50 years of Kerala

When Parasuraman, in a mad burst of anger flung his axe into the sea to reclaim a little strip of land, he would not have guessed that the fiery axe throwing, revolutionary, opinionated spirit would be the driving force of the people who came to live in that land.

Today, Kerala as we know it turns 50. Despite having probably the least no of working days in the country & the maximum no of 'opinion makers' - those who sit around all day making opinions, Kerala has done remarkably well for itself. What better a day than today to think of some of the myriad contributions this state has made to the world...!!

Food

Kerala has an exotic range of cuisine, from the globally acclaimed breakfasts of Puttu & appams, along with a staggering variety of non veg dishes that we eat through every day. But there are some which stand out, because of their contribution to brand Kerala.

1. Banana chips

Every little junction in Kerala now has a cart selling banana chips - with the flavour, thickness & colour varying from town to town. So you have the thicker, salt & pepper flavoured chips from Trivandrum to the svelte ones from Trichur to the even more anorexic ones in Calicut, each claiming to be the authentic 'mother of all banana chips'. Stores even display certificates of participation in the 'Annual banana convention' & sure enough there must be an All Kerala Banana Chips Sellers Association - with two wings having leftist & rightist orientations.

Any self respecting Keralite knows that it is his/her responsibility to bring back kiloes of chips back to where all self respecting Keralites work - outside Kerala. We also know that these chips are available in railway stations across the country, just in case we forget to get the 'authentic ones' .
The best chips : Shanmugha chips, near Sree Chitra Home, Thakaraparambu,Trivandrum

2. Kerala Porotta

There are conflicting claims about the origin of this multi faceted roti. In TN, they sell it as Ceylon Paratha & since I do not profess any regional cuisine knowledge whatsoever, I shall not give any other conflicting claims. Two shops away from each banana chips stall is the Porotta counter. The making of the Porotta is an art in itself - the love affair with oil beginning at times almost 3 hours before the actual making of it.

For some reason, we have decided that this art is something to be displayed - so all the 'chicken corners' & shops selling 'chapathi & chicken' will have the Porotta counter outside, where a gruff looking lungi clad man will go about beating up, dipping in oil, stretching, dipping in oil, flipping & fanning in the air, dipping in oil, elongating, dipping in oil, creating a jalebi like pattern, dipping in oil, beating with a flat palm, dipping in oil, putting on a black slab, splashing on oil, creating a stash, beating the crap out of it & finally dipping in oil for some flavour. And magically, the multi layered porotta is created. According to specialists, the more you beat up the porotta, the more layers it will get. Clearly a Type B approach to food.

The best porotta - "balayannan's" shop which started as a cart, now apparently a business conglomerate near the Uppidamood bridge, Kaithamukku, Trivandrum. For those not clued in to Malayalam phrases - 'annan' - a term denoting respect similar to 'Bhai', 'Annai'

3. Beef Fry

People think that Kerala is a land of beefeaters. It is largely true. Though this is ascribed to the pluralistic society, it is largely due to the fact that we are not averse to eating any animal - holy or not. Kerala, because of its strong communist & socialist roots has a poor man's version for everything - for eg, the movie star Dileep is considered as a poor mans Mohanlal & so on. Beef is the poor man's - as well as students', daily workers' and the headload workers unions' (who constitute about 80% of Kerala's able bodied youth & 90% of Kerala's able bodied old men) - chicken.

There are many varieties to the Beef fry - known as beef chilli, beef chilli fry, beef roast etc, depending on where you eat it. One amazing thing is that beef fry is perhaps the only dish which is served garnished with onion rings, irrespective of the size, smell & location of the joint. Best eaten with Kerala Porotta.

The best beef fry - Mali rest-o-rent, 'Kavala', Changanacherry, Kottayam Dist
Again - 'Kavala' literally means junction. So Kavala in changanacherry is the biggest junction there. (Yes, things are simple in Gods own country)

4. Coconut oil

Some may argue that coconut oil is not a complete food. But we know that every day you have to have your proteins, carbs, vitamins & coconut oil. Scientists across the world are in a mad race to prove that coconut oil is the latest 'fad' oil. Many a weak hearted man have fallen to the charms of coconut oil, and till Oprah tells us about the magic qualities of this oil, we just have to take the risk & get on with it.

No other ingredient has been able to polarise the population in a way like coconut oil - if you like it, you dont know what it tastes like, so you are ok with it OR if you dont like it, you steer clear of all dishes cooked in it. There is a misconception that all dishes in Kerala are cooked with some coconut oil in it. This is largely true. I have a feeling that this extensive use of coconut oil has something to do with the syllabus that we are taught in junior school - the coconut tree is called the 'Kalpa Vriksham' - whose every part has some use or the other. The latest involved generating electricity from coconut oil, but those reports are still unconfirmed.

5. Sharjah shakes

For every Keralite living in Kerala, there are two working in Dubai & one in Sharjah. So it is only natural that this 'Gulf influence' percolate to food & drinks. Sharjah shake is one such phenomenon. The exact formula for sharjah shake is a closely guarded secret, known only to the late great grandfather of the Sharjah Stall owner in Chinnakada, Quilon.So a no of variants have appeared, but all that is in the public domain is that it contains frozen milk, bournvita (or any similar substitute), a small banana & sugar.

Here again, many cities vie for the claim of introducing 'Sharjah' to the masses - but the leadrunners are Quilon & Calicut. The drink is guaranteed to freeze your tongue - you know you have had a good 'Sharjah' when whatever you say for 10 minutes - sounds surprisingly similar to "...yeeble jeeble.." & you find it difficult to close your mouth. 'Sharjah' connoisseurs will scoff at anyone who tries to use a spoon or straw to drink it & will gulp it down in a 'bottoms up' fashion. Like every successful brand, 'Sharjah' has also had its share of rip offs - ranging from "Abu dhabi" to "Al Ain" to "Paris" & "Diana" - all substituting the banana with some other fruit.

The best sharjah - Stall at Chinnakada, Quilon

5. Others narrowly missing the cut were -a. Kozhikode Halwa,b. Appams,c. Banana Fry,d. Kappa (Tapioca) & Fish currye. Puttu (Steamed rice cake)