Kochi’s Christmas hampers are full of sweet stories

The change in Cochin’s confectionery ecstasies is palpable from the body of work of its passionate home bakers. This year, more of them have come forward with carefully curated festive hampers showcasing the best food treats from their repertoire of Christmas themes. They were open for orders since the last week of November. The last set of goodies would be going out about now after which most of them would take a long break from their busiest season in their yearly baking calendar. A few of them spoke to me between breaks, in the true spirit of Christmas.

Once upon a time, Christmas in Kerala was synonymous with the gifting of the spiced, dark-brown plum cakes studded with raisins and nuts covered with hard icing, a piping of pink roses and its green leaves. Privately we would dread the sight of these cakes after a certain point in the season. The initial excitement of the mixing, chopping the fruits and nuts, adding them to the rum to soak and, having them mature over time wears off as we get inundated with gifts in the form of cakes from family and friends.

Food

December 7, 2019

Restaurant Review: Vella Kanthari

Malayalees do have a penchant for seafood. Every family and region has their own recipes for meen pattichathu, pollichathu, thenga arachathu, meen masala, fish mappas and fish mollee. So then, if you are on Container Road, wait patiently if required, for a table at Vella Kanthari. It serves great food at affordable rates in neat surroundings.

The proprietors John and his wife Nitsy choose to serve palate-tickling fish dishes a Malayalee has grown up eating with basic recipes. The meen thilapichathu as they call it, or meen pattichathu as I have grown up saying, is a tangy fish curry cooked traditionally with red chilly powder and dried Malabar tamarind. The meen peera is made with smaller fishes in a mix of coarsely-ground fresh coconut, turmeric, shallots, ginger, green chilies and curry leaves. These staple homely food is essentially what they serve.

Housed in their own property as an extension of their home at Mulavukad between the police station and the toll plaza, they have been in this business for six years. John manages the inflow of food, Nitsy takes the orders, and her mother is in charge of the billing counter.

Food

By Aswathi Maria

November 11, 2019

Restaurant Review: Cafe 17’s new outlet at Ravipuram

One evening, post a dessert of neat triangular Nutella sandwiches, my cousin had a sudden craving for banana with sugar. It was nearly 11 pm and, my boisterous bunch of friends had been at Café 17 since evening, seated at the most sought-after long table under the staircase, which I have dubbed the ‘Harry Potter corner’. They had ordered most of what was on the menu. I don’t know if Praveen Mohan of Cafe 17 will recollect this incident but his generous gesture of sending over a plate of sliced bananas with bowls of honey, sugar, and chocolate sauce is one of the most endearing memories that I have of Café 17. Like me, the other regulars, too, will surely have such tidbits to share.

Cafe 17 turns 5 this month. In addition, they have recently launched a brightly-lit two-storey outlet next to Fab India at Ravipuram. The new cafe offers fine dining unlike their Kaloor-Kadavanthra Road’s hangout space. Nevertheless, there is a wall-mounted television on each floor for the football lovers for screenings of the league matches. Foodwise, there are more options on the menu and a spacious first floor to hold meetings and workshops.

Food, Restaurant Review

By Aswathi Maria

November 2, 2019

The Incredible Taste of Fish Curry in a Mud Pot

One of the many memories that I have of my summers with my grandmother, back home in Kochi, was the ubiquitous sound of the horn that Ouseph had fitted onto his cycle when he pedaled his way over to houses to sell fish. He would describe the fish, all of course fresh, gossip a little and of course cuss the political system. This was almost a ritual.

In the meantime my grandmother would have bought the fish and would head out to the waterfront that nestled in the backyard to clean the fish or would ask the help to do it. The discarded silver scales shone like shards of glass. The cat that pretended to be my granmother’s pet would amble in, in the hope of getting a few bones.

The fish as far as I remember was always cooked in an earthen vessel, the mann chatty or a baked mud pot—Mann/Mannu literarily meaning mud. A round-bottomed and a wide-mouth vessel and the bottom sat very snugly on the wood stove. If we saw the mann chatty on the wood stove we never asked what was for lunch. It had to be the fish curry.

Food

By Mini Nair

October 19, 2019

The Kalan and the Kalchatty: Made for each other

Like any kalan-loving Malayali, I have a special utensil called kalchatty in my kitchen. A kalchatty is nothing but an eye-shaped vessel made of soapstone or literally a stone vessel (Kal/kallu stands for stone in Malayalam). I have carried my kalchatty with me wherever I go and have gifted a few of those to my friends, who discovered more uses for it as home décor than cooking. However, I shall not digress.

The stone vessel I remember that was used in hearths back home was black, felt smooth and cool to touch. I guess that was my first lesson in heat conduction. And years later when I was scouting for a kalchatty, most of them were grey in color. But I learned that years of cooking in it makes the vessel blackish.

All new kalchatties had to go through an initiation ceremony. They must be filled with plain water, or better still, starch water, and left to stand for hours, maybe even overnight, to be ready for cooking. The vessel must always be placed on low flame—there is a danger of the mighty stone cracking if kept on a high flame initially.

Food

By Mini Nair

October 5, 2019

Exploring Pizhala and other Islets of Kochi

It is said that we travel in search of people whom we overlook in our neighbourhood. So when my wife Sabeena Ismail and our six-year-old daughter Charu Gulnar and I decided to go on a one-day trip on our bike, we chose the neighbouring islets of Kochi—the island cluster of Pizhala, Kadamakkudy, Chennur and Charianthuruthu. Though majority of the islands are no longer islands as bridges have connected them to the mainland, Pizhala is still surrounded by river Periyar on all sides.

Pizhala Island was formed naturally during the great floods of 1341 AD which choked the Muziris Port near present-day Kodungallur. We started at 6.55 am from our home near the Marine Drive past the picturesque container terminal road (the 15km National Highway developed recently to connect Vallarpadam International Container Terminal to the National Highway 966A at Kalamassery).

The ride through the container road itself is a feast to the eyes especially early mornings and evenings. The stretch starting from Vallarpadam is the best as backwaters, rivers, mangroves, migratory birds, Chinese fishing nets, will welcome you on both sides of the path. It’s a unique mixture of blue and green. A glimpse of the waterworld with generous greenery.

Food, Life, People, Tourism, Travel

By Ron Bastian

September 28, 2019

Navratri: A Time for Fasting and Feasting

Standing with folded palms in front of the goddess, with the temple bells resounding in the background, brings back pleasant memories of my childhood. Navratri always does that to me. As a young girl, I was accorded special importance during the festival like all the other little girls of a certain age.

The end of the fifteen-day period of ‘shradha’, when Hindus perform pujas in memory of their ancestors and deceased relatives, heralds the start of the festival of Navratri. Navratri, the nine-day festival celebrated in veneration of Goddess Durga, is marked with fasting and feasting. Celebrated with great fervour among North Indians, it has even become popular down South. In Tamil Nadu, it is celebrated as the doll festival (navratri kolu), where they decorate their temple with small idols of gods and goddesses on flower-bedecked wooden steps.

On the sixth day of navratri (shashti), beautifully-made idols of Goddess Durga would be installed at various pandals. Right until Dussehra, the festivities continue. Late evenings, I was always overwhelmed by the fragrance of rose petals and raat ki raani at various puja venues. Drummers worked up a religious fervour, devotees danced in frenzy, vermilion smeared on their foreheads. Women dressed in colourful lehengas and men wearing turbans, dhotis and angarkhas performed the dandiya gracefully to melodious music.

Culture, Festivals, Food, Religion

By Manisha Jain

September 11, 2019

Onam Sadya: A Medley of Flavours

The parippu curry was to die for: Roasted lentils, ground coconut, green chillies and a hint of jeera—the proportion had to be exact and the ingredients mixed just so to give it that special flavor—and a dollop of home-made ghee on top of it, with pappadams on standby to be crushed and mixed. Beneath it lay a mound of steaming rice slow-cooked on wood fire. And the rice itself was served on freshly-cut and washed banana leaves from the backyard.

Vegetarian fare that was a rarity in our home, like many a Syrian Christian family in Central Kerala. Yes, there was the Easter Holy Week but those were reluctant meals instead of the eagerly-awaited ones on Onam day.That there was an art to how it is served is something that never crossed our minds as kids. We were busy with the excitement of having food on banana leaves sitting cross-legged on the floor.

The tongue of the leaf has to be on your left, and the dishes would start from there. There was no stinginess with regard to upperi and sharkkara varatti; we were free to have as much of those as we wanted. Next to it would be the cheru pazham, followed by mango and lime curry; the luscious erissery made from a mishmash of pumpkin, red beans and grated coconut; the humble pulissery, the sweet and sour kaalan; the pineapple pachadi; the confluence of koottu curry; the lip smacking inji curry; almost all the vegetables coming together for avial; the kichadi, and a cabbage thoran were the usual suspects. Olan made an appearance now and then. And rice—always the red, kuthari variety. And, at least two varieties of payasams rounding it off.

Culture, Festivals, Food

By Bindu Manoj

August 12, 2019

Garnished with nostalgia, a dash of longing and some curry leaves

I stand at the Costco counter in utter confusion: Chuck; rib; round; flank; short plate; brisket; shank; ground; stew; pot roast; loin; sirloin; tenderloin—and let out a huge sigh; life was so much simpler when it was just beef.

Back home, during my childhood, Sunday mornings always started with a visit to the butcher’s shop. You had to be there early enough to get the best parts. The stall was rudimentary: Four coconut poles to balance the thatched roof; a bench that has seen far better days; hooks from which hung the fresh meat. The centerpiece being the butcher’s cutting board; calling it a board would have been exaggeration that stretched too far—the base of a tree trunk, cut horizontally with remnants of years of chopping embedded, each chunk of meat that passed through must have left its imprint on it.

The butcher stood bare-chested, a thorthu mundu (loincloth) was his only piece of clothing. With his knife that was sharpened to perfection on a piece of rock, kept handy, he would expertly slice out a piece, wrap it in a large chembu (colocasia) leaf and pass it on to you.

Food

By Bindu Manoj

July 24, 2019

An Ode to a Duck Roast

Take the room and the table: whether the room was built for the table or the other way round would be a chicken and egg story. They were a perfect pair, made for each other. On a normal day, ten people could easily sit around it. And on special days, another four could be squeezed in without much ado. A bottle or two of pickle made from home-grown mangoes or lemon, a jar of rock salt and a few glasses were permanent residents there. Others would come and go depending on the time of the day.

Puttu that felt like fluffy pieces of cloud was an infidel. Her partner would change according to the fancies of the queen of the kitchen. If it was egg roast one day, it would be the turn of kadala the next. Ripe palayamkodan or njaali poovan pazhams mashed to an almost liquid state at times, honey at others, sometimes even treasured pieces of meat or fish pickle from the store room—boredom was never associated with it. Appams that were as soft as the skin on my ammachi’s face and stew was a Sunday staple.

Fish was a staple for lunch. River fish was the choice of flavor—anything else would be blasphemy for a race surrounded by water. The usual concoction would be red in colour and the inhabitants a kaari or a manja koori. These species are apparently extinct now. Anyway, coming back to the table, the king of all, karimeen used to make its appearance quite frequently—either as a fried version or a mappas.

Food

By Bindu Manoj

July 12, 2019

An Unforgettable Feast

When I came to Navi Mumbai 13 years ago, I couldn’t help feeling lost. Leaving Bengaluru wasn’t easy. It meant leaving close family members, friends, a huge spacious home, wonderful weather, and last but not the least, my favorite restaurants.

When I came here, I had hoped this city would embrace me and make me feel at home. Back then in 2006, Navi Mumbai was in the process of growing and didn’t have many places to dine out. There were a few restaurants that we frequented but being foodies, we decided to explore more; so Mumbai was the obvious destination.

Navigating through the streets of this big city in search of gastronomical delights, we soon realized that the city has so much to offer in terms of cuisines from different regions. But again, it depends on the mood as to what one would want to eat on a particular day. Like chaat, the city’s all-time favorite street food. I got so hooked I was gorging on it every week without a care in the world. I just couldn’t get enough of it.

Food

By Sunita Nair