Kerala’s cuisine is as popular as its lustrous landscapes. With a long coastal border spanning 600+ km, seafood is one of the highlights of Kerala’s cuisine. Kerala’s staple food has been rice, for ages. Until recently, from breakfast to snacks and dinner, mallus used to indulge in rice-preparations in various forms. The dosa, idly, puttu, appam, pathiri, meals, kanji and most of the other popular Kerala dishes are made of rice as the base. It’s only in the recent times that cereals and wheat-based poori, roti etc have invaded a typical Malayali’s kitchen. But the change has been so rapid that the typical Malayali breakfasts have gone rare to get in most homes!
Let’s take a closer look at 5 popular Kerala food items for breakfast:
Puttu & Egg Curry
Puttu is typically steamed rice cake that comes in the cylindrical shape. There are many versions of puttu available these days. The base can be made of wheat, corn, or ragi as well and many flavours including, spice, vegetables and meat are added to the Puttu. Coming back to the basics, Rice puttu is best enjoyed with Beef Curry, Kadala (Black Channa) Curry, Fish or Egg Curry Kerala style. Many people love gulping down the Puttu mashed with steamed Nedran banana, Robusta or Small banana and Pappadom as well. Rice puttu with Egg Curry is a healthy starter any day!
Kallappam & Kadala Curry
Vellayappam or Rice appam is another popular traditional food of Kerala. Kallappam is made by adding some fresh toddy taken early in the morning before it ferments. This adds a special sweetness and ferments the rice batter making it light and fluffy. It is best had with Kadala curry or Vegetable Stew for breakfast. For the hard-core non-vegetarians, the best combination would be Beef or Fish curry.
Porotta & Beef Curry
The Porotta and Beef combo is so popular in Kerala that it can easily be called Kerala’s official food! People here love the fluffy and crispy layered Porotta, usually made of maida which is available in every restaurant and even at the roadside temporary shacks. Beef and Porotta make an undeniable combination which most of the non-vegetarians would die for! For the more health-conscious, many restaurants now have Wheat Porotta which is a close competitor to replace the maida version.
Pathiri & Chicken
The thin and nice rice Pathiri is one of the favourite Muslim-dishes across the state. Though more popular and easily available across north Kerala and the Malabar region, Pathiri is a sure-shot winner in Kerala’s breakfast menu. It is best had with Chicken dishes with a little spicy gravy. For the vegetarians, they can try it out with Egg Roast, Vegetable Stew or Kadala Curry.
Masala Dosa
Though originally from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, Dosa is still one of the most popular breakfast dishes across Kerala. Those in dire demand for variety and yet cannot do away with the good old Dosa are mixing new flavours in it such as the Mexican Dosa, Chocolate Dosa, Sunny Side Up, Za’atar Cheese Dosa etc. While these get the newer generation’s attention, the good old Masala Dosa remains the winner across all generations.
If you did notice, breakfast in Kerala is mostly a combination of a rice-based main dish which is usually bland and a vegetarian or non-vegetarian side which is typically spicy. Food Stop Diner is one of South India’s top travel food destinations where you get to indulge in a variety of breakfast dishes, typical of Kerala.
