Rasam, Kerala eats

It is verrrrrrry hot in Kerala now.And there is no sign of the wonderful rain clouds. So in an effort to cool my system, i've decided to go vegetarian. A typical vegetarian meal here consists of rice, sambhar, thoran,chutney,poppadum and rasam. A visitor to Kerala MUST have a vegetarian meal once. Its yum,even though there is a strong essence of coconut. I guess after so many years, i dont mind the coconut anymore. Also, if you're having a meal at a decent restaurant, then you wont have to face the overpowering smell of coconut oil.(digression: read somewhere that coconut oil prevents dementia). My favourite part of the meal is rasam and buttermilk. Rasam is kind of like a soup made of tamarind water and curry leaves. Even though its very simple to prepare, when I tried making it at home, it didnt turn out right. I didnt get the right consistency. I guess I have to get some more practice.So until I can make perfect rasams, I'm going to indulge myself in various restaurants across the city.

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Collinpur and Kurma Dera beaches

Situated at around 30-35 km from Port Blair is a beautiful,sandy,shallow beach called Collinpur. Since its situated a little away from the city, the beach is cleaner and quieter. Its covered by dense vegetation and you wont know that you're near the sea until you actually see it. Its a long stretch flanked by a hill on one side and since the gradient is not steep,its ideal for swimming and sunbathing. The main attraction for me was however, another beach called Kurma Dera. This beach is situated a little farther from Collinpur and is more deserted and quieter. The car couldn't go upto the beach and we had to walk nearly 2-2.5 km to reach the beach. The walk was through a very muddy and slushy path along a creek andd I expected to see a crocodile pop out any second. In fact, the second time we went to these beaches, we heard of crocodile attacks on the same day corresponding to our visit. Kurma means shells and I found the most amazing shells on this beach. And what surprise

Kasavu Saree

I fell in love with the kasavu saree the moment I laid my eyes on it.Its such a great combination of simplicity and grandeur. I used to call it the Kerala saree or Mallu saree. It was much later that I cam to know that it was called kasavu saree, kasavu being the golden border that runs along the length of the saree. This is the traditional handloom saree that Malayali women wear for festive occasions irrespective of religion or caste. I have seen women wearing this saree for temple festivals as well as when going to church. Its a completely white saree with a thin golden border. Sometimes threads of other colours are woven along the border and sometimes there are patterns etched on the pallu. But the overall look is simple. Onam celebrations Kasavu Saree My friend told me that earlier (in days of yore), women(especially women of lower castes) were not allowed to wear an upper garment and the saree was just worn as a skirt. I believe this was the just cause of a revolution and subs

Uruli, Cooking vessel

When I first came to Kerala, I used to see these round vessels (of various sizes) kept by local people, mainly at doorways or gates. And I thought to myself "such aesthetical people.So nicely they adorn their doorways with fresh flowers".I asked the name and came to know that they were called " URULI ".It was much later I found out that these vessels are actually used for cooking. Fish and other non vegetarian items are cooked on Uruli . Earlier these vessels would be put directly on the fire on an earthen stove. Now they use it on gas stoves too. Most Malayalis do not cook in urulis anymore.Rather they fill it with water, put some flowers and put it on the doorstep. You can buy small earthen or brass urulis from Broadway, to take as souvenirs. The largest Uruli is displayed at a shop in Fort Kochi.

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