Rich taste of Kerala

Food has always been an important part of the Syrian Christian home. Lathika George's The Suriani Kitchen gives you glimpses of another lifestyle.

Food, in any Syrian Christian home, is a lifestyle. And the rich, fertile land provided the community with not only vegetables and fruits but also spices. The lure of the spices was so strong that historical evidence has it that even before the time of Christ there were Greeks, Arabs, Romans, Jews and Chinese merchants trading with Kerala.

As Latika George, author of The Suriani Kitchen, says, “Meals are a celebration of the spices, herbs, seafood, meats, pulses, grains, nuts, and every edible leaf and seed that grows in this fertile land.”

Visits to Kerala bring to mind lush green paddy fields, waterways, rides in canoes, old tharavads and, of course, the food. The taste of “delicious food cooked in smoky country hearths” will remain with you a lifetime. The kappa-meen vevichathu, erachi olarthiathu, more kachiyathu, puttu, pal appam are some of the totally unforgettable items on the traditional menu.