Classic Malabar recipes : culinary treasures from North Kerola

128 Pages·2012·7.777 MB·English

by  Moosa, Faiza

The mailanchi ceremony, during which the bride’s hands and feet are
adorned with henna, is an important pre-wedding Mappila ritual.

English Language
Classic Malabar Recipes
Cookbook
by Faiza Moosa
Text © Faiza Moosa
Photographs© DC Books acknowledges that Stark World Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
owns the copyright for 74 of a total of 103 photographs published in this book. The remaining 29
photographs were sourced by Mr. C.P. Moosa and DC Books
Design and Layout©
This book is published in arrangement with Stark World Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
First Published December 2012
E-book Edition May 2015
Cover Design
DC Books
Publishers
D C Books, Kottayam 686 001
Kerala State, India
website : www.dcbooks.com
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Although utmost care has been taken in the preparation of this book, neither the publishers nor the editors/
compilers can accept any liability for any consequence arising from the information contained therein.
The publisher will be grateful for any information, which will assist them in keeping future editions up to
date.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior
written permission of the publisher.
ISBN 978-81-264-4838-8
D C BOOKS - The First Indian Book Publishing House to get ISO Certification
To my mother, from whom I discovered
the joy of cooking. Without her none of
this would have been possible.

Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Snacks & Starters
Puttu & Pathiri
Biriyani & Pulao
Egg & Chicken
Lamb & Beef
Fish & Shellfish
Greens & Vegetables
Pachadis, Pickles & Chutneys
Sweets & Desserts
Beverages
Resources
Suggested Menus
Kerala Tourist Map
Travel Resources

Where to Eat
Recipe Index
Photograph Sources

Acknowledgements
Foreword
Leo Schofield
Tellicherry. I knew it was in Kerala, on the husband deal with the guests’ needs and
Malabar Coast. I had heard the name demands while she prepares some of the most
associated with pepper. But it wasn’t until I exotic, mouth-watering food you could hope to
was despatched there on an assignment for encounter.
Gourmet Traveller, a magazine for which I am The cuisine of this particular corner of Kerala
loftily designated as Editor at Large, that I is dubbed Mappila, for the Mappila or Muslims
discovered not only the charm of the place, of northern Kerala, and it is this tradition that
but also Ayisha Manzil, a beautiful Malabari Faiza Moosa teaches guests in the kitchen of
bungalow, perched high on a cliff overlooking her home. As a teacher she is in the very front
the Arabian Sea. It had all the memorabilia of rank, calm, brilliantly organised, patient. It
a multi-layered colonial past: wide verandas, would be difficult for any student to leave one
vast rooms, antique carved four-posters hung of her classes without a clear understanding of
with mosquito-nets, teak furniture with a the preparation method.
patina that only age and persistent polishing One day she may demonstrate a fish biriyani,
can provide, old terracotta-tiled floors polished using fillets of a delicious local fish called seer. The
like glass, faded pictures, clocks, blue-and- process is relatively simple but the brilliance of the
white china and curious glassware. All this plus finished dish lies in the alchemical combination
an established garden with lanky, undulating of a slew of spices – coriander powder, chilli
coconut palms, cool canopies of vermilion- powder, fresh green chillies, turmeric, cardamom,
flowered gulmohar, an aquamarine swimming clove, garam masala, lime, fresh coriander and
pool and a terrace with a view to die for. mint leaves, garlic, ginger and saffron. With such
But the other, more important discoveries an array of seasonings one could be forgiven for
were the owners Chowakkaran Pazhukkatha thinking that the finished dish might end up
Moosa and his wife Faiza, each the embodiment tasting either intolerably hot, or that the flavour of
of hospitality. Moosa is the perfect host, half the spices would neutralise the other half.
ebullient, open, generous while Faiza is a No way. Mappila curries are delicate, and the
tad more self-effacing, preferring to let her flavours are simultaneously many and one.
I recall a dinner under a sky of spangled blue Universal Restaurant in Sydney, named in 2008
velour. We were served a mild potato and by Food & Wine magazine as one of the ten best
veal curry, sampled chemmeen varattiyathu new restaurants in the world, is a fiend for spices.
(tamarind prawns with a kicky-spiced gravy) and She’s written a book on the subject and confesses
vaattilappam, a kind of Indian crème caramel freely to having been influenced by Ayisha Manzil.
made with egg, palm sugar, coconut milk and Indeed, a whole chapter is dedicated to this
cashews and steamed rather than baked. magical place.
The kitchen in which these remarkable ‘Faiza’s use of spices is so subtle, so nuanced,’ says
dishes are prepared is at the heart of the house, Manfield. ‘I have learned so much from her.’
a vast space with fluorescent lights, shiny So have some of the keen cooks Manfield
stainless steel benches and fittings which has brought here on tours she has led to India.
contrast dramatically with the fragile, cool, dark And so will readers of this book. What, alas,
colonial ambience of the rest of the place. In readers will not experience is the paradisiacal
her pale sari, Faiza moves elegantly around her beauty of the place, the sunrise visit to the local
domain. Her preparation is meticulous. Each market, the warmth of Moosa and Faiza and
spice is measured in precise quantity, placed the definitive versions of the dishes contained
in a shallow white china dish and laid out in between these covers.
the order in which it will be used. Those like For that you must, and should, visit
mustard seeds and cardamom pods that need Tellicherry.
heat to pop and release their heady flavours are
closest to the iron pan; powdered and chopped
flavourings further away. Leo Schofield is a well-known restaurant critic,
I am not the only person to have fallen in love advertising professional and arts festival
with this food, the place where it is prepared and director in Australia. Based in Sydney, he
served and the two beautiful human beings who contributes to numerous publications: The
animate it. My good friend Christine Manfield is Australian, Vogue, Gourmet Traveller and The
another disciple. Manfield, who runs the starry Sydney Morning Herald.