Kerala Cuisine: 10 Popular Dishes

1. Idiyappam With Curry

One of the famous dishes of Kerala is Idiyappam which is relished by most of the people. Also known as Noolappam in Kerala cuisine, Idiyappam, food of Kerala, is made of rice flour, salt and water with a number of thin strands or sevai entwined together to make the lovely texture that this dish bears. It is this texture that makes it versatile. You can have it with all kinds of curries, but it tastes best with Egg Curry.

2. Puttu And Kadala Curry

Puttu and Kandala curry is enjoyed by people of Kerala which is considered to be one of the popular traditional Kerala dishes. A famous breakfast recipe out of the many Kerala dishes, Puttu is a cylindrical steamed rice cake that is cooked in a mould with grated coconut. It can be served with ripe bananas, grated coconut, and kadala curry.

3. Appam With Ishtu (Stew)

Appam with stew, one of the traditional Kerala dishes is flavoursome and yummy. A famous food of Kerala, made from fermented rice flour, coconut milk, coconut water, and a teensy bit of sugar, Appam is essentially a thin pancake with crispy edges. These crepe-like bowls are best enjoyed with Ishtu, a kind of stew that has been originally derived from the European stew and is made from coconut milk, cinnamon, cloves and shallots, and sometimes also mango pieces and vegetables. The aroma of spices with the sweet fragrance of coconut milk is enough to lure foodies to the kitchen

4. Ela Sadya

Ela Sadya is one of the finest meals which is incorporated in traditional Kerala dishes whose aroma will water your mouth. Ela Sadya is the king of all Kerala food items! With more options than you’d ever have seen on your platter, Sadya is prepared and served during religious and ceremonial occasions like festivals, weddings, and more. This royal lunch combination of dishes like pachadi, kichadi, pulissery, olan, sambar, varavu, thoran, aviyal, payasam, served with hot steaming rice on a banana leaf can give the enormous thali of Chokhi Dhani a run for its money any day

5. Parippu Curry (Dal Curry)

Parippu curryit is actually one of the most delicious of Kerala food items. The Dal Curry served in Kerala is made from small gram and ghee with a considerable amount of spices and chillies. Don’t skip on this one by mistaking it for your typical ‘ghar ki dal’

6. Dosa Ghee Roast With Kerala Style Sambar

Food connects us all and if you are looking to have the best food in Kerala then do try dosa Ghee roast with Kerala style Sambhar which will blast your mouth with awesome flavours. Listed among the ‘World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods’, dosa and sambar in Kerala cuisine make up for a deadly combination! Made from fermented rice and lentils, the ghee roast dosa is first cooked to perfection in pure ghee, and then roasted till it gets as crisp as it can. It is, no doubt, the best food in Kerala district.

7. Nadan Kozhi Varuthathu (Spicy Chicken Fry)

One of the national foods of Kerala that is spicy chicken fry or Kerala style prawn curry as there is no single national food of Kerala. Served with onion, spices, garlic, and vinegar on a banana leaf, Nadan Kozhi Varuthathu is fried chicken made with a generous amount of spices. One can have it with chapattis, Kerala Porotta (a layered flatbread made from maida flour), appam or rice. It also serves as a popular street food in the list of Kerala dishes served with dosa

8. Kerala Style Prawn Curry

This traditional food of Kerala is a must-try for all prawn lovers! The traditional prawn curry of Kerala is sprinkled religiously with chilli and pepper, other than salt and turmeric, and is then cooked in whole coconut milk and jaggery before it is finally garnished with curry leaves. In fact, trying this exotic seafood dish is one of the best things to do in Kerala.

9. Thalassery Biryani

It’s actually the most exotic Kerala cuisine. Among the various places in Kerala, Calicut and Thalassery offer the most irresistible varieties of biryani in Kerala. One can enjoy the taste of Chicken 65 or Chilly Chicken Stir Fry with a sumptuous platter of Kozhikode or Thalassery Biryani for the ultimate biryani experience.

10. Nadan Beef (Kerala Style Beef)

Kerala is perhaps the only place in India where you can still eat beef without any constraints or guilt. Nadan Beef is among the most popular Kerala dishes that is either roasted or cooked in thick gravy. It is cooked to perfection for that perfect melt-in-the-mouth consistency before being served with Porotta, chapatti, or rice.