Wayanad

The hill resorts in the city of Wayanad serve excellent delicious dishes to their clients. The common food here is known to be the typical south Indian foods. There are varieties of vegetarian foods and non vegetarian foods served in the city. Like in many cities of south India, the people of Wayanad are also fond of rice and it is their staple food. 

Rasam, Sambhar, Moru koottan and Poricha koottu are some most delicious dishes to be taken alongwith rice. For those vegans preferring pure vegetarian food, there is Pulissery, Stew, Avial and Thoran.The restaurants and hotels of the city also serve their clients with the best liquors of international quality. Varieties of Italian foods and Chinese foods are also served in the hotels of Wayanad.

The green paradise region is a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve which was notified in the year 1973 as a wildlife sanctuary. It is rich in bio-diversity .The Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary comprises two districts of Kerala i.e. in the north; it is a part of the Cannanore district while its southern part is situated in the Calicut district. The park extends from the latitude 11°15 in the North to the longitude 76°30 in the East. The sanctuary is very rich in fauna and flora. The management of the sanctuary lays emphasis on scientific conservation considering the general lifestyle of the tribals and others who live in harmony with the environment on the fringes of the forest. 

Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala is rich in natural resources and offers several opportunities for adventure tourism. Tourists can go trekking to the Chembra Peak which is the highest peak in Wayanad at 2100m above sea level. Trekking to the peak takes almost a day, it is a very challenging task and tourists can stay on the peak in temporary camps for a few days. The view from the hill top down the lake is breathtaking.

Kottayam

The food habits of people from Kottayam are not very different from the rest of Kerala, although they are known to make some very special cuisine items especially non vegetarian snacks and dishes. For their breakfast, Malayalees normally have Kallappam, Idiyappam, Palappam and Puttu. These are the traditional breakfast items.Idly and Dosa are becoming commoner nowadays.Not strictly Kerala items, these dishes have made their way into the state from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. Even the ubiquitous multi purpose sambhar is from here. It is prepared from the dough of rice flour which is layered with grated coconuts and then steamed in a hollow bamboo cylinder. To add more taste to puttu, it is sprinkled with ghee, sugar and mashed bananas or taken alongwith crushed kadala(pulse) curry and pappadam.

Other indigenous food items of Kerala include Thorans, Avial, Olan, Pachadi, Kichadi, Stew, Erisseri, Pulisseri and Kaalan.The pickles form an assorted variety that include lemon, goose berry and mango. The thoran is a dry dish wherein chopped par -boiled vegetables, meat or seafood is flavoured with mustard seeds. Avial is a mixed vegetable dish with gravy of yoghurt and coconut. Olan is prepared with the help of ash gourd and dry beans. The taste of coconut milk is instantly recognizable in Olan. Pachadi is a thick sauce made from ingredients like sugar, yoghurt, grated coconut, mustard seed and spices like green and red chillies. Sambar can be counted as a bit of broth and sauce. Its main ingredients are mashed lentils, cooked vegetables and spices.

For people in the habit of eating mildly flavoured or bland food, sambar can be pretty too hot. Appam, particularly Kallappams and Vellappams are huge favourites. Kallappam is a sort of pancake while Vellappam is a crepe like lacy edged item. Bananas are, apart from rice and coconut, used quite a lot in Kerala cuisine. They are made into round fried chips or fried and dipped in jaggery to prepare snacks and sweets. Moreover, these plantains can also be used to make Kaalan or Pulissery, a subsidiary dish during meals. Yoghurt, chilly, turmeric, cumin and Fenugreek seeds and curry leaves are used to make this item.

Main course of food

The essential ingredient of the daily diet is rice. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, it is some rice preparation or the other, served along with a variety of side dishes. Fish is consumed in a variety of ways - it is preserved after being dried and salted or cooked in delicious coconut gravy. Prawns, shrimps and crustaceans constitute some of the other famous delicacies of the favourite cuisine of Kottayam.

After the morning dose of coffee, a typical vegetarian malayali household serves breakfast that may either consist of soft idlis, prepared out of a paste of fermented rice and black pulses, or dosa, an oval spread of the same ingredients. Well-seasoned appams or periappams, made by mixing this paste with tomatoes, onions and other handy vegetables, are some of the other morning culinary delights. 

Midday meals consist of boiled rice that may be mixed with moru (curd or bitter milk) or rasam (thin clear pepper water or soup) and a range of vegetables. Pachadi is a delicious dish, cooked out of tiny pieces of mango, mixed with hot spices. Sambar, pulses prepared with vegetables is a standard daily fare. Thoran, a coconut-based dry fish dish that is mixed with minutely chopped vegetables, herbs and curry leaves, and similar to avial, which is cooked in a sauce, is another delectable dish.Pappaddams, or crunchy round flakes made of rice flour,chutneys (a kind of sauce) and pickles, are scrumptious additions without which a meal is incomplete. 

Kerala is equally famous for traditionally homemade snacks including a variety of banana chips, and rice flour cookies, are served with evening coffee. Wheat preparations are more popular in Muslim establishments.Nowadays people prefer to eat chappathis for dinner for health reasons. Well-prepared spirals called parottas and pathiris are made from refined flour, fried in oil and served with vegetables and curries.Chappathi, poori (a sort of baked or deep fried equivalent of bread)may be cooked optionally. 

Alappuzha

It is said,”What is sauce for the goose may not be sauce for the gander.”Notwithstanding the fact that the taste for food differs across regions, and that different people can have different views about what constitutes delicious and healthy food, yet there are some cuisines that enjoy worldwide recognition and appreciation. Malayaly cuisine is one of them.Especially the cuisine of Alappuzha in central Kerala is what could be described as extremely exotic and relishing. Kerala has been influenced by many culinary methods in past but when you visit the state itself, you will realize how deeply rooted is the traditional Kerala cuisine in the lives of people. Cooking in Kerala is more than just preparation of food. It is a celebration of the rich culture that is deeply imbued in the life of Malayalees.

Coconut usage
The cuisine of Alappuzha makes use of quite a few basic ingredients constantly while preparing food. These include rice and coconut. The number of ways in which these two items are used in the Malayaly dishes is hard to even imagine. What makes these dishes so tasty is the inclusion of spices. And here spices do not necessarily mean chillies Spices in Kerala mean much more - a rich use of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves garlic, cumin, coriander and turmeric. Extensive use of curry leaves and mustard seeds also add a distinct taste to Kerala food.
A melange of aromas resulting from the free use of pepper, cardamom, cloves, turmeric, ginger, chillies, and mustard, used in most curries, fill the kitchens of the well-to-do, but generally the poorer folks content themselves with kanji (rice with water) and take fish with tapioca. Most dishes in Kerala are cooked in coconut oil and are incomplete without a mandatory use of coconut in some form or the other. 

Malayalees do not just cook their food, rather they like to cook and serve it in style. In traditional Kerala, there were special utensil made of bronze and brass to cook and serve. Today, much of these utensils have been replaced by more user friendly versions. One of these is chatti which is different for different dishes. As such, there is a cast iron griddle for dosa, shallow cast iron chatti for appam, manchatti (earthernware pot) for fish curry and cheena chatti for preparing pickles and cheena bharanis to store these and tamarind.

A true feast of Kerala items can be enjoyed at the time of sadya, the raditional big feast. Till very recent times, weddings in Kerala were considered grand only if the sadya was grand. The manner in which food is to be served in sadya is also important apart from the dishes that are offered. An improperly laid sadya is indicative of bad or unsophisticated manners. The food is served on a plantain leaf (set in a fixed direction) and that also in a typical manner.

Kannur

Travellers visiting India discover that Bengalis and Malayalis have many things common in their food habits: Rice is a staple for both, fish and other seafood are favourites, traditional meals are still eaten on banana leaves. Yet, the best thing about food from Kerala is its abundant yet subtle use of spices. But outside the state, one finds its cuisine most maligned thanks to the idli-dosa-vada fare that is usually presented in its name. The Malabar Food Festival which takes place regularly in the commercial capital of Kerala features sumptuous cuisine fare from God’s own country especially the four districts of Kannur, Kasaragode, Kozhikode and Wayanad.

Malabar cuisine stands out among the varied regional cuisines of Kerala in the sense that this region was perhaps the most influenced by trader-invaders (spice traders from across the globe) since ancient times. This is evident in most of the dishes. There is also a number of delectable chutneys to accompany your meal. The raw mango-lemon chutney and the raw mango-prawn chutney have been rated as excellent by tourists. They are to be had alongwith the crisp banana chips and Kerala pappadam. 

Pleasant meal

Visitors would vouch for the Varutha Meen (fried fish) Onion Salad. The Unakka Meen (dry shark) Chammanthy is also rated very good. For vegetarians, there is the Boiled Beetroot Salad and the Mixed Vegetable Salad with Lettuce. They could also try the Spicy Coconut Chammanthy. There is also an assortment of soups, both veg and non veg., available. 

It is advised to stick to exclusive Malabar dishes while ordering the main course, for you to enjoy a pleasantly wholesome meal. The Nadan Kozhi Biryani (chicken biryani) is a Malabar speciality and sports a strong Muslim influence. This biryani, with a distinct flavour of coconut, curry leaves and spices, is entirely different from the more usual Hyderabadi biryani. 

The Kozhi Coconut Stew (spicy chicken and coconut stew) tastes great. The soft, succulent chicken is enhanced by the coconut. And the delicate use of a number of other spices gives it a distinctly appetising aroma. The Kari Meen Porichathu (fried pearl spot fish), spiced with chilly, ginger, curry leaves, egg and lemon juice, is a dish literally made in heaven. As for the desserts, the Coconut Crepes is a novel unique item that tastes great. The Palada Payasam with raw mango is yet another great dish.

Thiruvananthapuram

Throughout Kerala, right from Kanyakumari to Kasaragode, “Sadya” is the general name given to a typical traditional Kerala meal. The cuisine in Thiruvananthapuram is no exception.Freshly prepared boiled rice is served on plantain leaves. Kaalan (spiced up curry made of melon and ripe mangoes in butter milk), Olan (white pumpkins, grams cooked in thick coconut milk), Thoran(dry vegetable dressed with coconut scrapings) and Erisseri (jackfruit in a thick peppery gravy) are the most popular side dishes.There is also Avial( vegetables cooked and mixed in thick coconut gravy spiced with chillies) and Stew(potatoes and onions cooked in coconut milk).Gourds, pumpkins, mangoes, jackfruit, pulses and coconuts are the predominant ingredients used in preparing dishes.

Crisp banana chips and pappadams supplement the typical feast., part of the cuisine inThiruvananthapuram. A yummy helping of payasam made of rice and milk is the most popular dessert. There are payasams made with peas and grams. The taste and flavour are often enhanced with cardamom, cashew nuts and raisins.A variety of payasams are available both black and white among which Palada pradhaman and Pazha pradhaman are the most delicious.

Although the vegetarian dishes of Kerala are very popular, most of the people are non -vegetarians. Non-vegetarian dishes are prepared in the cuisine using chicken, beef, pork, and seafood including mussels, crabs and prawns. There are some mouth-watering dishes prepared with fresh water fish and the people ofThiruvananthapuram and other districts relish the food.

A typical non-vegetarian meal consists of boiled or raw rice with meat side dishes like fish curry/fish fry, chicken curry/chicken fry, beef curry/beef fry or mutton curry.Out of these, fish, chicken and beef are most popular items.

Thrissur

In general , regarding cuisine, rice is the staple food of the people in Thrissur. Among the Hindus, the Nair , Ezhavas and such other castes are not generally vegetarians, though some individual members may avoid non-vegetarian food. There is no great difference in the dietary habits and cuisine of the Christians and Muslims in Thrissur. The routine diet in a family consists of breakfast , lunch, tiffin and supper. Kanji or rice gruel with some vegetable curry and pickles formed the main breakfast until very recently in almost all families, but it has now been replaced by tea, coffee or other beverages taken along with dishes like Dosa , Iddali, Poori,Chappathi and Uppuma.Puttu taken alongwith Kadalakkari and Appam or Idiyappam taken alongwith vegetable or non-vegetarian (chicken/mutton) stew is a favourite breakfast item.

Boiled rice

The lunch is always substantial ,the most important items of the menu being cooked rice of Choru, special curries and butter milk.Parboiled rice is used here instead of Kaccha or raw rice.Another speciality of the Thrissur cuisine is that in all culinary preparations coconut oil is freely used instead of gingli or mustard oil used in other parts of India . The tiffin in the afternoon consists of a cup of tea or coffee and some sweet or savoury. The supper which is taken after sunset consists either of Kanji or similar items as for lunch.When there was acute scarcity of rice in the wake of the Second World war, Wheat was used as a substitute for rice. Preparations of wheat such as Poori , Chappathi and Uppuma are becoming popular part of the cuisine in Thrissur nowadays. Owing to the poor cattle wealth of the District, milk is used only by richer sections of the community. Pickles of mango , cherunaranga (lime fruit ), nellikka (the fruit of phyllanthus emblica), etc are popular. The condiments generally used are turmeric, pepper, fenugreek, ginger, cardamom , cloves , spices , chilli , mustard , onion, garlic etc. Hydrogenated oils like Vanaspathi are seldom used

Kozhikode

In the field of Malayalam Language and literature as also in localcuisine, Kozhikode has made most significant contributions. The district is famous for folk songs or ballads known as Vadakkan Pattukal. The most popular songs among them are those which celebrate the exploits of Thacholi Othenan. One of the favourite past times of the Muslims of the district is the singing of the Mappilapattu and Oppana. The songs are composed in a composite language of Arabic and Malayalam. The intellectual debate for vedic scholars to win the position of Pattathanam takes place at Thali temple during the month of Thulam. Kozhikode also has strong associations with ghazals and football. The football game has a huge fan following here, and the Football World Cup is followed with even greater enthusiasm than the unofficial national sport of India — the Cricket. Local clubs even pick favourites among competing nations, and vociferously support their teams.As for its local cuisine, Kozhikode has a variety of mouth watering dishes to offer as well. Sweetmeat lane The city also has a strong mercantile streak to it, with the major vein of commerce being the Mithai Theruvu, a long street crammed with shops that sell everything from sarees to cosmetics, and house hotels to sweetmeat shops. The name Mithai Theruvu or SM Street comes from the sweet Kozhikode Halwa which was often called as the Sweetmeat by European traders. The multi cultural mix of Kozhikode ensures that Onam, Christmas, and Id-ul-Fitr (the festivals of the Hindus, Christians, and Muslims) are celebrated with equal pomp, indulging in the local cuisine. Kozhikode is famous for its thick, black, translucent Calicut Halwa. Every sweet shop, every bakery, every major store selling food items and packaged foods, sells the ubiquitous Calicut Halwa. The black Calicut Halwa is made very simply out of maida and sugar, palm jaggery, and is cooked in coconut oil.The other coloured halwas do not taste much different, even though the orange, white and yellow varieties are jazzed up with chopped nuts, elaichi, and jeera. Flavours are not added, only colours. There is a banana halwa, too, which is made in vanaspati and not oil. The halwa is an integral part of Kerala cuisine. Kozhikode cuisine also offers fare for every palate. Vegetarian fare includes the sadya (the full-fledged feast with rice, sambhar, pappadum, pickles and seven different  side dishes.) However, the non-vegetarian food offered in the city is a unique mix of Muslim and Christian preparations. Some popular dishes include the Kozhikode Biriyani or the Malabar Biriyani, Ghee Rice with meat curry, a whole host of sea-food preparations (prawns, mussels, mackerel, sea-fish) and paper thin Pathiris to provide accompaniment to spicy gravy. Other well known Kozhikode specialities are crisp and wafer thin Banana Chips made from coconut oil, and the Kozhikode Halwa