Kerala cuisine and the influence of coastal region on the cuisine Seafarers have played an important role in shaping the history, socio-cultural background and cuisine of Kerala. Over the years, voyagers from Greece, Italy, China, France and Africa came to the spice coast of Malabar. Kerala's cuisine with its fascinating array of meat and fish dishes is a constant reminder of the many foreigners who once came here. Kerala’s long stretch of coast and rich sea life ensure that seafood, coconut and other such things are a part of the Malayali kitchen.

Specialties

The culinary efforts of the different communities of Kerala come out in distinctly different dishes of great variety. While most of the people specialise in delicious vegetarian food, the people in the Northern part of Kerala specialized in the lightly flavored biriyani - made of mutton, chicken, egg or fish-takes. In seafood, mussels are a favorite. For the people, who can be seen in large concentration in areas like Kottayam and Pala, stew (a derivation of the European stew), with appam is a must for every marriage reception. There would also be beef cutlets with sallas (a salad made of finely cut onions, green chilies and vinegar), chicken roast, olathan erachi (fried mutton, beef or pork), meen moilee (a yellow fish curry), Konju Masala , a prawn dish cooked in a thick sauce with coconut, ginger, curry leaves and onions, Crab Olathiyathu ,stir fried fresh crab with shallots, crushed pepper and curry leaves. This particular dish is believed to been found by Portuguese sailors using the locally available ingredients and fish molee, king fish steak cooked with mild coconut flavored authentic sauce topped with fried cashew nuts are some of the most famous seafood specialties should be tried either at Kerala or Kayal Restaurant. You can find more specialties in our daily specials.