The best of foods have humble origins like this ‘naadan’ style erachi ularthiyathu

Chennai

The ever refreshing tender coconut water, the nungu during summer and the one meel (mile) or five meel chai still draws everyone from the truck drivers to the designer glasses-sporting sahibs.

My friends and I while driving to Hosur from Chennai were bent on carrying out a little exercise by tasting food from different venues along the highway. Thomas, now a famous doctor in Canada, was adamant that no food could come close to the wayside food in Kerala, especially appams and erachi ularthiyathu or parotta and kozhi curry made by local cafés.

He went on to explain more about Kerala and its culinary background. For over 2,000 years, Kerala has been visited by seafarers, including traders from Greece, Rome, the eastern Mediterranean, Arab countries and Europe. Thus, the cuisine is a blend of indigenous and foreign dishes adapted to Kerala tastes. The state has an array of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes such as pathiri (a rice-based pancake at times paired with a meat curry), parotta (a layered flatbread, said to come from Southeast Asia) and the Kerala version of the popular biriyani from Arab lands and Persia.

Historically, any country that has traded with the coast of Kerala has left its imprints on some dish or the other and carried away spices from the region to add to their flavours back home.  European influence is reflected in the numerous bakeries selling cakes, cream wafers, and Western-style yeast-leavened bread and in Anglo-Indian cuisine. The import of potatoes, tomatoes, and chilli peppers from Portugal, Mexico and other countries led to their usage in many new dishes.

Spices play a major role in Kerala cuisine and the main ones used are cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, green and red peppers, cloves, garlic, cumin seeds, coriander and turmeric among others. A few fresh herbs like mint, coriander and curry leaves are used. The Travancore region uses kodampuli to provide a sour touch to sauces that are very popular in Kerala. The ripe mango version of the pulissery and tamarind-jaggery-ginger chutney known as puli inji or inji puli, which is also known as ‘soul ginger’ is finger-licking tasty.

After parting all this information, Thomas suddenly let out an excited cry when we saw a board that read ‘Kerala breakfast specialties’. Apparently the new café, which is slightly off the road, could be seen only by his sharp eye — we had stopped to take pictures and that’s how Thomas made his discovery. We all trooped in to have a taste of Kerala food.

Uncle Unniachan and his wife were very warm and friendly and the place was quite crowded. We managed to find a table and were told its fixed menu for the day. Being Wednesday, the special was parotta and erachi ularthiyathu, with a curry for the non-vegetarians and vegetable kurma for vegetarians. Thomas was certainly on seventh heaven after eating the delicious food and so were we!

Ingredients

Red chillies: 3 dried

Green cardamom pods: 4 whole

Coriander seeds: 2 tbsp

Cloves: 4 pieces

Fennel seeds: 1 tbsp 

Star anise: 2 

Cinnamon stick: 3 piece

Black peppercorns: 10

Turmeric powder: 1 tsp      

Boneless mutton: 500 gm

Coconut milk: 1/2 cup

Coconut oil: 1/4 cup

Mustard seeds: 1 tsp 

Fresh curry leaves: 12 

Coconut slivers: 10 gm

Onion: 100 gm, finely sliced

Fresh ginger: 15 gm, julienned

Cloves of garlic: 4, julienned

Green chillies: 2, halved lengthways

Method

• Cut the boneless mutton into cubes. 
• Half-cook the mutton in coconut milk and a little salt.
• Now, roast all the spices except turmeric in a dry frying pan set over medium flame for two minutes, then grind into a powder with the turmeric. Reserve until required.
• Rub the half-cooked mutton with half of this masala, reserving the remainder until required. Make sure there is no liquid residue in the mutton pieces. 
• Heat oil in an earthen vessel and set over medium heat. Add mustard seeds.
• Once they start popping, add the curry leaves and sliced coconut pieces. Give them a quick stir for about 30 seconds.
• Add the onion. After 1 minute, add the ginger, garlic, salt and green chillies. Sauté for 4-5 minutes until the onion starts to brown.
• Add the reserved masala and cook, stirring for a minute. Add the mutton cubes and stir-fry, ensuring all the meat pieces are well-coated with the spice mixture.
• When the meat is cooked to your liking, remove from the stove and tip into a serving dish, adding the curry leaves to garnish.
• Serve immediately, accompanied by parottas, chapatis, dosa or appams as a main course or even as a starter.

Kitchen Tip

• Keep coriander leaves in a muslin cheese cloth bag in the refrigerator. They will remain fresh for a longer time. 
• Remove the stems of green chililes while storing them to help them stay fresh for longer. 
• After peeling onions, cut them in half and soak in water for about 10 minutes before cutting to avoid your tearing up. 
• Soak almonds in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes. The skin will peel off easily.

— Chef Ramaa Shanker is the author of Festive Offerings to the Gods: Divine Soul Recipes

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