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Kerala kitchens come alive

Find recipes of God's Own Country in the just released `Classic Recipes of Kerala'

Writing out recipes of `home' food for daughters moving out of home is something that mothers do all the time. But how many take that a step further and compile a book out of these recipes. Very few, and one such person is Ramani Mathew. Ramani too did the same for her NRI daughters, e-mailing recipes of typical Kerala food. Her first book `Sadya,' a compilation of 43 menus, was published by London-based publishing house Minerva. The book was published in India by DC Books. `Classic Recipes of Kerala,' a set of six books, Ramani's latest venture was recently released.

"I enjoy cooking. I see beauty in the simple act of frying onions. And that translates in my cooking, and not just that, planning every detail of the menu, the presentation and the arrangements too," Ramani says. The latest set of books commissioned by DC Books, took three-and-a-half years to complete. "Although it was time consuming, I am very proud of the set, I put in a lot of effort, from meticulously typing out the menus, to paying attention to the photographs," she says.

The set of six books covers seafood, poultry, sauté, curries, thoran and soft drinks. The books on seafood and poultry include select recipes of typically Keralite non-vegetarian food like fish fry, fish moly and prawns. "Olarthu is an important part of non-vegetarian cooking in Kerala. Sauté essentially includes olarthu recipes. Similarly there is the book on thorans where I have included various vegetarian and non-vegetarian thorans," says Ramani. The book on soft drinks includes curd or buttermilk-based drinks that most Malayalis are familiar like pacha mor, kachiya mor and even rasam. The book on curries has select recipes of vegetarian dishes such as erisheri and ulli theeyal among others.

The attempt with the publication of the set is to popularise Keralite cuisine among tourists who are interested in the local cuisine as well as those with reservations about cooking typically Keralite food. "These days the girls are apprehensive about our typical food. It is so simple. Through my books I have attempted to simplify the processes, the recipes are given in such a manner that there will be no confusion whatsoever. The step-by-step process ensures that none goes wrong. Anybody anywhere can try these. With these books you cannot go wrong," assures Ramani. She admits to incorporating ingredients such as coriander leaves and garam masala, which are not traditionally part of Keralite cooking, into her recipes. "These have become such an integral part of our cooking. We have to adapt."

`Classic Recipes of Kerala' can be bought as a set or separately; these are priced at Rs. 450 for the entire set and Rs. 75 per book.

SHILPA NAIR ANAND

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