Salt-baked recipes are an ancient theme as early as the 4th century before the common era, which has always been the outcome of functional cooking methods. The salt-crust encapsulation protects the food from direct heat and ensures even cooking and the possibility of drying out. It is a popular method for cooking all meat products;…
Tag: Kerala
Surrounded by water🌊 and enveloped in rain🌧🌴
We landed in Kerala in pouring rain and realized that we had forgotten to pack the umbrella ☔️. It was a Sunday morning and most shops in Kochi had their shutters down; but our taxi driver was helpful and we managed to buy an umbrella the way to the hotel. I had initially tried yanking…
Onam in a Nightie📚: Buoyant & nostalgic, stories of homecoming and serendipitous conversations 🧳
I kept away from this book as long as I could; I found the title a bit of a put off. But the yellow cover wouldn’t let off, the book appeared in every bookshop I visited and was very visible. I had not heard of the author before and finally in one of the bookshops,…
For special occasions 🍚
“Why can’t you make this coconut chutney more often ?” asked the kid, slicing off and scooping up a large spoonful from the red coconut chutney ball and adding to his bowl of hot kanji. Good Friday lunch has always been kanji (rice gruel) made from broken red rice (matta) grains, payar (this year it’s…
POTD: Glorious sea of magenta 💖 (guest post)
The magenta water lilies are in full bloom as far as eyes can see. They have covered the paddy fields and are a spectacular sight to behold !! And where is this? @Kottayam, Kerala. Early morning is the best time to visit this lovely scene and you can go amidst this bloom in a vallam…
Onam nostalgia 🏵
It’s that time of the year again, closer that I thought; Thiruvonam is on 21 August, Saturday. All are in a festive spirit with the schools closed on Friday, a holiday on account of Muharram and Sunday is Raksha Bandhan. The Onam sadya (feast) has more than 20 items (vegetarian) served on a banana leaf…
A taste of Kerala…😘
Looks like Brownies; but no 😌 Homemade; yes ! 😘 It’s a fruit halwa… 😉 Jackfruit halwa 🤗 Tasty and unique to Kerala…a taste of home !! Till next post, take care !!
Jasmine ❀❀
The June flower for me is Jasmine. In our apartment complex we have two small Jasmine shrubs growing in a quiet corner thanks to the efforts of our hired gardners. They would normally go unnoticed as the flowers currently are blooming in single digits only. For me, just one white Jasmine flower amidst the dark…
POTD: River and rain in Kerala 🌧🌧
My folks at home in Kerala reported incessant rains from yesterday morning, 14 May Friday and it’s still raining there today also. The reason is a depression and low pressure over the Arabian sea that could potentially be a cyclone (named Tauktae) in the making. The rains though are providing a welcome relief from the…
POTD: Trail of Gold 🌅 (guest pic)
6:15 pm: View from the Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty Sunset over the Vembanad lake 🌊 ❀❀❀ Till next post, take care !!
POTD: Farm to home 🍍
Pineapples from Kerala🍍; grown in our relative’s land and hence has the premium tag of being 100% organic. And they are enormous too; speaks about the fertility of the land and the well tending hands !! Living in Bangalore, it’s food items that we prize during our visits home in Kerala. Though we can get…
People of the Pepper Kingdom 👑
Accompanying me on this trip to Kerala is the book “Eating India” by Chitrita Banerji. Borrowing a line from the book on Kerala… “A state tourism brochure proclaims: ‘With the Arabian Sea to the west, the Western Ghats towering 500-2700 meters to the east and networked by forty-four rivers, Kerala enjoys unique geographical features that…
An evening by the Vembanad lake🌅 @Grand Hyatt, Bolgatty, Kochi
“Kochi, one night? No problems, will get you a shack on the waterfront.” hubs trying to be funny. “You will love the views” he said. Hubs was not kidding. The waterfront view was pretty spectacular !! And I must say, the shack is pretty grand. There was this after the rains kind of stillness everywhere,…
Punalur – A (road) trip down the memory lane (guest post)🚂
So far our road trip from Bangalore to Kerala was uneventful; we sped along the empty highways crossing Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and finally arrived at the borders of Kerala. After 8 hours of non-stop driving and a ½-hr pitstop, it was the Tamil Nadu-Kerala interstate check post at Aryankavu which was proving to be a…
Love is Brown 🍂
No, it’s not chocolates, but equally sweet 😋 There are a few things quintessential Kerala, starting with Usha Uthup’s song Ente Keralam 🎶🎵🎶 followed by food specialities like banana chips, jackfruit halwa, tapioca & fish curry, parotta & beef, puttu and so on. There is much more you can keep appending to the list, like…
Prawn delights 🍤
You know the curry is good when the kid says “Why don’t you make this more often?” 😁 Roasted coconut is often added to curries to make the gravies rich, thick and so much more tastier. But the fact that you need to grate coconut, roast and then grind it into paste translates to more…
Postcards from Wayanad 🛤 (guest post)
Bidding adieu to the teak forests in Nilambur, we travelled further north of Kerala to reach the district of Wayanad. This sleepy district was suddenly thrust into the limelight when Rahul Gandhi decided to contest the Lok Sabha elections from here. Barring the sudden political spotlight, Wayanad has always been a popular weekend getaway for…
Green escapades in north Kerala🌴 (guest post)
Nilambur is a green, picturesque town in the northern district of Malappuram, Kerala renowned for it’s magnificent teak plantations and forests. A perfect green escape from the concrete jungles and asphalt plains of the city. The place is chequered in spectacular hues of green and there is no escaping the majestic trees !! Teak wood…
POTD: Vallam 🛶
There is a road, a highway actually in front my parents home in Kottayam, Kerala; along the banks of the Meenachil river. The river water has spilled onto the roads again this monsoon. While the buses and cars have stopped plying, it’s time to bring out the vallam, the small black beaked boat popularly sighted…
Another August Monsoon in Kerala 🌴
Sitting in Bangalore, I can romanticise the monsoons in Kerala. But the people in Kerala esp. in this month of August will fail to see my excitement. It’s a hat trick for the state in terms of the floods in August; this year is third time in the running🌧. From the past two years’ experience,…
Miles and smiles 
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