Palakkad is more than its porotta and chicken curry. This beautiful region in central Kerala has a wide range of vegetarian fare, and it’s on the food map of India too!
Don’t let anything fool you here.
The tea seller near the temple could know all about the Russia-Ukraine war, and the door-to-door salesgirl may tell you stories you wouldn’t find on any news channel anywhere in the world.
The biggest restaurant in Kerala—with a pool and party avenue—has surely set up shop in Palakkad, but if you want to taste authentic Palakkadan food, you have to look beyond appearances.
Here’s a list of traditional vegetarian dishes you would find nowhere else but in the homes and hearts of those that truly know Palakkad.
Puli: A tangy, spicy gravy with coconut and vegetables, puli is eaten with white parboiled rice or the slightly harder Palakkadan matta rice. My mother usually garnishes her mouth-watering okra puli with crushed garlic fried in coconut oil.
Tamarind dominates this delicious dish, which is why it’s named after the Malayalam word for tamarind.
Pulinkari: There are many variations of this vegetable curry, but the Palakkadan version stands out for its ability to sustain taste, aroma, and flavour without depending on coconut, the mainstay of Keralite food.
Banana stem with horse gram: This fibrous dish blends the crunchiness of banana stems with the earthy taste of horse gram by sautéing them in an onion paste ground with dry red chilies. It is a simple stir-fry that’s usually enjoyed with white rice.
Mulakushyam: A plain gravy with the fragrance of black pepper and coconut oil, mulakushyam includes the goodness of vegetables like brinjal, potato, or bottle gourd along with the mushy taste of boiled green gram.
Thamaravalayam or lotus stem fries: Slightly bitter and very crisp, these beautiful netted rounds of the lotus stem are a real treat with a typical Palakkadan meal.
Uppu Maanga: If you aren’t in the mood for much, a salted mango along with a bowl of rice and gravy could work wonders. Mango pickle in brine is also had with curd rice or hot rice porridge.
Ari Payasam: Those with a sweet tooth will relish this rice and lentil pudding with coconut milk and jaggery. It’s sometimes topped with fried cashew nuts or bits of fresh, roasted coconut.
Thenga Burfi: A simpler version of the usually rich coconut laddoo, Palakkad’s thenga burfi is popular with the locals. It’s juicy and crunchy with a hint of cardamom.
Ammini Madhavan, a caterer from Palakkad, serves traditional Palakkadan food to families that need it. She invites me home for a quick tasting of a couple of curries and her thenga burfi. It’s the crispiest I have tasted yet. The sugary sweetness of it doesn’t overpower the taste of coconut roasted in ghee. Everything blends well to make a sweet that packs a punch.
“I started delivering meals to the elderly in my colony a few years ago. My business has grown now to include wedding feasts and festive food,” says Madhavan.
She is more popular for the traditional feasts she delivers for Vishu and Onam every year. Her small establishment—Ammu’s Kitchen—delivered more than 300 meals on Onam this year.
What has she put in her thenga burfi, I ask.
“Just fresh coconut, ghee, and sugar,” she says.
Poruvalankaaya: This sweet ball of roasted green gram, rice, cardamom, jaggery, and coconut bits is not found very easily these days. Of the many hundreds of bakeries and restaurants in this town, I found only one humble little shop that sells it. Hope this splendid Palakkadan sweet stands the test of time.
Manoharam: Crunchy fritters made of rice flour, white lentil flour, green gram flour, coconut, and melted jaggery, Palakkad’s delicious manoharam is usually had as a snack. It’s a harder and looser version of the boondi laddoo, but not as sweet or rich.
Pokkavada: This spicy fritter made of rice and chickpea batter is the perfect accompaniment to a cup of strong Palakkadan tea. The addition of homemade butter to the Pokkavada batter not only softens it, but also makes it more fragrant and delightfully flavourful.
Ramassery Idli: About 8 km from Palakkad town is the village of Ramassery where Bhagyalakshmi Amma of Sree Saraswathy Tea Stall wakes up every day to make hundreds of flat white idlis (steamed rice cakes) along with a spiced lentil powder, chutney and sambar.
The secret of the perfect Ramassery Idli lies not just in its batter but also in its cooking process. Made with rice sourced only from Palakkad, these dosa-styled idlis are steamed over a muslin-covered earthen pot and de-moulded on a plachi leaf that lends the idlis a subtle fragrance and flavour.
Though time marches on with no care for the availability of the perfect Palakkadan rice or the plachi leaf, or even for the sustenance of those that try to preserve this ancient recipe, Bhagyalakshmi Amma continues to cook and serve as best as she can from her little kitchen in this quaint village.
I hear customers asking her if she sells rice or curries.
“No,” she replies, softly. “Just Ramassery Idlis.”
But don’t let her humility fool you. By evening, she sells more than 500 Ramassery Idlis to those that come to her from the village and neighbouring towns. The Ramassery idli has put Palakkad on the food map of India because of its status as a heritage food. The authenticity of a Ramassery Idli—often called the King of Idlis—can be claimed only by four families that migrated to Palakkad from Tamil Nadu over a century ago.
Bhagyalakshmi Amma’s family is one of them.
Like I said, you have to look beyond appearances.
The biggest restaurant in Kerala may have opened its doors in Palakkad, but there is little chance of it changing the food culture of this quirky place. Although Palakkad does enjoy the occasional Sri Lankan porotta, the Middle-Eastern kebab, or the Rajasthani daal fry, nothing pulls its heartstrings as strongly as a simple meal of rice and curry, served with some pickle and fries, on a clean green banana leaf.
For Ramassery Idlis:
Sree Saraswathy Tea Stall
Ramassery
Palakkad 678622
Ph: 09744946160/ 08129218421
For traditional Palakkadan feasts/meals:
Ammini Madhavan
Ammu’s Kitchen
Sekharipuram
Kalpathy
Palakkad 678010
Ph: 09447686209
Rava Stores: For locally produced spices, pickle, sweets, chutneys, and fries native to Palakkad.
College Road, Palakkad, Kerala 678001
Ph: +91 491 254 6569
Top Notch Bakers: For different varieties of plum cakes, snacks like spicy rice kozhukkattai or kozhalappam, sweets like unniappam, and munchies including salted banana chips or jackfruit fries.
Chittur Main Road
Opposite GUP School
Palakkad, Kerala 678101
Ph: +91 4923 221 881
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