Eating our way through the Kerala Backwaters
At summer camp Colorado, one of my counselors regaled us impressionable 16-year-olds—absolutely in awe of her impossible coolness in her elephant pants and carefree yoga instructor vibes—of her solo travels in India. One of the places she talked about was the Kerala Backwaters, and it has been on my travel list ever since.
Kerala is the southernmost state along the west coast of India, famed for its spice markets, unique food, and having the highest Human Development Index and literacy rates in all of India. The backwaters are a series of canals, channels, and narrow waterways separating rice paddies and villages in the lowlands, and the best way to see them is via overnight houseboat tour.
So Chris and I commandeered a 1-bedroom houseboat (jkjk we made a reservation in advance), including a captain and a chef, for two nights on the water. At ~$115/night it’s pretty pricey for the budget traveler, but 1000% worth it. We spent two days sitting in comfy chairs catching the breeze on the upper deck, alternately reading, chatting, shouting Happy New Year! back at passing boats, and quietly watching the watery world go by, smelling coconut oil wafting up from the kitchen and hearing distant music, drums, and fireworks (why are there always fireworks?) drifting across the water.
This is the polar opposite of most of our India experience, defined by walking (so much walking), crowds, all kinds of loud noises all the time, and people constantly seeking our attention. Here in Kerala, we chill. Occasionally the captain stops to point something out and we get off the boat — a really old church (established in 427 CE?!?), an unknown drumming festival (explaining proved too difficult), a particularly pretty rice paddy, etc.
Much like other cruises (as far as I understand), in addition to chilling the main activity here is eating. And oh my God the eating!! Bless Chef Adesh. He is our Keralan food guru.
The fresh bright flavors! The array of fruits and veggies! The creative use of spices! Ubiquitous peppercorns and coconut! I’m pretty sure it should all have about 10 times as much heat as he’s giving us, but I don’t feel the need to sweat any more than I already am.
So far my favorites are the cinnamon-spiced egg and onion curry (sounds weird, is delish), the delicate fried fish with every meal, peppery curd (yogurt) and pineapple curry, and the huge-grained Kerala rice.
[An aside: “curry” is an insufficient word to describe myriad dishes and I am coming to dislike it. It’s a catch-all term for basically all Indian food, doesn’t actually dictate a flavor profile, and can describe degrees of sauciness from almost none at all to thick and creamy to literal soup. In the previous paragraph I used “curry” twice; the first time for a thick dish of caramelized onions, spices (predominantly cinnamon), and boiled eggs, and the second time for creamy yogurt soup dotted with whole peppercorns and chunks of pineapple. The only elements these dishes share is that they’re served in bowls.]
Here’s our lunch on day 2, served wedding-style on a banana leaf and all eaten with hands. Adesh helpfully pointed out that if we use forks we’ll tear the banana leaf. Clockwise starting in the upper left corner: the ubiquitous salty spicy pickle, beetroot curd with onion and ginger, fried bitter melon and coconut, cinnamon eggplant, cabbage coconut and peppercorns, coconut mixed veg (I think with tumeric), papad (rice cracker), chicken curry, Kerala rice with yogurt melon tumeric sauce, fried fish. It all finished up with something like a rice pudding, but made with broken rice noodles, large golden raisins, and cashews. I am so full. I have no regrets.
We tried to tell them that after that epic lunch we wouldn’t need the 5pm afternoon snack. “But sir, snack is banana!” Chris folded immediately. And I’m glad he did! I don’t even like bananas, but these tart local bananas deep fried in coconut oil and sprinkles in caraway seeds were truly delightful with my strong and sweet milk coffee.
Yum!