The Kerala Kitchen, Expanded Edition

Gourmand World Cookbook Award winner

"My copy of The KeralaKitchenyour spices, ready your gratedcoconut and go to it. You are in for both a literary and gastronomic treat."

-Abraham Verghese, author of The Covenant of Water

Now in an expanded edition with new recipes and photographs, this unique cookbook-memoir transports readers to Kerala, a verdant, tropical state on the Malabar Coast of South India.

Since ancient times, seafarers and traders have been drawn by the lure of spices to Kerala. Saint Thomas also traveled this spice route, converting several Brahmin families who later intermarried with Syrians who had settled here; thus was born the vibrant Syrian Christian community of Kerala. Today, ayurvedic massage resorts and backwater cruises make this scenic land a top tourist destination, and spices still draw both travelers and gourmands to its rich culinary heritage. It is this legacy thatThe Kerala Kitchenbrings us, through more than 170 recipes and the stories that accompany them.

Authentic and easy to prepare, these recipes are adapted for the North American kitchen, and accompanied by a guide to spices, herbs, and equipment, as well as a glossary of food terms. Interwoven between these recipes, in the best tradition of the cookbook memoir, are tales of talking doves, toddy shops, traveling chefs and killer coconuts, evoking the beauty of a bygone era as well as the compelling pull of the present one.

Sample recipes:

• Meen Vevichathu(Fish Curry Cooked in a Clay Pot)
• Parippu(Lentils with Coconut Milk)
• Thiyal(Shallots with Tamarind and Roasted Coconut)
• Pesaha Appam(Steamed Rice Bread)
• Paalappam(Lace-Rimmed Pancakes)
• KarikkuPudding (Tender Coconut Pudding)

Winner of Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2017 (Spain)

“"I have never read acookbook from cover to cover in one sitting, but then The Kerala Kitchen is so much more than a cookbook: It istravelogue, memoir and food diary. What better way to understand the communityof Syrian Christians of Kerala--my community--than through our appetites. Iwas transported back to my grandmother's kitchen and I could hear the mustardseeds bursting and smell the delicious curries brewing in the clay pots sheheated on a stove that was no more than a tripod of bricks with coconut husksas fuel. The Kerala Kitchen is a must . . . the easy and elegantly describedrecipes, the primer on spices and their uses, make these dishes accessible toall. Enjoy!" -- Abraham Verghese author of Cutting for Stone and My Own Country”

"A delightful, evocative, sumptuous menu, redolent offresh green paddy fields, coconut palms swaying in the breeze, and the pungentspices of the Malabar coast . . .mouth-watering and heart-warming!"

—Shashi Tharoor

Former UN Undersecretary General and author of The Great Indian Novel

“I have never read acookbook from cover to cover in one sitting, but then The Kerala Kitchen is so much more than a cookbook:  It istravelogue, memoir and food diary. What better way to understand the communityof Syrian Christians of Kerala—my community—than through our appetites.  Iwas transported back to my grandmother’s kitchen and I could hear the mustardseeds bursting and smell the delicious curries brewing in the clay pots sheheated on a stove that was no more than a tripod of bricks with coconut husksas fuel.   The Kerala Kitchen is a must . . . the easy and elegantly describedrecipes, the primer on spices and their uses, make these dishes accessible toall.  Enjoy!”

—Abraham Verghese

author of The Covenant of Water

“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

“The Kerala Kitchen is that most marvelous ofcookbooks—where the stories are as good as the recipes. It makes me hungry, andit makes me want to travel to the Kerala that Lathika George conjures soevocatively. This is a book that is for anyone who's interested in India, or ineating well.”

—Suketu Mehta, 

author of Maximum City

Lathika George is a Bombay-born SyrianChristian who moved to Kerala during her teens. A culinary enthusiast andorganic gardener, she writes about food, farming and environmental issues.Lathika is also the author of Mother Earth, Sister Seed: Travels throughIndia's Farmlands. She lives in Kodaikanal in South India.Abraham Verghese is a physician and writer and holdsthe Linda R. Meier and Joan F. LaneProvostial Professorship at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. He is theauthor of the bestselling novel, Cutting for Stone and The Covenantof Water.  

Gourmand World Cookbook Award winner "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 Now in an expanded edition with new recipes and photographs, this unique cookbook-memoir transports readers to Kerala, a verdant, tropical state on the Malabar Coast of South India. Since ancient times, seafarers and traders have been drawn by the lure of spices to Kerala. Saint Thomas also traveled this spice route, converting several Brahmin families who later intermarried with Syrians who had settled here; thus was born the vibrant Syrian Christian community of Kerala. Today, ayurvedic massage resorts and backwater cruises make this scenic land a top tourist destination, and spices still draw both travelers and gourmands to its rich culinary heritage. It is this legacy that The Kerala Kitchen brings us, through more than 170 recipes and the stories that accompany them. Authentic and easy to prepare, these recipes are adapted for the North American kitchen, and accompanied by a guide to spices, herbs, and equipment, as well as a glossary of food terms. Interwoven between these recipes, in the best tradition of the cookbook memoir, are tales of talking doves, toddy shops, traveling chefs and killer coconuts, evoking the beauty of a bygone era as well as the compelling pull of the present one. Sample recipes: Meen Vevichathu (Fish Curry Cooked in a Clay Pot) Parippu (Lentils with Coconut Milk) Thiyal (Shallots with Tamarind and Roasted Coconut) Pesaha Appam (Steamed Rice Bread) Paalappam (Lace-Rimmed Pancakes) Karikku Pudding (Tender Coconut Pudding)

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