Kerala - Indian Recipes
The cuisine of Kerala is linked in all its richness to the history, geography and culture of the land. Most of the non-vegetarian dishes are spicy. Kerala is known for its traditional sadhyas, a vegetarian meal served with boiled rice and a host of side-dishes. The sadhya is complemented by payasam, a sweet milk dessert native to Kerala. The sadhya is, as per custom, served on a banana leaf. There is a difference in the servings from the sothern part to the northern end. The south Kerala dishes are spiced up with garlic whereas in North Kerala garlic is generrally avoided in all vegetarian dishes. Traditional food items include sambar, aviyal, kaalan, theeyal, thoran, injipully, pulisherry, appam , kappa (tapioca), puttu (steam cake), and puzhukku. Coconut is an essential ingredient in most of the food items and is liberally used.