam distinguishes payasam (one cooking) from pradhaman (two cookings)

22. അടപ്രഥമൻ

    aṭaprathaman

    Ada pradhaman (rice-flake and jaggery pudding)

    Usage

    A pradhaman made with ada, steamed flakes of rice flour. The richest of the payasams and a fixture at large sadyas

23. പഴംപൊരി

    paḻampori

    Pazhampori (banana fritter)

    Usage

    Ripe banana, usually the nendran variety, dipped in batter and deep-fried. The standard companion to afternoon tea, piled up on the counter of every tea shop

24. നേന്ത്രക്കായ ഉപ്പേരി

    nēntrakkāya uppēri

    Nendrakkaya upperi (banana chips)

    Usage

    Nendran bananas sliced thin and fried in coconut oil — the classic Kerala souvenir, and also served on the sadya leaf. Note that in north Kerala upperi on its own means thoran, so name the variety when ordering

25. ഉന്നക്കായ

    unnakkāya

    Unnakkaya (stuffed banana roll)

    Usage

    A Malabar snack: barely-ripe nendran banana mashed into a casing around a filling of cashew, raisin and sugar, then deep-fried. Unnakkaya is an alternative name for kayada

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