“There is no one kind of Kerala cuisine. When it comes to Kerala, the food is made differently in different parts of the state,”said chef Aleyamma as she greeted us. Celebrating the unique cuisine of the Syrian Christian community of Kerala, Ente Keralam has put together this 15-day festival with the help of Aleyamma Paily, culinary expert who hails from Kottayam. “The main difference you find in Syrian food is in the number and amount of ingredients that are used to make each dish. Have you tried our biryani? It has eggs, cashews and raisins in it and our special fried rice is spicier than biryani and has additional ingredients like green peas, sliced cherry and nuts,” she continues.
Sure enough, the usual fruit juices come with added mint, coconut water and soda in it. The extensive list of starters in the festival menu has specialties like erachi ularthiyathu (Syrian beef fry with slices of tender coconut), kaada fry (spice marinated quail) and kanava peralan (slow cooked squid rings) and a lot more varieties
in it among which kakka erachi fry (sautéed clam meat) stands out with the right mix of crisp and spice. Heading to the main course, we see the versatility of the classic breakfast dish puttu (coarsely ground and steamed rice) as it takes the form of Ercahi puttu with layers of shredded beef and pineapple puttu with a pineapple and coconut filling.
The combination of Pidiyum kozhi curryum (seasoned rice dumplings with chicken curry) make for a perfect meal as the light dumplings and the strong seasoned gravy perfectly balance each other. For the kanjiyum cheru payarum (rice gruel with seasoned green gram), you even get the traditional soup spoon made of jackfruit tree leaf. Yet another dish of popular choice is chenda kappayum kadharimulagum (steamed tapioca with crushed shallot and chilly chutney). And among the choice of desserts, we suggest you go for neyyil vaattiya eatha pazhavum thengayum(sautéed banana slices with grated coconut and sugar), which when served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream tastes fantastic.
Till May 1
Meal for two: Rs.1600
Details: 0422 650 5545