A Month of Kerala Cooking
I have been living away from home for close to a decade now. The very first time I left home was to go to university in Bangalore, leaving behind Delhi, the city where I grew up and where my family continues to live. After five years at law school in Bangalore, it was time to move again. Work brought me to London which is where I now live.
I live in a one-bed apartment and spend much of my spare time at home during the working week by myself. I have grown to cherish my private space and the solitude. But every now and then, I miss the company of friends and family in India. And so it was with some excitement that I received the news that my parents had finally decided to come and visit me in London.
They finally arrived a few weeks ago. My mother showed no signs of jetlag and promptly took control of my kitchen, dishing out one Mallu delicacy after another. Suddenly, my little kitchen, that had so far been home to pan-Indian as well as some international flavours transformed into a naadan Mallu space. It produces puttu and pazham in the morning (although the shredded coconut comes from a packet, not straight from a hairy coconut) and other irresistables including Kerala fish curry and kappa-and-panni curry.
Much as I enjoy cooking, I found that I enjoyed having my mother take charge and treat me to a month of good Mallu cooking. As I write, there is an inviting aroma sneaking into the living room from the kitchen - chicken curry, Kerala style. For the uninitiated, Kerala style = lots of coconuts! The recipe of course, is not my own and will therefore, follow in a later post.
I live in a one-bed apartment and spend much of my spare time at home during the working week by myself. I have grown to cherish my private space and the solitude. But every now and then, I miss the company of friends and family in India. And so it was with some excitement that I received the news that my parents had finally decided to come and visit me in London.
They finally arrived a few weeks ago. My mother showed no signs of jetlag and promptly took control of my kitchen, dishing out one Mallu delicacy after another. Suddenly, my little kitchen, that had so far been home to pan-Indian as well as some international flavours transformed into a naadan Mallu space. It produces puttu and pazham in the morning (although the shredded coconut comes from a packet, not straight from a hairy coconut) and other irresistables including Kerala fish curry and kappa-and-panni curry.
Much as I enjoy cooking, I found that I enjoyed having my mother take charge and treat me to a month of good Mallu cooking. As I write, there is an inviting aroma sneaking into the living room from the kitchen - chicken curry, Kerala style. For the uninitiated, Kerala style = lots of coconuts! The recipe of course, is not my own and will therefore, follow in a later post.
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