TRADITIONAL FOODS OF KERALA
Dr. John J. Lal
It is generally believed that �what a man eats speaks great deal about who he is and where he came from�. Food habits are greatly influenced by culture, belief, tradition and even religious practices. Traditional foods of Kerala are rather unique being influenced by tradition, vegetation, aquatic wealth and climatic conditions. Flavour, spice and aroma constitutes a wholesomeness that is exquisite on the palate and easy on stomach aptly defines Kerala�s culinary tradition. These unique food preparations help to reinforce and maintain an identity for Kerala.
The routine dietary in a family of Kerala consists of breakfast, lunch and supper. Kanji (Rice gruel) with some vegetable curry and pickles or boiled tapioca formed traditional breakfast until recent past, but now it has been replaced by tea, coffee or other beverages taken with dishes like �appam� (rice pan cake) and thick stew, �puttu� (steamed rice cake), �idiyappam� (steamed rice cake, which looks like fine noodles), idly (made of fermented rice and black gram), �dosa�, �kozhukatta� (stuffed ball) etc. Most important item for lunch is the �choru� (cooked rice), special vegetable curries and butter milk. Instead of raw rice parboiled rice is common. For the richer sections of the society, tiffin served in the after noon consists of a cup of tea or coffee and some sweet or delicacy. The supper consists of either �kanji� or similar items as for lunch.
The three major festivals, Oman, Vishu and Thiruvathira, are ushered in with simple ceremonies and with plenty of food. The traditional array of dishes (�sadyavattams�) for these great festivals include �chambavari choru� (cooked red rice), aviyal (mixed vegetable curry), olan, kootukary, sambar, pulissery, erissery, kaalan, pappadam, upperi and payasam. Pieces of boiled banana (pazham nuruku), ada (rice paste spread on a banana leaf and stuffed with coconut and jaggery and stemed), ari-unda (a rice powder ladu) and kumbilappam (a dumpling of rice flour, jaggery and jackfruit preserve) and unni-appam (a fried sweet) add extra taste for these festivals. The popular word in the cooking scenario of Kerala is �kaippunyam� � a phrase that refers to an innate ability to magically transform even the simplest raw items to the most delicious one. The essence of our cooking revolves around the appropriate use of aromatic spices. This skill lies in the subtle blending of a variety of spices to enhance rather than overwhelm the basic flavor of a particular dish. Keralites are grateful to the skilled craftsmen who prepare these delicious food items.
Naranga vellam (limejuice), chaya (tea) kappi (coffee), Sambharam, ilaneer (tender coconut water), kallu (Toddy), malli vellam (coriander water), tulsi kappi (Tulsi coffee), tulsi vellam (tulsi water), Chemparathi squash (shoe flower squash), etc. are some the common beverages of Kerala. Our food habits are definitely influenced by our great culture, which are enriched by the insights of our great forefathers, who led a spiritual life in close association with the Mother Nature. Our food habits and life style are also influenced by Ayurvedic practices. Ayurveda emphasizes a holistic lifestyle that has many components which stipulates a life pattern in which even food could act as a medicine. Thus our food was considered to be our medicine as as Hippocrates said, "Let food be your medicine" Usually our food is largely non-greasy, roasted and steamed. Most of the items are very cheap, easy to cook and include vegetables and green leaves and thus offer an array of health benefits. Our beverages are also cheap, easily available, rich in phytochemicals (plant origin chemicals), have no side effects and without any major pollutants. When a layman comes across a terminology like �phytochemicals�, he may take aback, thinking that the it is concerned with some synthetic products or chemicals of some scientific interest. When explained in assimilable way, it is nothing but the parts and parcel of our good old traditional food.
Probably the beneficial effects of these ingredients in preventing diseases like cancers, heart diseases, hypertension, cataract, etc. are newer information of scientific concerns. But, our forefathers and former generations use to adopt a dietary habit consisting of these food items rich in these phytochemicals or so called �super nutrients�, without knowing their benefits in the present way. For that reason, scientific innovations can claim some credits. If we examine pattern of consumption of the traditional food preparations and beverages in our villages, there is no regular intake of a single item. Depending on seasons and climatic conditions there are different types of food and beverages. Thus there is a continuous and slow exposure of a variety of plant based chemicals or phytonutrients to our population.
But in the past several years our dietary patterns and food habits got changed very fast influenced by various factors. Our youngsters are mostly after �convenience foods�, most of them are in fact energy intense. These foods are now notorious for �empty calories�. As a result our conventional foods and popular drinks went into oblivion.
Herbal remedies are rapidly gaining popularity throughout the world as a result of dissatisfaction with conventional medicines. It is a widely held belief that herbal preparations are "natural" and are therefore intrinsically harmless. (However, their effects can be very powerful and potentially lethal if used incorrectly). Since our traditional food and beverages are amply blessed with the goodness of herbs, there is a need to unravel the scientific principles underlying our rural custom of eating specific foods and to promote their consumption not only during disease conditions, but also on a preventive basis.