Chef Begum Abida Rasheed is recreating the flavours of the Moplah cuisine at FIRE, The Park Hotel till December 13. Priyanka Joshi learns about the cuisine and the spices that make the dishes so delightful
Situated neatly between the mighty Western ghats and the Arabian Sea, the Malabar region is rich — in terms of the spices and cuisine. Kerala’s Malabar region is known for many such ethnic Moplah (or Mappila — the local term for Muslims in the state) dishes and chef Begum Abida Rasheed is popularly known as an ambassador of Moplah cuisine. She is very particular about the preparation of the dishes which we can judge by the fact that she chooses to travel with her cooking vessels such as theuruli (brass cooking pot) and cheena chetty(frying pan) when she conducts food fests. She owes her love for the cuisine to her mother and grandmother. “Both of them cook really well and I have grown up seeing these vessels at home. You may call these traditional Moplah cuisine vessels. And I have always cooked food in these. But I was never instructed on what to do and what not to do. So, whatever I learnt, I learnt through experimentation. Ever since I was a child I found cooking really interesting and I was ready to pick up a ladle when I was five-years-old. I remember that my first dish was the chicken gravy,” she shared.
Malabar was influenced by Arab traders, French rulers and the native Zamorins and Namboodiris. So Muslims, Christians and Hindus contribute to the wonderful diversity of the food in their own unique way. Just like the rest of Kerala, there is a lot of intermingling in the recipes and yet there are unique dishes too. “We elaborate eating habits. But if you go into any of our households for lunch you would be surprised. The fish curry lunch meal is light and very healthy with a good balance of vegetables, carbs and protein,” Rasheed added.
Malabar cuisine is noted for its foreign influence. Historians believe that this region of Kerala had trades with countries like Greece, Italy, China, France and Africa through sea. This influence is widely reflected in its cuisine. It is noted for the rich array of seafood and non-vegetarian dishes with coconut and liberal use of spices in it. The cuisine is also famous for its Arab influence. Spices occupy a prominent position in this cuisine that uses locally available spices like black pepper, clove, cardamom et al. The most important dish in Malabar cuisine is the Malabar Biryani which was introduced in India by the Arab travelers. Biryani is a Moghul dish that uses a lot of spices. Hence it shows that cuisine in this region has Moghul, Arabic as well as local influence. The main crops grown in this region are rice and coconut. So they are more prominent in their food. Also the Christian and the Hindu immigrants (nampoothiries) from central Kerala during 1920s have also influenced the Malabar cuisine. Christian immigrants popularised the use of non-vegetarian dishes. They also introduced many other recipes like jeera rice, mutta surka, beef ularthiyathu et al.
The steamed rice and coconut cake, called the puttu, that we had was amazing. The flavour of the rice, in particular was mesmerising. We come to know that it is a traditional as well as a popular breakfast in Kerala. “Kadala means chickpeas and also called kala chana. The kadala curry as well as the Kerala garam masala recipe has been loosely adapted from the ‘essential kerala cookbook’. There are many variations of preparing this curry ranging from gravy to a semi dry version. Some variations use coconut milk, some make without coconut and some use fresh or roasted coconut,” explained the chef.
On the other hand Malabar biryani is very popular. For this Jeerakasala rice is used in preparation as the rice, itself, has a special flavor. Apart from this, the region is also famous for their varieties of pancakes which are mildly flavoured and gently cooked. These pancakes, commonly known as Pathiri, are made of rice flour. There are different types of pathiri like meen pathiri (steamed rice flour pie with fish), Adaku pathiri (layered rice and egg) and mutta pathiri (steamed rice flour pie with egg). Another favourite Malabar cuisine isalsa which is a traditional Arabic delicacy made of wheat, meat (or chicken) and salt. Some other exotic recipes include kozhi curry (chicken curry), aadu porichathu where a whole roasted goat is stuffed with chicken and which are further stuffed with eggs.