24 December 2007

Announcing RCI - Cuisine of Kerala

Welcome to God's Own Country! Join in to embark on a culinary journey through the beautiful state of Kerala, tucked away in the south-western corner of India. As the journey takes you through the Western Ghats, dense forests, exotic wildlife and calm backwaters, sprawling tea estates, spice and rubber plantations, lush paddy fields and clean beaches, sit back and take in the sights and sounds of this charming land.

Regional Cuisines of India(RCI), the brainchild of LakshmiK, will be hosted by yours truly in January 2008. The cusine of Kerala has its own distinctive flavour. Coconut forms a dominant part of the cuisine as Kerala, literally translated means Land of "Kera" or Coconuts. Rice is the staple food and a wide array of breakfast preparations are rice-based. A typical meal consists of rice, a kootan or gravy and an upperi or dry side dish along with crunchy pappadams and pickles. Tamarind, coconut, coconut milk or curd form the base for a kootan/gravy while upperi/dry sidedish is either a thoran, ie. a medley of vegetables and grated coconut or mezhukuparatti, ie. stir fried vegetables coated in oil. A typical sadhya/festive feast consists of a number of sumptuous dishes served on a banana leaf. For non- vegetarians, seafood or some form of meat is a part of every meal. Different regions and communities influence the method of preparation and flavour of the cuisine.

What are you waiting for? Put on those aprons and cook up a storm! If you are not very familiar with Kerala cuisine, you can google it or go to this one-stop portal "Essence of Kerala Cuisine". You can also find authentic recipes here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and many more in the food blog community. To participate :

1. Write a post on your blog featuring Cuisine of Kerala from now until the 25th of Jan 2008, including a link to this post.

2. Mail me the permalink/URL to your post, along with a picture of the dish at vjyothsna1@yahoo.com . I shall respond to your email when I receive it. If you do not receive a response from me in three days, please remind me.

3. Non- bloggers may mail me with the recipe and a picture of the dish.

4. Please feel free to use the above logo.

5. Round-up will be done by the 31st of Jan here at Currybazaar!

Wishing all of you a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year!!

36 comments:

FH said...

YAYYYY!!! I was afraid we going to miss this too!:D
I am ready with Chatti, puttu maker etc, will cook in 2-3 weeks!:))
Have a great week J, see you on the 1st. Take care! Beautiful logo.

Rajitha said...

yaay!! it will be fun...i can already think of some mallus here in the blogosphere doing a happy jig ;)

sra said...

Ah, should be one of my new year resolutions to participate in more events, wonder if I'll be able to take part in yours. Happy New Year!

bee said...

happy holidays and have a wonderful 2008, dear jyothsna.

Sig said...

Yay... finally and RCI I don't have to struggle with :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours Jyo... Good luck with hosting...

Bharathy said...

Athu prathyekam parayano? :)

Appo ithu parayane ingottokke varoo...allathe visit cheyyilla alle???;)
Will def send over my entries,Jyo :)

Bharathy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cynthia said...

Finally! I was wondering when Kerala would be featured. I am excitedly looking to see the entries.

Ramya's Mane Adige said...

cool!!! This one sounds ez.... Will send in my entry soon!!

amna said...

yay! finally!!! i have an entire array of kerala dishes. in fact my blog is gng to feature only kerala recipes in jan. so look forward to around 10-12 recipes :D

more than one is welcome right?

Siri said...

Awesome.. for looking forward for nex t RCI so eagerly..Will send some soon..:)

Happy Holidays Jyo~

~ Siri

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Came across your blog by chance and the Kerala food event. Will send in an entry.

TBC said...

Hey Jyothsna,
Finally an RCI where I don't have to think too much!;-)
Best wishes to you too for a happy and prosperous 2008.

Siri said...

Dear Jyo,

Set u my Avial recipe just a couple of minutes back..:)

~ Siri

Srivalli said...

wow..this is something I have been looking fwd ...will be sending mine soon!

Agn! Sharman said...

Kariveppila : Cooking Receipes from Kerala

http://www.simplymalayalees.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=303

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General Information on Kerala (A South-Western State in India)
http://www.fly2kerala.com/

Nanditha Prabhu said...

happy new year dear!

Unknown said...

thx jyotsna for making this event...i already sent my contribution..:)

happy new year!

Seena said...

New year Wishes, Jyothsna!
Hope to send an entry soon, You can take my whole blog to post here..:D

J said...

Asha - :) I'm curious what you'll come up with for RCI!! Waiting for your entries!

Rajitha - I'll join you in the jig seeing the first set of entries!!

Sra - It would be nice if you can make it, I do understand how busy we can all get!

Bee - Thanks for the wishes and you have a great year ahead too!

Sig - Thanks and Happy New Year to you too! So what are you cooking...?? :)

Bharathy - I happen to be a ghost reader on your blog ;)

Cynthia - You'll enjoy the coconutty spread I think! Happy New Year!

Ramya - Looking forward to your entry. :)

Nags - Send as many as you want!

Siri - Thanks, I got your entry! :)

Aparna - Welcome to Curry bazaar! Do send your entry.

TBC - Ah, good. So what are you cooking??? Happy new year to you too!:)

Srivalli - Do send in your entry.

Nanditha - Happy New Year to you too!

Chithra - THankyou, I got your entry!

Seena - Happy New year to you too! You can send as many entries as you want!

Susan said...

Happy New Year, Jyothsna! I just "happen" to have a Keralan cookbook (by Maya Kaimal) which I would be happy to indulge in for your event. Hope you are well.

Pooja said...

happy new year !
logo looks beautiful too !
I will try participating with my entry ....thanks for reminder :)

Shella said...

Wow that really gives me a reason to begin my mallu cooking. Great event. Will surely try n be a part of it. Hapy New Year.

J said...

Susan - Thankyou! Happy New Year to you too. I'm certainly looking forward to your adaptation of the book. :)

Pooja - New Year wishes to you too!

Shella - Yes, do participate.

MR said...

about time for a RCI -kerala
I am ready ...

Bharathy said...

So this time too you sneaked in like a ghost?..before I could send you along??/;) :D
If only you lived near me...would have def passed thru them, my dear!..

DK said...

Thank God U wrote a comment. I had almost forgotton RCI! How Bad of me!

You know something - from what I remember ur safety measure was the first event I entered into :) so u will always be special to me that way ;-) Hope to contribute something bfore the time runs out :)

Happy New Year Jo

J said...

MR - Your entries are welcome!

Bharathy - Your entry is fabulous! I'm still drooling.

Dhivya - Thanks :) Do send your contribution. Happy New Year to you too!

TBC said...

Jyothsna,
I just sent u my entry for RCI. Pleasecheck your spam folder.:-)

J said...

TBC - It correctly landed in my inbox :)

Unknown said...

hi jyothsna,
glad to see this event:) can we include older recipes from our blog?

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

I have just send you an entry, Jyotsna. Hope you get it.

k said...

Hi,
I have sent you my entry. Do keep me updated.
Regards
k

J said...

RV - You have to send in a fresh entry! :)

Aparna, K - Thanks, got your entries!

KonkaniBlogger said...

Hey Jyothsna,I sent you 2 entries today. Hope you got them :)..

Anamika:The Sugarcrafter said...

Jyothsna
Where art thou...NOW