The famed Malayali cuisine is back in the reckoning in the Capital even though the recent beef controversy at Kerala House left a bad taste in the mouth.
Two stalls of Kerala at the ongoing IITF in Pragati Maidan are serving different variants of fish, chicken traditional rice, and ingredients have come all the way from different districts of the State. The food is similar to what is served in the kitchen of Kerala House even though beef fry and beef curry have been given a miss.
This time round, the emphasis is on fish. And it is attracting food connoisseurs from across the city, NCR and the substantial population of Malayalis residing here.
Theeramythri, managed by Society for Assistance to Fisherwomen (SAF), has live kitchen where women draped in trendy uniforms prepare dishes in front of customers. SAF was set up after tsunami struck the State. Even though its stall is located at the other end of the sprawling exhibition ground, it is attracting a sea of fish lovers.
Explaining the heavy rush for Malayali cuisine , Sajith says, “The essence of our cooking is that we get special variety of rice, coriander, haldi and spices which give special flavour to our dishes. Some food entrepreneurs have evinced interest in the way we prepare our dishes and approached us to work with them. ”
Malabari fish curry is cooked with less salt but the taste lingers in the mouth as the gravy is tempered with the right amount of chilly. The other variety is a local fish procured from South Kerala.
Café Kudumbashree, all-women cafes located across the State, is serving chicken dishes which are famous in Kerala. The unique selling point is that it has nine women, who manage everything from kitchen to informing customers about the methodology about cooking traditional food items.
As Jharkhand is the partner State at the exhibition, a series of stalls run by the tourism board is managing them. It is serving Mughlai, Chinese and Punjabi food but it is attracting most visitors for its litti chokha. Made of a mixture of wheat and sattu (powdered gram), the moon-shaped balls are eaten as snack as well as main course.
“It often gets confused with Rajasthan’s baati. But litti chokha is different. Litti is traditionally baked over a cow-dung fire. We stuff ghee inside it. We use onion and garlic in all our preparations. For non vegetarians we have crab curry and fish cooked in mustard oil.”
Earlier, food was served inside the State pavilions but ITPO, which runs this annual exhibition, decided to serve food in different locations of the fair. However, the Bengal pavilion has a sweetmeat seller; selling three varieties of spongy rosagulla where Rajbhog is a big draw.
West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Rajasthan food stalls are also at the other end. Their managers wanted to get spaces at the State pavilions. The charm may have gone away for daily visitors but still food lovers are vying for some of them.
Pakistani fare
Bundoo Khan is missing this time as Pakistan is represented by Liza Food from Lahore which specialises in Punjabi cuisine. The food is different in taste, texture and preparation that the Karachi food which Bundoo served at the IITF in the past. “Our recipes are different from what Karachi cuisine has to offer. It has a touch of Punjabi flavour, which was its hallmark even before the Partition. We cook our mutton in milk. Mutton in Lahore is of better quality than what is available in Delhi but we have managed to get standard goat meat from the Ghazipur slaughter house. Our food is enjoyed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who breaks protocol to eat at our restaurant in Gawalmandi,” says Faisal Azim, who runs Liza Food.