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Between the lines

I don't usually attend book releases. All those celebs kissing the air – with wine glasses tinkling in the background and cheeses being popped into the mouth – turn me off. But I did go to The Park the other day for a book launch. And I had good reason to do so. First, the book was on Syrian Christian food (The Surianu Kitchen by Lathika George, published by Westland). And, second, chefs trained by George were going to present me with a Syrian Christian meal. Diligent readers will know that I am very, very fond of Kerala food.

There was a time when I used to make regular forays into INA Market in search of a plate of juicy pothu fry, or a freshly cooked meen pappas. I still go there occasionally, but it's difficult to keep track of the restaurants there which open shop almost as frequently as they down their shutters. I like all kinds of Kerala food – from Hindu and Syrian Christian cuisines to Moplah food. In fact, it was at The Park about a year ago that I met an interesting cook who specialised in Moplah food and who had organised an excellent regional food festival for the hotel. This time, the onus was on George. And let me tell you that if the book is like the dinner I had, it should be right there on your kitchen shelf.

Quite a variety

I went through a whole range of dishes and thought the pacha paparaka thoran (Rs.495) – raw papaya with curry leaves, mustard and grated coconut – was wonderfully light and delicious. The thiyal (Rs.495) was again very good, a nice dish of shallots browned with roasted coconut. Then came the olan (Rs.525) – a dal with vegetables in coconut milk. And I finished my quota of veggies with koon olathiathu (Rs.525), a dish of sautéed mushrooms which should have been wild, but weren't. But I was of course waiting for the real McCoy, by which I mean the different kinds of meat and fish that Kerala is famous for. The meen pappas or the fish curry (Rs.795), cooked with cocum, coriander and coconut milk, was not bad at all. But what I enjoyed more was the chemmeen karri (Rs.975), which was a prawn curry that had not been cooked in the traditional way. Instead of just cocum lending a tart taste to the curry, the cooks had used it along with other souring agents such as tamarind and tomatoes. The effect was lip-smacking.

The meat dishes didn't disappoint me either. I ate some tharavu roast (Rs.975), a traditional duck roast, which was very, very good. The meat was bony, but had been spiced just right. The atterachiyum kurumolagu olathiathu (Rs.795) or mutton pepper fry was cooked just right too – the mutton was tender and came enveloped in a wonderful aroma of pepper. I ate all this with two kinds of chutneys – one prepared with mustard and the other with tamarind. And I rounded up my meal with two desserts – moong dal porridge, and a tender coconut pudding. Clearly, George knows her onions – or do I mean shallots? Either way, this is a cuisine that occupies the high table, and the festival does justice to the wide range of dishes that Syrian Christian food is famous for. And I, for one, am happy to have been there at the book launch.

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