This book evokes the beauty of a bygone era and the vibrant texture of community life through a hundred recipes, engaging recollections, and beautiful photographs. Long before the time of Christ, the lure of spices took traders and seafarers to Kerala, a prosperous and highly literate state on the tropical Malabar Coast of south-western India. Saint Thomas the Apostle also travelled this spice route, preaching to and converting several Brahmin families who later intermarried with the Syrians who settled in Kerala; the Syrian Christians or Nazaranis of Kerala were born of this confluence.Centuries later, ayurvedic massage resorts and scenic backwaters make this lush land a top tourist destination, and spices still draw both traveller and gourmand to the rich, abundant culinary tradition of this people. Meen Vevichathu (Fish Curry cooked in a clay pot), Erachi Olathiathu (Fried Meat), and Njandu Karri (Crab Curry) are among the book's savoury delights, along with varied rice preparations such as Puttu (Steamed Rice Cake), Paalappam (Lace-Rimmed Pancakes), and tropical desserts such as Karikku Pudding (Tender Coconut Pudding) and Thenga Paalum Nendrikkai (Baked Plantain with Coconut Cream). Interwoven between these recipes, in the best tradition of the cookbook memoir, are tales from the past and present, of talking doves, toddy shops, travelling chefs and killer coconuts.
The Kerala Kitchen
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Here you will find clear recipes for the best of Kerala s fine foods, written with great love by someone who has been a part of that culinary tradition since birth. --Madhur Jaffrey
A delightful, evocative, sumptuous menu, redolent of fresh green paddy fields, coconut palms swaying in the breeze, and the pungent spices of the Malabar coast…mouth-watering and heart-warming! --Shashi Tharoor
I have never read a cookbook from cover to cover in one sitting, but then The Kerala Kitchen is so much more than a cookbook: It is a travelogue, memoir, and food diary. What better way to understand the community of Syrian Christians of Kerala my community than through our appetites. THE KERALA KITCHEN is a must...the easy and elegantly described recipes, the primer on spices and their uses, make these dishes accessible to all. Enjoy! --Abraham Verghese
A delightful, evocative, sumptuous menu, redolent of fresh green paddy fields, coconut palms swaying in the breeze, and the pungent spices of the Malabar coast…mouth-watering and heart-warming! --Shashi Tharoor
I have never read a cookbook from cover to cover in one sitting, but then The Kerala Kitchen is so much more than a cookbook: It is a travelogue, memoir, and food diary. What better way to understand the community of Syrian Christians of Kerala my community than through our appetites. THE KERALA KITCHEN is a must...the easy and elegantly described recipes, the primer on spices and their uses, make these dishes accessible to all. Enjoy! --Abraham Verghese
A delightful, evocative, sumptuous menu, redolent of fresh green paddy fields, coconut palms swaying in the breeze, and the pungent spices of the Malabar coast…mouth-watering and heart-warming! --Shashi Tharoor
I have never read a cookbook from cover to cover in one sitting, but then The Kerala Kitchen is so much more than a cookbook: It is a travelogue, memoir, and food diary. What better way to understand the community of Syrian Christians of Kerala my community than through our appetites. THE KERALA KITCHEN is a must...the easy and elegantly described recipes, the primer on spices and their uses, make these dishes accessible to all. Enjoy! --Abraham Verghese
A delightful, evocative, sumptuous menu, redolent of fresh green paddy fields, coconut palms swaying in the breeze, and the pungent spices of the Malabar coast…mouth-watering and heart-warming! --Shashi Tharoor
I have never read a cookbook from cover to cover in one sitting, but then The Kerala Kitchen is so much more than a cookbook: It is a travelogue, memoir, and food diary. What better way to understand the community of Syrian Christians of Kerala my community than through our appetites. THE KERALA KITCHEN is a must...the easy and elegantly described recipes, the primer on spices and their uses, make these dishes accessible to all. Enjoy! --Abraham Verghese
A delightful, evocative, sumptuous menu, redolent of fresh green paddy fields, coconut palms swaying in the breeze, and the pungent spices of the Malabar coast…mouth-watering and heart-warming! --Shashi Tharoor
I have never read a cookbook from cover to cover in one sitting, but then The Kerala Kitchen is so much more than a cookbook: It is a travelogue, memoir, and food diary. What better way to understand the community of Syrian Christians of Kerala my community than through our appetites. THE KERALA KITCHEN is a must...the easy and elegantly described recipes, the primer on spices and their uses, make these dishes accessible to all. Enjoy! --Abraham Verghese
A delightful, evocative, sumptuous menu, redolent of fresh green paddy fields, coconut palms swaying in the breeze, and the pungent spices of the Malabar coast…mouth-watering and heart-warming! --Shashi Tharoor
I have never read a cookbook from cover to cover in one sitting, but then The Kerala Kitchen is so much more than a cookbook: It is a travelogue, memoir, and food diary. What better way to understand the community of Syrian Christians of Kerala my community than through our appetites. THE KERALA KITCHEN is a must...the easy and elegantly described recipes, the primer on spices and their uses, make these dishes accessible to all. Enjoy! --Abraham Verghese
About the Author
Lathika George is a Bombay-born Syrian Christian who moved to Kerala in her teens. She and her husband now reside in Kodaikanal, India, where she runs a landscape design firm specializing in hill station gardens. An intrepid cook and culinary enthusiast, she visits Kerala frequently and is currently working on her next book.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
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.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
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!
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!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
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 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.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Photos missing in Kindle edition!
Combination book, part cultural description of the ancient Syrian Christian community of Kerala in southern India, and part collection of Kerala recipes. Read more
Published 2 months ago by MamaSylvia
A pleasure for the mind and stomach!
The Kerala Kitchen: Recipes and Recollections from the Syrian Christians of South India (Hippocrene Cookbook Library)
Any self proclaimed Indian cooking expert should... Read more
Any self proclaimed Indian cooking expert should... Read more
Published 8 months ago by House Proud
Nostalgia
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... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Elyse
A must-have for every kitchen!!!
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... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mochee
Excellent cookbook for Syrian Christian cooking
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... Read more
The... Read more
Published on April 21, 2010 by Kim
A Cookbook with Charm
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. Read more
Published on August 20, 2009 by Tamar Dejong
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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