Customer Reviews

The Kerala Kitchen: Recipes and Recollections from the Syrian Christians of South India (Hippocrene Cookbook Library)

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Along the Malabar Coast of Southern India there are communities of Syrian Christians, originally founded in the first century by St. Thomas who converted several Brahmin families to Christianity. It was these early Christians who then intermarried with Syrians settling there. The result was the creation of the vibrant Syrian Christian community of Kerala and its rich culinary heritage that is so superbly showcased in Lathika George's elegant ethnic cookbook "The Kerala Kitchen: Recipes And Recollections From The Syrian Christians Of South India". Interlaced with the recipes for exotic dishes are anecdotal stories associated with them and the community from which they spring. The recipes range from Rice Flatbread; Yams with Ground Coconut; Fish Roasted in Banana Leaves; and Kerala Chicken Roast; to Spiced Cooked Buttermilk; Sweet Plantain Chips; Smoked Gooseberry Preserve; and Mango Mousse. Enhanced with a section of full-color photographs of finished dishes, a glossary of specialized terms in both English and Malayalam, a five-title bibliography, and an index, "The Kerala Kitchen" is a thoroughly 'user friendly' and enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, professional, family, and community library ethnic specialty cookbook collections.

My copy of "The Kerala Kitchen" just arrived in the mail from Amazon. Finally... a well-written, readable, "do-able" Syrian Christian cookbook! I've been reading through it for the last hour, enjoying the historical information and anecdotes, and drooling and reminiscing and drooling! I gasped a few times -- once at the picture of the old Kerala kitchen with the "cheddathis" cooking (it took me right back to when I was 10 years old!), and at the picture of the duck roast that could have been my grandmother's at Christmas time, white oval platter and all. And then of course at seeing my mother's name... her fish curry recipe is included in this book! What a small world! That was a real surprise - I had no idea that my mother knew this writer.

I think what's really most appealing about this collection of recipes is not just that they're extremely well-written (no need to read, re-read, and then mentally rewrite as one had to do with previous Syrian Christian cookbooks) but that it teaches you 'naadan' cooking without any underlying 'naadan' scolding! There's no assumption that you've spent all your life watching someone cook these dishes and should know textures and quantities by heart (as in "add 'some' water"), and no assumption that recipe books are for young and/or incompetent brides either. Measurements are precise, and the range of recipes is very comprehensive. The author provides possible (and realistic) substitutions for ingredients that may not be widely available. This is a book for anyone in any part of the world who either wants to try a different Indian cuisine or wants to cook what their Syrian Christian grandmothers & mothers cooked, but just found it all too inaccessible before. I'm looking forward to FINALLY getting into 'naadan' cooking in the way that I got into northern Indian cooking, Thai cooking, Italian cooking, etc. Thank you, Lathika George!

Just finished reading the Kindle version of this book, and while the photographs were all (obviously) black-and-white, there is plenty of color in the author's descriptions of Kerala and her childhood in India. Especially helpful are the thorough instructions in her recipes and her suggestions of how each recipe might be varied with other ingredients. I greatly appreciate the glossary of cooking terms and the table of possible substitutions for ingredients that are not so easily found in the US.


The foods are a bit different from those in my other Indian cookbooks - more use of coconut (in its many forms) and recipes using beef as well as mutton (goat).

Having devoured this "cookbook" last night, I am left with the appetite to do two more things - one, to try out some of her recipes, and two, to write up for my children some of my own memories of foods that make up our own family heritage.

Recommended both for cooks and those who want an insight into the family life of the Syrian Christians.

The Kerala Kitchen: Recipes and Recollections from the Syrian Christians of South India (Hippocrene Cookbook Library)

Any self proclaimed Indian cooking expert should and MUST have this cookbook on his/her shelf. Chock full of traditional mouth watering recipes, this slim volume of delectable Kerala SYRIAN CHRISTIAN (and there is a difference!) dishes will leave you salivating and ravenous.
As a second generation displaced Keralite growing up in Africa and Europe, I never appreciated such meals as Fish Roasted in Banana Leaves (see page 80) or Toddy Pancakes (see page 43). My siblings and I preferred canned sausages and mashed potatoes over Yesterday's Fish Curry (Page 86) or Fried Bitter Gourd (page 150). Indifferent to our finicky palates, my parents insisted (force fed, I should say!) on a daily diet of rice accompanied by a meat or fish dish and some form of coconut based vegetable. We groaned and moaned, but nevertheless ate what was put in front of us.
My mother, known for her superb culinary skills, had tried to impart her knowledge of making a scrumptious Chicken Stew (page 127) or lip smacking Duck Roast (page 135) but I resolutely stuck to my versions of insipid shepherd pies and tomatoey spaghetti bolognaise.
It was only after going away to University that I began to develop a liking for our regional food. Baked Beans on Toast was fast losing its bland appeal!

Moving to the United States and discovering an incompetent cook in my husband left me longing for my mother's (once deplored!) cooking and a desire to mimic her. I would spend ages on the phone with her, writing down detailed recipes on scraps of paper and attempting to make them later.

Lathika George's "The Kerala Kitchen" came as a complete joy to me. I love to read and I love to eat!

The cuisine of Kerala (a state located on the Southwestern part of India) is very unique and for Indians from other parts of India, just as unfamiliar as Roast Turkey and Candied Yams! Most dishes are rice and coconut based, seafood is preferred over meat or poultry and sour/spicy wins over sweet/mild.
Lathika George has managed to capture all of the popular dishes eaten by a typical Malayalee (native of Kerala) with a big nod to the state's Christian heritage.

This cookbook is an absolute delight to read and the recipes are authentic and user friendly. I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to try a different kind of Indian cuisine!
Happy Reading and Happy Eating!

This is not just a collection of authentic and brilliant Keralite Christian recipes but also provides a beautiful background regarding the traditions and customs of the community which of course in turn influences the style of cooking. As a Keralite, I was so happy to find this book that I've been recommending this to all my friends and family. My family and I have thoroughly enjoyed every recipe that I have tried out so far!!!!! Two thumbs-up!!!!!

This Recipe Book by Lathika George is also being sold in Indian bookshops as "The Suriani Kitchen - Recipes & Recollections from the Syrian Christians of Kerala"

The Syrian Christians are historically a Malyali Brahmin Community that intermarried with the Syrians who came to trade in Kerala or locals who converted to Christianity when St Thomas came to India in 52AD. The food of this community therefore has traces of all these varied influences.

A unique feature of this cookbook is that it blends stories, details of rituals/celebrations and memoirs along with recipes, giving the reader a flavour of the community along with its cooking.

This book has fairly extensive details on the different vessels and spices used while cooking.

I intitially picked up the book with the memory of some excellent food consumed at a Syrian Catholic friends wedding in interior Kerala, a decade ago. He doesn't cook and his wife cooks from her own repertoire. This particular branch of cuisine isn't on the menu in most "Kerala" Restaurants, so I had almost given up on being able to taste those dishes again. Fortunately, with this book, I can attempt to recreate some of them in my own kitchen.

I have tried some of the recipes and found them quite authentic. But for now I'm postponing cooking from this particular book for awhile. This style of cooking is not really suited to Delhi's horridly hot summers.

So until then, I will enjoy the pictures, illustrations and stories in this book and visualise how the recipes will taste, but cooking from this collection is hereby temporarily postponed. :)

I lived just opposite the Chinese fishing nets in Fort Cochin, Kerala as a teenager. The book brings back familiar memories of walking across the miadan to purchase our dinner straight from the sea. This book is a true picture of the colourful life of the places and people in this area of the world. I loved it.

Lathika George's cookbook not only gifts one with a full range of authentic and user friendly delicious recipes, it draws one into a colorful experience of the Kerala food culture. The recipes are written with a backdrop of reminiscing stories and charming images of family life in the Kerala backwaters. The photographs are beautiful; one could even use this cookbook as a coffee table book. The drawings are delightful and bring a smile. Well done! Tamar