BACK MATTER — FINDING AIDS AND READER TOOLS
Everything in this section exists to be looked things up in rather than read through. Cross-references are by recipe number throughout, never by page: R041 finds the same dish in the paperback, in the ebook and in any later edition. Mother preparations carry M numbers and live in Chapter 15.
1. Malayalam–English Food Glossary
A reference list, not a lesson: 173 words, each with a short English explanation and nothing more. No script, no pronunciation, no grammar. Alternative spellings are given once, here, so that a reader in front of a shop shelf can recognise what they are holding. Where a term names a technique or a utensil, the chapter that teaches it is named. Where an origin is genuinely disputed, that is said rather than smoothed over.
A
- Ada — thin discs or ribbons of rice dough, sold dried, boiled soft for payasam. Also, confusingly, a steamed sweet parcel in a leaf; both meanings are current. R112, R113.
- Achar — pickle: fruit or vegetable held in salt, oil, chilli and often fenugreek, eaten a teaspoon at a time. Also written achaar. R096, R097, R119.
- Agni — in the traditional framework, the digestive fire, held to be strongest at midday; the stated reason the first rice course of a sadya arrives when it does.
- Ammikkallu — the flat stone slab and roller for wet pastes. It crushes rather than cuts, which is why a stone-ground coconut paste behaves differently from a machine-ground one. Chapters 13 and 14.
- Appam — a fermented rice-and-coconut pancake, lacy at the rim and spongy in the middle. Documented in Sangam-era Tamil literature, so pre-colonial despite the frequent claim of a Portuguese origin. M10, R001.
- Appachatti — the small deep lidded pan with curved sides whose shape makes an appam. Chapter 13.
- Arikkadukka — Malabar stuffed mussels, mentioned in this book for context rather than cooked in it.
- Attappady Thuvara — a heirloom red gram maintained by Adivasi cultivators in Attappady, registered as a geographical indication.
- Aval — flattened or beaten rice, used here as a binder. R039.
- Avial — mixed vegetables bound with a ground coconut-and-cumin paste, finished with raw coconut oil and curry leaf. The legend attaching it to Bhima is a story rather than a documented origin. R069.
- Ayala — Indian mackerel; oily, cheap, excellent, and one of the fish this book leans on hardest. R027, R028.
B
- Beetroot — the loanword is the word; Kerala has no older name for it. Grated into a thoran (R067) and a pachadi (R090), where it is the sweetest thing on a savoury leaf. Chapter 12.
C
- Carrot — the loanword is the word here too. Grated into R079, R099, R069 and the pulao, for sweetness and colour rather than for bulk. Chapter 12.
- Chakka — jackfruit. Tender green chakka behaves as a vegetable, ripe chakka as a sugary fruit, and the two are effectively different foods. R116.
- Chammanthi — a thick, dry, pounded chutney, usually coconut-based, eaten with kanji or rice.
- Chattuvam — the flat wooden or coconut-shell turner. It lifts and folds where a metal spatula bruises and shreds. Chapter 13.
- Chaya · chayakkada — tea, and the tea shop. The sweetening habit is later than the drink.
- Cheena chatti — the deep cast-iron pan that is Kerala's wok; the name means "China vessel". Contested: the etymology records a perceived Chinese origin, and whether the shape actually arrived from China cannot be shown. Chapter 13.
- Cheera — amaranth leaves, green or red, the red bleeding into a thoran. Sold abroad as callaloo, yin choy or Chinese spinach. R065.
- Chembu — colocasia or taro; slippery when cooked, and the central tuber of Thiruvathira puzhukku. Must be cooked through.
- Chemmeen — prawns. Lean and high in protein rather than oily. R032, R033.
- Chena — elephant foot yam; large, brown, warty, cubed for mezhukkupuratti and erissery. Some varieties itch the throat, and the traditional remedy is acid in the cooking water. R071, R073.
- Cherupayar — whole green gram, or its split skinned form, moong. R011, R114.
- Cheriya ulli — Kerala's small pink-purple shallots. Sweeter, denser and lower in water than a large onion; sold abroad as Madras onions, sambar onions or small red onions.
- Cherunaranga — the small thin-skinned Indian lime, used as a finishing acid.
- Chirava · thenga chirava — the hand coconut scraper, bench-mounted or hand-cranked, which shreds the kernel into long wet flakes. Chapter 13.
- Choru — cooked rice, in everyday speech.
- Chukku — dried ginger, used in karkidaka kanji and in boiled herbal waters. R108.
D
- Daahashamani — a boiled aromatic water of dry ginger, cardamom, clove and coriander seed, drunk warm; carminative in intent and plain in fact.
- Dum — the sealed, low final phase of a biryani in which rice and masala finish together in their own steam. R018.
E
- Elakka — cardamom.
- Elayada — a steamed sweet parcel of rice dough with coconut and jaggery, cooked in a folded leaf. R115.
- Erissery — a thick dish of pulse and tuber or pumpkin, bound with ground coconut and crowned with coconut roasted dark in the pan. R054, R071.
- Ethakka — ripe Nendran plantain, the frying and steaming banana of Kerala. R100, R102.
G
- Gandhakasala — an aromatic short-grain Wayanad rice, registered as a geographical indication; a more perfumed relative of jeerakasala.
- Grambu — cloves.
I
- Idiyappam — steamed nests of fine rice noodles, pressed through a mould. Pre-colonial; documented in Sangam-era Tamil sources. Also called noolappam. R005.
- Idli — a steamed cake of fermented rice-and-urad batter. M11, R006.
- Inchi — ginger.
- Inji puli — the sweet-sour-hot ginger and tamarind relish of the sadya leaf. Also written injipuli and puli inji, and the two word orders are both in use. R098.
- Ishtu — the Kerala stew: coconut milk, whole spices, no chilli powder, pale by design. Sometimes written stew on menus and nothing is lost. R041, R080.
J
- Jathikka · jathipathri — nutmeg and mace, the seed and its lacy red aril, both grown in Kerala's midland gardens.
- Jeerakam — cumin.
- Jeerakasala — a short aromatic Wayanad rice, called kaima in Malabar, and the correct grain for Thalassery biryani. Registered as a geographical indication. R017, R019.
K
- Kaadi — coconut vinegar: cloudy, mild, faintly sweet.
- Kalan — a thick curd-and-coconut dish with yam or plantain, cooked down until it clings. Also written kaalan. R070.
- Kadala — black or brown chickpea; the fibre champion of the Kerala pulses and the partner of puttu at breakfast. Sold abroad as kala chana or desi chana. R010, R055.
- Kadala parippu — split Bengal gram, chana dal. Not to be confused with kadala.
- Kaduku — mustard seed, where a Kerala tempering begins.
- Kaithachakka — pineapple. Into a pachadi (R092) and a pulissery (R082), both Central Travancore sadya dishes. Chapter 12.
- Kallummakkaya — the Asian green mussel, a Malabar specialism. R034.
- Kanji — rice gruel, cooked loose in plenty of water; convalescent food, breakfast, and a late supper. R012, R020.
- Kanji vellam — the starchy water from cooking rice, traditionally drunk. No clinical trial supports a metabolic claim for it, and Chapter 7 says so.
- Kappa — tapioca, cassava. A Brazilian root that became a Malayali identity, promoted as a famine crop in Travancore and made a staple by wartime rice shortage. Peel, boil hard, discard the water.
- Kariveppila — curry leaves. Also written karivepilla. Volatile and short-lived, which is why the dried leaf is a duller ingredient.
- Karimeen — pearl spot, a brackish-water fish of the backwaters and Kerala's state fish since 2010. R029.
- Karkidaka kanji — the medicinal rice gruel of the monsoon month Karkidakam, taken warm at night. R108.
- Karuvapatta — cinnamon; also karugapatta. Kerala and Sri Lanka grow the true species; most supermarket cinnamon is cassia, and Chapter 9 explains why that matters.
- Karuppatti — palm jaggery, darker and more mineral-tasting than cane jaggery, and no different metabolically.
- Kasuvandi · andiparippu — cashew nut. Grown and processed in quantity around Kollam. In R017, R018 and R019, and throughout the swap lines as the substitute that replaces coconut milk with something lighter in saturated fat. Chapter 12.
- Kayam — asafoetida.
- Kichadi — a curd-based side with a cooked vegetable, close kin to pachadi; households draw the line between the two differently, and both usages are correct.
- Koonthal — squid. R037.
- Koorka — Chinese potato: small, knobbly, intensely aromatic, tedious to clean. R077.
- Koottukari — a thick sadya dish of pulse with tuber or raw banana, on the astringent side of the six tastes.
- Kothavara — cluster beans, slightly bitter and best in a coconut thoran.
- Kozhi — chicken. R040, R043.
- Kozhukkatta — a steamed dumpling of rice dough with a filling, savoury or sweet. R104.
- Kozhuva — anchovy or whitebait, fresh or dried. R031, R036.
- Kudampuli — the sun-dried rind of a Western Ghats Garcinia, smoky and deep, and the one Kerala acid that makes a curry improve overnight. Also written kodampuli and kudam puli; sold as Malabar tamarind, fish tamarind or gambooge. Chapter 9. R024, R026.
- Kumbalanga — ash gourd, sold abroad as winter melon or wax gourd; the body of olan and pulissery. R068, R083.
- Kurumulaku — black pepper.
M
- Maida — refined white wheat flour, the material of the modern parotta and one of the four documented shifts in Chapter 2.
- Mallii — coriander seed, which gives body rather than punch. Mallii ela is the leaf.
- Manchatti — the unglazed earthenware pot; see meen chatti.
- Manjal — turmeric.
- Mappas — a coconut-milk curry with a sour note, usually vinegar, and a pepper finish. Sometimes written mappas and sometimes moppas. R035, R044, R051.
- Matta — Kerala's everyday parboiled short-grain rice, reddish-pink from the bran. Palakkadan Matta is registered as a geographical indication; rosematta is the same family under a trade name. Anything labelled matta that is white and long is polished rice with a heritage word on the packet.
- Mathi — sardine. The fish that punishes a bad buy hardest. R026.
- Mathu — the wooden churner used for buttermilk and sambharam. R107.
- Meen — fish. Meen chatti is the fish pot; meen vevichathu is the kudampuli fish curry; meen peera is the dry coconut-and-fish preparation.
- Meen chatti — the unglazed clay fish pot, also called manchatti. Inert to acid, slow to heat and cool, and microporous, so a seasoned one carries something of the last curry into the next. Chapters 13 and 14.
- Mezhukkupuratti — the dry vegetable dish without coconut; the name means "smeared with oil", making it the clearest case of a dish named for its technique. R073, R074, R077.
- Mixie — the Indian jar blender, universal in Kerala kitchens. It cuts and heats where a stone crushes; Chapter 14 gives the workarounds.
- Moilee — a pale, gentle coconut-milk fish curry. Also written molee, moily and molly, all for the same dish. R025.
- Moonnaam paal — the third, thinnest coconut extraction. See onnaam paal.
- Moru — buttermilk, or curd whisked with water. Moru curry and moru kachiyathu are its cooked forms. R081, R087.
- Mulaku — chilli. Pacha mulaku is the green chilli, vattal mulaku the dried red.
- Muringakka · muringayila — drumstick pods and moringa leaves, the highest-protein green here. Chapter 12's verdict: an outstanding food and a weak supplement. R066.
- Muthira — horse gram, the leanest pulse here, hard as gravel and needing an overnight soak. Sold abroad as kollu, kulthi or hurali. R056, R057.
- Mutta — egg. R046, R047.
- Muttakoos — cabbage. Not a Kerala native and now entirely domesticated in the kitchen: R063, the thoran this book teaches the whole grammar on, and R079. Chapter 12.
N
- Nadan — "of the country", local, home-style. Attached to a dish name it signals the household version rather than the restaurant one.
- Nallenna — gingelly or sesame oil, pressed from raw seed and light golden; not the dark toasted East Asian oil, which is wrong here.
- Nannari — the root of Hemidesmus indicus, simmered for a cooling drink. Also written nannari veru. R110.
- Nendran — the large Kerala plantain, green as a vegetable and ripe as ethakka.
- Neychoru — ghee rice. R017.
- Neymeen — seer fish or kingfish, the special-occasion steak fish and the best source of omega-3 fats in these waters. Chapter 12 sets out the mercury caution honestly. R030.
- Njavara — a short medicinal rice, used in karkidaka kanji. Also written navara. R108.
O
- Olan — ash gourd and cowpea in thin coconut milk, barely spiced, finished with raw coconut oil. Quiet by design, and not silent. R068.
- Onnaam paal · randaam paal · moonnaam paal — the first, second and third coconut-milk extractions. The first is a finish and must never boil; the later two are cooking liquid. Chapter 14. M08.
P
- Pacha manga — hard green unripe mango, used as an acid and as flesh.
- Pachadi — a curd-based side dish, sweet-sour, with fruit or a cooked vegetable. R090, R091, R092.
- Pachakam · pachakavidhi — cooking, and method of cooking; the title of the 1953 newspaper column that began Kerala food writing.
- Padavalanga — snake gourd, the lightest vegetable in this book at 12 kcal per 100 g. R075.
- Palappam — the softer, thicker appam of Syrian Christian kitchens. R001.
- Pappadam — the thin lentil wafer of the sadya leaf. Also written papadam, and sold in Indian shops outside Kerala as papad. Roasting it rather than frying it saves the whole fat load.
- Parippu — dal, and by extension a dal curry. Cherupayar parippu is moong dal, toor parippu red gram. R058, R117.
- Parotta — the layered maida flatbread of restaurant and roadside Kerala; not in this book's recipes and discussed in Chapter 2 as one of the four shifts.
- Pathiri — the Malabar rice flatbread, in dozens of documented variants.
- Pattani — peas. Used frozen in this book, in R013 and R019, and added late so they stay green. Chapter 12.
- Pavakka — bitter gourd, at 21 kcal per 100 g. Chapter 12 reports that the two best syntheses of the human evidence found no significant effect on HbA1c or fasting glucose. R072.
- Payasam · pradhaman — the sweet pudding that closes a feast. In the Namboothiri scheme payasam is the rice-based family and pradhaman the non-rice one; elsewhere the words are looser. R112 to R116, R120.
- Pazham — ripe banana. Pazham nirachathu is the stuffed, steamed or fried version. R102.
- Peera — a dry preparation of fish with grated coconut, cooked under a lid and finished uncovered. Also peera pattichathu. R031.
- Perumjeerakam — fennel, the signature of Malabar meat cooking.
- Podi — a dry roasted-and-ground powder: a masala blend, a chutney powder, or a seasoning for kanji. M02, M03, M06, R095.
- Pokkali — a saline-tolerant Kerala rice grown in rotation with prawns, registered as a geographical indication.
- Pollichathu — cooked in a wrapping of banana leaf on a griddle, the leaf browning and blistering while the fish steams inside. R029.
- Porichathu — fried. R043.
- Potassium chloride, food-grade — the 30% of the 70:30 salt (M07), sold as low-sodium or potassium salt. Not for a reader with chronic kidney disease, or on a RAAS inhibitor, a potassium-sparing diuretic or a potassium supplement, without a doctor's approval. Chapters 10 and 12.
- Puli — tamarind, and more broadly sourness. Vaalanpuli is the tamarind pod.
- Pulissery — a gently soured curd-and-coconut curry, often with fruit. R082, R083.
- Puttu — steamed cylinders of moistened rice or ragi flour layered with grated coconut. Pre-colonial, with steam cooking described in a sixth-century Sanskrit text. R002, R003, R004.
- Puttu kutti — the cylindrical puttu steamer, originally bamboo and now usually steel. The vessel gives the dish its name and its shape. Chapter 13.
- Puzhukku — boiled and crushed tubers bound with a coconut paste.
R
- Ragi — finger millet, ground to flour for puttu, dosa, kanji and pancakes. Also called nachni and wimbi. R003, R008, R021, R101.
- Rasam — a thin, sharp, peppery tamarind broth, drunk as much as eaten. Also spelt rasam everywhere; the Tamil root milagu thanni, pepper water, is also the origin of Anglo-Indian mulligatawny. R086.
- Rava — semolina, coarse-ground wheat, the material of upma. R013.
S
- Sadya — the banana-leaf feast. Not a menu but a protocol: the leaf, the geometry, the order and the courses of rice all encode something. Chapter 27. R117 to R120.
- Sambar — a tamarind-and-dal vegetable curry with its own spice blend. Contested: the Thanjavur court origin story is traditional rather than documented. M02, R059, R118.
- Sambharam — spiced diluted buttermilk, drunk cold. R107.
- Sevanazhi — the idiyappam press. The Kannada Lokopakara of 1025 CE documents both the dish and the mould-press, so this is a thousand-year-old documented instrument. Chapter 13.
- Shaap — the toddy shop, and by extension its cooking: hard-seasoned, acid-forward, and the source of several dishes now considered restaurant classics.
- Shadrasa — the traditional six-taste framework: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent. Treated in this book as a traditional organising idea that happens to produce a varied plate, kept separate from clinical evidence.
- Sharkara — cane jaggery. Sharkara upperi is the jaggery-glazed banana chip.
- Sulaimani — the black spiced tea of Malabar, with lime. R111.
T
- Thaalikkuka — tempering: whole spices and curry leaf bloomed in hot fat, at the start of some dishes and poured over the top of others. Also thaalippu. Which, and why, is the first technique in Chapter 14.
- Thairu — set curd, yoghurt. Must never boil.
- Thakkali — tomato. R088.
- Tharavaad — the large joint household, and the kitchen that went with it.
- Thattu dosa — the small thick griddle dosa of the roadside stall. R007.
- Thattukada — the roadside food stall, and one of the four documented shifts in Chapter 2.
- Thavi — the deep ladle. Chapter 13.
- Theeyal — a dark, sour gravy built on coconut roasted almost to bitterness before grinding. R072, R084.
- Thenga — coconut. Thenga kothu is the sliver cut; thengaappu the spent gratings left after milk is pressed, which still hold most of the fibre and are worth keeping.
- Thenga aracha · thenga chertha — "with ground coconut" and "with coconut added": a paste cooked in and thickening, against milk added and enriching. The grammar of the whole cuisine, and the second technique in Chapter 14.
- Thiruvathira puzhukku — the tuber dish of a rice-free women's festival; the one day the tubers take the centre of the leaf. Contested: sources place Thiruvathira in different Malayalam months.
- Thoran — the dry vegetable dish with raw grated coconut crushed in at the end, cooked in the vegetable's own water under a lid. R063 is the master pattern.
- Thooshanila — the tender tip portion of the banana leaf, the prized cut at a feast.
- Toddy · kallu — fermented palm sap, and the original leaven of kallappam.
U
- Ularthiyathu — cooked down and then dry-roasted in the pan until the masala crusts onto the meat and the coconut slivers darken. R033, R045, R048.
- Ulli — onion or shallot. Ulli theeyal is the shallot theeyal. R084.
- Uluva — fenugreek, and one of three spices whose trial dose Chapter 9 finds reachable through food. Every mention of it in this book carries the caution that it can lower blood glucose further in a reader using insulin or a sulfonylurea, which is a matter for their clinician.
- Unakka meen — sun-dried salted fish, used as seasoning rather than as bulk. Rinse, soak, and add no further salt. R036.
- Unakkalari — short-grain raw rice, the correct grain for a milk payasam. R120.
- Unakkamundiri — raisin or sultana. A garnish in R018 and a sweetener in R102 and R103. Commercially dried pale fruit is usually sulphited, which is why those recipes carry a sulphites line. Chapter 12.
- Unnakkaya — a Malabar sweet: ripe plantain pounded to a dough around a coconut filling, shaped as a small pod. Also written unnakaya. R103.
- Upastharanam — the spoon of ghee poured over the first rice course of a sadya. R117.
- Upma — a savoury dish of roasted semolina or millet cooked with vegetables. R013, R022.
- Upperi — the broadest of the dry-vegetable words. In household speech a dry-cooked side, roughly interchangeable with mezhukkupuratti; on a sadya leaf, the deep-fried salted banana chip. Both meanings are correct. R079.
- Uruli — the wide, shallow, heavy bell-metal or brass pan, the traditional vessel for payasam and for anything that needs slow reduction. Chapter 13.
- Uzhunnu — urad dal, black gram; split and skinned for batters, whole for a tempering crackle.
V
- Vanpayar — the red cowpea, and the Kerala pulse: thoran, erissery, olan. Also written van payar; sold abroad as black-eyed bean or lobia, though the Kerala variety is smaller and redder. R053, R054.
- Varutharacha — coconut dry-roasted dark and then ground; a third register rather than a variant of thenga aracha. The third technique in Chapter 14. M09.
- Vazhakkoombu · vazhapindi — plantain flower and plantain stem, the two most underused vegetables in the cuisine. R078.
- Velichenna — coconut oil. Chapter 8 sets out what it is and is not; Chapter 14 sets out where this book keeps it and where it moves to sesame, groundnut or rice bran.
- Vellarikka — cucumber, in its Kerala varieties. R091.
- Vellayappam — a thicker, whiter, milder appam.
- Velluthulli — garlic. The one spice in this book whose trial dose overlaps ordinary cooking; Chapter 9 gives the numbers.
- Vendakka — okra. Chapter 12 notes that no human randomised trial of okra water has been verified, and that eating the pod delivers far more of its soluble mucilage than steeping it. R074.
- Vevichathu — boiled, cooked in liquid; in practice, the kudampuli fish curry. R024.
Y
- Yeast, instant — the modern alternative to toddy as the leavening in an appam batter (M10), at 2 g. Chapter 12.
2. English–Malayalam Quick Finder
The reverse lookup. If you know the English word and want the Kerala one, or the word to use in a shop, start here and then follow the glossary entry above.
| English | Malayalam |
|---|---|
| amaranth leaves | cheera |
| anchovy, whitebait | kozhuva |
| ash gourd, winter melon | kumbalanga |
| asafoetida | kayam |
| banana, ripe | pazham; ethakka (Nendran) |
| banana leaf | vazhayila; thooshanila (the tip) |
| beetroot | beetroot |
| bitter gourd | pavakka |
| black gram | uzhunnu, urad |
| black pepper | kurumulaku |
| buttermilk | moru |
| cabbage | muttakoos |
| cardamom | elakka |
| carrot | carrot |
| cashew nut | kasuvandi; andiparippu |
| cassava, tapioca | kappa |
| chicken | kozhi |
| chickpea, black | kadala |
| chilli, dried red | vattal mulaku |
| chilli, green | pacha mulaku |
| Chinese potato | koorka |
| cinnamon | karuvapatta |
| cloves | grambu |
| cluster beans | kothavara |
| coconut | thenga |
| coconut, grated | thenga aracha (ground); thenga kothu (slivers) |
| coconut milk | thengapaal; onnaam, randaam, moonnaam paal |
| coconut oil | velichenna |
| coconut vinegar | kaadi |
| colocasia, taro | chembu |
| coriander leaf | mallii ela |
| coriander seed | mallii |
| cowpea, red | vanpayar |
| cucumber | vellarikka |
| cumin | jeerakam |
| curd, yoghurt | thairu |
| curry leaves | kariveppila |
| dal, split pulse | parippu |
| drumstick pods | muringakka |
| dried fish | unakka meen |
| egg | mutta |
| elephant foot yam | chena |
| fennel | perumjeerakam |
| fenugreek | uluva |
| finger millet | ragi |
| fish | meen |
| garlic | velluthulli |
| ghee | ney |
| ginger, fresh | inchi |
| ginger, dried | chukku |
| green gram, moong | cherupayar |
| horse gram | muthira |
| jackfruit | chakka |
| jaggery, cane | sharkara |
| jaggery, palm | karuppatti |
| lime | cherunaranga |
| mace | jathipathri |
| mackerel | ayala |
| mango, raw green | pacha manga |
| moringa leaves | muringayila |
| mussels | kallummakkaya |
| mustard seed | kaduku |
| nutmeg | jathikka |
| okra | vendakka |
| onion, small; shallot | cheriya ulli |
| pearl spot | karimeen |
| peas, green | pattani |
| pickle | achar |
| pineapple | kaithachakka |
| plantain flower | vazhakkoombu |
| plantain stem | vazhapindi |
| potassium chloride, food-grade | low-sodium salt; potassium salt |
| prawns | chemmeen |
| raisin, sultana | unakkamundiri |
| rice, cooked | choru |
| rice, parboiled red | matta |
| rice, raw short-grain | pachari, unakkalari |
| rice gruel | kanji |
| rice, aromatic Wayanad | jeerakasala, gandhakasala |
| rice flakes, flattened | aval |
| sardine | mathi |
| seer fish, kingfish | neymeen |
| semolina | rava |
| sesame oil | nallenna |
| snake gourd | padavalanga |
| squid | koonthal |
| sweet potato | madhura kizhangu |
| tamarind | puli, vaalanpuli |
| tamarind, Malabar | kudampuli |
| tea | chaya |
| tomato | thakkali |
| toor dal, red gram | thuvara parippu |
| turmeric | manjal |
| wheat, wholemeal | gothambu |
| yeast, instant | yeast |
| — | — |
| Cooking terms | |
| boiled in liquid | vevichathu |
| dry-roasted, of coconut | varutharacha |
| dry vegetable dish with coconut | thoran |
| dry vegetable dish, oiled, no coconut | mezhukkupuratti |
| dry-roasted down to a crust | ularthiyathu |
| fried | porichathu |
| ground coconut, cooked in | thenga aracha |
| coconut milk, added | thenga chertha |
| tempering | thaalikkuka, thaalippu |
| steamed in a leaf | pollichathu |
| boiled and crushed tubers | puzhukku |
| sweet pudding | payasam, pradhaman |
| pickle, relish | achar |
| powder, blend | podi |
| the six tastes | shadrasa |
| the feast | sadya |
3. The Recipe List, by Chapter
All 137 numbered preparations: 17 mother preparations and 120 recipes. Icons are the six-letter Kerala Plate strip — V vegetable-forward, P pulse included or completed by one, Q quick, B batch-friendly, F freezer-friendly, L low sodium, under 300 mg a serving.
Chapter 15 — Mother Preparations
| No. | Title | Icons | Attribute tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| M01 | Kerala Garam Masala | B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| M02 | Sambar Podi | P · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| M03 | Rasam Podi | P · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| M04 | Nadan Chicken Masala | B · L | [LOW SODIUM] |
| M05 | Fish Masala | B · L | [LOW SODIUM] |
| M06 | The Low-Sodium All-Purpose Podi | P · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| M07 | The 70:30 Salt | Q · B | [VEGAN] |
| M08 | Coconut Milk, Three Extractions | Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| M09 | Varutharacha Thenga | B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| M10 | Appam and Palappam Batter | B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| M11 | Idli and Dosa Batter | P · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| M12 | Ragi-Matta Dosa Batter | P · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| M13 | Fish Stock from Heads and Frames | B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] |
| M14 | Vegetable Stock, Kerala Aromatics | V · B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| M15 | Base Shallot Masala to Freeze | V · B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| M16 | Ginger-Garlic-Green Chilli Paste | Q · B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| M17 | Thaliched Moru, Tempered Curd | B · L | [LOW GL] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
Chapter 16 — Breakfast
| No. | Title | Icons | Attribute tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| R001 | Palappam | P · B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| R002 | Puttu, Matta Rice | P · Q · L | [LOW GL] [VEGAN] |
| R003 | Ragi Puttu | P · Q · L | [LOW GL] [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
| R004 | Wheat and Coconut Puttu | P · Q · L | [VEGAN] |
| R005 | Idiyappam | P · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| R006 | Idli | P · B · F | [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R007 | Thattu Dosa | P · B | [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] |
| R008 | Ragi Dosa | P · B | [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] |
| R009 | Oats and Matta Dosa | P · B · L | [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] |
| R010 | Kadala Curry | V · P · B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
| R011 | Cherupayar Curry | V · P · B · F · L | [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R012 | Kanji with Vanpayar | V · P · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
| R013 | Vegetable Upma | V · P · L | [HIGH FIBRE] [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] |
| R014 | Egg Roast, Rebuilt | V · B · L | [LOW GL] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
Chapter 17 — Rice, Grains and the Grain Question in Practice
| No. | Title | Icons | Attribute tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| R015 | Matta Rice, Properly Cooked | P · B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] |
| R016 | The Chilled-and-Reheated Rice Method | P · B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] |
| R017 | Ghee Rice, Reworked | P · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] |
| R018 | Thalassery Chicken Biryani, Rebuilt | P · B | [HIGH PROTEIN] |
| R019 | Vegetable Pulao with Jeerakasala | V · P · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGETARIAN] |
| R020 | Kanji, Three Ways | P · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R021 | Ragi Kanji | Q · L | [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R022 | Millet Upma | V · P · L | [LOW SODIUM] [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
| R023 | Kerala Khichdi | V · P · B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
Chapter 18 — Fish and Seafood
| No. | Title | Icons | Attribute tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| R024 | Meen Vevichathu | P · B · F | [LOW GL] [HIGH PROTEIN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R025 | Meen Moilee | P · Q | [LOW GL] [HIGH PROTEIN] |
| R026 | Mathi Curry | P · B · F | [LOW GL] |
| R027 | Ayala Varuthathu, Baked | P | [HIGH PROTEIN] [LOW SAT FAT] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R028 | Ayala Varuthathu, Fried and Measured | — | [LOW GL] [HIGH PROTEIN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R029 | Karimeen Pollichathu | P | [LOW GL] [HIGH PROTEIN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R030 | Neymeen Mango Curry | P | [LOW GL] [HIGH PROTEIN] |
| R031 | Kozhuva Peera | P · Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] |
| R032 | Chemmeen Theeyal | P · Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R033 | Chemmeen Ularthiyathu | P · Q | [LOW GL] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R034 | Kallummakkaya Roast | P | [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R035 | Fish Mappas | P | [LOW GL] [HIGH PROTEIN] |
| R036 | Unakka Meen Thoran | V · P | [HIGH FIBRE] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R037 | Koonthal Roast | P · L | [LOW SODIUM] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R038 | Fish in Banana Leaf | P · B | [LOW GL] [HIGH PROTEIN] |
| R039 | Baked Sardine Cutlets | P · B · F | — |
Chapter 19 — Chicken, Egg and Meat
| No. | Title | Icons | Attribute tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| R040 | Nadan Kozhi Curry | P · B · F | [LOW GL] [HIGH PROTEIN] |
| R041 | Kerala Chicken Stew | V · B | [HIGH PROTEIN] |
| R042 | Pepper Chicken | P · B · L | [LOW GL] [HIGH PROTEIN] [LOW SODIUM] |
| R043 | Kozhi Porichathu, Rebuilt | P · B · F · L | [HIGH PROTEIN] [LOW SODIUM] |
| R044 | Chicken Mappas | B | [LOW GL] [HIGH PROTEIN] |
| R045 | Chicken Ularthiyathu | P · B · F | [LOW GL] [HIGH PROTEIN] |
| R046 | Mutta Curry | B | [LOW GL] |
| R047 | Egg Thoran | V · Q · L | [LOW GL] [LOW SODIUM] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R048 | Beef Ularthiyathu, Traditional and Rebuilt | P · B · F | [LOW GL] [HIGH PROTEIN] |
| R049 | Beef Curry with Coconut Slivers | P · B · F · L | [LOW GL] [LOW SODIUM] |
| R050 | Mutton Stew | V · B | [HIGH PROTEIN] |
| R051 | Duck Mappas | V · B | [HIGH PROTEIN] |
| R052 | Liver Fry | P · L | [LOW SODIUM] [LOW SAT FAT] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
Chapter 20 — Pulses and Legumes
| No. | Title | Icons | Attribute tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| R053 | Vanpayar Thoran | V · P · B · F · L | [LOW GL] [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
| R054 | Vanpayar Erissery | V · P · B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R055 | Kadala Ularthiyathu | V · P · B · F · L | [LOW GL] [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
| R056 | Muthira Thoran | V · P · B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
| R057 | Muthira Curry | V · P · B · F · L | [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
| R058 | Parippu Curry | V · P · B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R059 | Sambar | V · P · B · F · L | [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R060 | Parippu with Cheera | V · P · Q · B · F · L | [HIGH FIBRE] [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] |
| R061 | Kerala Chana Masala | V · P · B · F | [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
| R062 | Sprouted Moong Salad | V · P · L | [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
Chapter 21 — Vegetables: The Half of the Plate
| No. | Title | Icons | Attribute tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| R063 | Cabbage Thoran | V · Q · B · L | [LOW GL] [VEGAN] |
| R064 | Beans Thoran | V · Q · B · L | [LOW GL] [VEGAN] |
| R065 | Cheera Thoran | V · Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
| R066 | Muringayila Thoran | V · Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
| R067 | Beetroot Thoran | V · Q · B · F · L | [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R068 | Kumbalanga Olan | V · P · L | [LOW GL] [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| R069 | Avial | V · B · L | [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R070 | Kalan | V · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] |
| R071 | Chena Erissery | V · P · B · F · L | [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R072 | Pavakka Theeyal | V · B · F · L | [LOW GL] [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
| R073 | Chena Mezhukkupuratti | B · L | [HIGH FIBRE] [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] |
| R074 | Vendakka Mezhukkupuratti | V · Q · L | [LOW GL] [LOW SAT FAT] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R075 | Padavalanga Curry | V · P · B · L | [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R076 | Raw Papaya Thoran | V · Q · B · L | [LOW GL] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R077 | Koorka Mezhukkupuratti | B · L | [HIGH FIBRE] [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] |
| R078 | Banana Stem Pachadi | V · L | [LOW GL] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R079 | Cabbage and Carrot Upperi | V · Q · B · L | [LOW GL] [VEGAN] |
| R080 | Mixed Vegetable Stew | V · L | [LOW SODIUM] [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] |
Chapter 22 — Curries, Pulissery and the Sour Family
| No. | Title | Icons | Attribute tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| R081 | Moru Curry | Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R082 | Pineapple Pulissery | Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R083 | Kumbalanga Pulissery | V · Q · L | [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R084 | Ulli Theeyal | B · L | [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R085 | Mango Curry | Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R086 | Rasam | P · Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R087 | Moru Kachiyathu | Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R088 | Thakkali Curry | Q · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
Chapter 23 — Salads, Pachadis, Chutneys, Podis and Pickles
| No. | Title | Icons | Attribute tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| R089 | Kerala Kitchen Salad | V · Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R090 | Beetroot Pachadi | V · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R091 | Cucumber Pachadi | V · Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R092 | Pineapple Pachadi | V · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R093 | Coconut Chutney, Rebuilt | P · Q · B · L | [LOW GL] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R094 | Tomato Chutney | V · Q · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R095 | Kanji Podi | P · B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] |
| R096 | Low-Sodium Lime Achar | B · L | [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R097 | Low-Sodium Mango Achar | B · L | [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R098 | Inji Puli, Reworked | B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R099 | Carrot and Coconut Raita | V · Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
Chapter 24 — Tea Time, Rebuilt
| No. | Title | Icons | Attribute tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| R100 | Baked Ethakka Appam | B · L | [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R101 | Ragi Banana Pancake | B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGETARIAN] |
| R102 | Pazham Nirachathu, Steamed | L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R103 | Unnakkaya, Rebuilt | B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R104 | Savoury Kozhukkatta | P · B · F · L | [LOW SAT FAT] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R105 | Roasted Kadala Mix | P · B · L | [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R106 | Chai, and the Sugar Arithmetic | Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
Chapter 25 — Drinks
| No. | Title | Icons | Attribute tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| R107 | Sambharam | B · L | [LOW GL] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R108 | Karkidaka Kanji | P · B · F · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] |
| R109 | Jeera and Methi Water, and What It Does Not Do | L | [LOW GL] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R110 | Lime and Nannari Sharbat, Unsweetened | B · L | [LOW GL] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R111 | Sulaimani | Q · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
Chapter 26 — Sweets and Payasam, Honestly
| No. | Title | Icons | Attribute tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| R112 | Palada Payasam, Rebuilt | B · L | [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R113 | Ada Pradhaman, with the Arithmetic Shown | B · F · L | [VEGETARIAN] |
| R114 | Cherupayar Payasam | P · B · F · L | [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R115 | Elayada | B · F · L | [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R116 | Chakka Pradhaman | B · F · L | [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
Chapter 27 — The Sadya, Re-engineered
| No. | Title | Icons | Attribute tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| R117 | Sadya Parippu with Ghee | P · B · F · L | [LOW GL] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R118 | Sadya Sambar | V · P · B · F · L | [HIGH FIBRE] [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R119 | The Sadya Pickle and Relish Set | B | [VEGAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
| R120 | Sadya Payasam, Portioned | B · L | [LOW SODIUM] [VEGETARIAN] [UNDER 250 KCAL] |
4. Index by Dish Name, A–Z
Every recipe and every mother preparation in this book appears twice below: once under its Malayalam name and once under its English one, each carrying the number that will find it. Where a preparation has no Malayalam name — because it is this book's own construction rather than an inherited dish — it appears once, under the English. Names are alphabetised letter by letter, ignoring accents and punctuation. Nothing here is keyed to a page; the numbers are stable across the paperback, the ebook and any future edition.
A
- Ada pradhaman · Rice ada in jaggery and coconut milk — R113
- Amaranth green thoran · Cheera thoran — R065
- Amaranth greens with dried fish · Unakka meen thoran — R036
- Anchovies steamed dry with grated coconut · Kozhuva peera — R031
- Appam and palappam batter · Fermented rice and coconut batter — M10
- Ash gourd and cowpea in thin coconut milk · Kumbalanga olan — R068
- Ash gourd in curd and coconut · Kumbalanga pulissery — R083
- Attirachi ishtu · Mutton stew — R050
- Avial · Mixed vegetables in coarse coconut-cumin paste — R069
- Ayala varuthathu, baked · Mackerel baked with a chilli-masala rub — R027
- Ayala varuthathu, fried · Kerala mackerel fry, with the oil weighed — R028
B
- Baked plantain fritter · Ethakka appam, baked — R100
- Baked sardine cutlets · Mathi cutlet, baked — R039
- Banana stem pachadi · Vazhapindi pachadi — R078
- Base shallot masala to freeze — M15
- Beef curry with coconut slivers · Nadan beef curry — R049
- Beef fry, traditional and rebuilt · Beef ularthiyathu — R048
- Beef ularthiyathu · Beef fry, traditional and rebuilt — R048
- Beetroot pachadi · Pachadi, beetroot — R090
- Beetroot thoran · Thoran, beetroot — R067
- Bitter gourd and shallots in dark roasted coconut · Pavakka theeyal — R072
- Black chickpea curry · Kadala curry — R010
- Black chickpea roasted dry with coconut slivers · Kadala ularthiyathu — R055
- Brown cowpea with grated coconut · Vanpayar thoran — R053
- Buttermilk, warmed and tempered · Moru kachiyathu — R087
C
- Cabbage and carrot upperi · Upperi, cabbage and carrot — R079
- Cabbage thoran · Thoran, cabbage — R063
- Carrot and coconut raita · Raita, carrot and coconut — R099
- Chai, and the sugar arithmetic · Chaya — R106
- Chakka pradhaman · Ripe jackfruit pradhaman — R116
- Chaya · Chai, and the sugar arithmetic — R106
- Cheera thoran · Amaranth green thoran — R065
- Chemmeen theeyal · Prawns in roasted coconut and tamarind — R032
- Chemmeen ularthiyathu · Dry prawn roast with coconut slivers — R033
- Chena erissery · Elephant foot yam and cowpea erissery — R071
- Chena mezhukkupuratti · Elephant foot yam, parboiled and oil-glazed — R073
- Cherupayar curry · Whole green gram curry — R011
- Cherupayar mulapichathu · Sprouted green gram salad — R062
- Cherupayar payasam · Green gram payasam — R114
- Chicken mappas · Kozhi mappas — R044
- Chinese potato, boiled and glazed with pepper · Koorka mezhukkupuratti — R077
- Coconut chutney, rebuilt · Thenga chammanthi — R093
- Coconut milk, three extractions · Onnaam paal · randaam paal · moonnaam paal — M08
- Country-style chicken and beef masala · Nadan chicken masala — M04
- Cowpea and pumpkin erissery · Vanpayar erissery — R054
- Cucumber pachadi · Vellarikka pachadi — R091
D
- Dosa, oats and matta · Oats and red rice dosa — R009
- Dry chicken roast with coconut slivers · Kozhi ularthiyathu — R045
- Dry prawn roast with coconut slivers · Chemmeen ularthiyathu — R033
- Duck mappas · Tharavu mappas — R051
E
- Egg curry in coconut milk · Mutta curry — R046
- Egg roast, rebuilt · Mutta roast — R014
- Egg thoran · Mutta thoran — R047
- Elayada · Steamed rice parcels of coconut and jaggery — R115
- Elephant foot yam and cowpea erissery · Chena erissery — R071
- Elephant foot yam, parboiled and oil-glazed · Chena mezhukkupuratti — R073
- Ethakka appam, baked · Baked plantain fritter — R100
- Everyday country chicken curry · Nadan kozhi curry — R040
F
- Fermented rice and black gram batter · Idli and dosa batter — M11
- Fermented rice and coconut batter · Appam and palappam batter — M10
- Festival dal for the first rice course, with ghee · Sadya parippu — R117
- Finger millet and banana pancake · Ragi pancake — R101
- Finger millet and red rice batter · Ragi-matta dosa batter — M12
- Finger millet dosa · Ragi dosa — R008
- Finger millet porridge · Ragi kanji — R021
- Finger millet puttu · Ragi puttu — R003
- Fish in banana leaf — R038
- Fish masala — M05
- Fish stock from heads and frames — M13
- French bean thoran · Thoran, beans — R064
- Fried chicken, rebuilt in the oven · Kozhi porichathu — R043
G
- Garam masala, Kerala — M01
- Ghee rice, reworked · Neychoru — R017
- Ginger, tamarind and jaggery relish · Inji puli, reworked — R098
- Ginger-garlic-green chilli paste — M16
- Green gram payasam · Cherupayar payasam — R114
- Green mussels roasted dry with pepper · Kallummakkaya roast — R034
- Green papaya thoran · Thoran, raw papaya — R076
H
- Horse gram in a roasted-coconut gravy · Muthira curry — R057
- Horse gram with coconut · Muthira thoran — R056
I
- Idiyappam · String hoppers — R005
- Idli · Steamed fermented rice and black gram cakes — R006
- Idli and dosa batter · Fermented rice and black gram batter — M11
- Inji puli · naranga achar · manga achar · The sadya pickle and relish set — R119
- Inji puli, reworked · Ginger, tamarind and jaggery relish — R098
- Ishtu, vegetable · Mixed vegetable stew — R080
J
- Jeera and methi water, and what it does not do — R109
K
- Kadala curry · Black chickpea curry — R010
- Kadala masala, Kerala · Kerala chana masala — R061
- Kadala mix, roasted · Roasted black chickpea mix — R105
- Kadala ularthiyathu · Black chickpea roasted dry with coconut slivers — R055
- Kadumanga achar · Low-sodium mango pickle — R097
- Kalan · Yam and green plantain in thick soured curd — R070
- Kaleej varuthathu · Liver fry — R052
- Kallummakkaya roast · Green mussels roasted dry with pepper — R034
- Kanji podi · The dry podi that makes rice gruel a meal — R095
- Kanji, three ways · Rice gruel, three ways — R020
- Kanji with vanpayar · Rice gruel with cowpea — R012
- Karimeen pollichathu · Pearl spot cooked in a banana leaf — R029
- Karkidaka kanji · The monsoon gruel of Karkidakam — R108
- Kerala chana masala · Kadala masala, Kerala — R061
- Kerala chicken stew · Kozhi ishtu — R041
- Kerala kitchen salad — R089
- Kerala mackerel fry, with the oil weighed · Ayala varuthathu, fried — R028
- Khichdi, Kerala · Red rice and moong dal in one pot — R023
- Koonthal roast · Squid roasted dry with pepper — R037
- Koorka mezhukkupuratti · Chinese potato, boiled and glazed with pepper — R077
- Kozhi ishtu · Kerala chicken stew — R041
- Kozhi mappas · Chicken mappas — R044
- Kozhi porichathu · Fried chicken, rebuilt in the oven — R043
- Kozhi ularthiyathu · Dry chicken roast with coconut slivers — R045
- Kozhukkatta, savoury · Steamed rice dumplings with a moong dal filling — R104
- Kozhuva peera · Anchovies steamed dry with grated coconut — R031
- Kudampuli fish curry · Meen vevichathu — R024
- Kumbalanga olan · Ash gourd and cowpea in thin coconut milk — R068
- Kumbalanga pulissery · Ash gourd in curd and coconut — R083
- Kurumulaku kozhi · Pepper chicken — R042
L
- Lace-edged fermented rice hopper · Palappam — R001
- Lime and sarsaparilla sharbat, unsweetened · Nannari sharbat — R110
- Little millet upma · Upma, millet — R022
- Liver fry · Kaleej varuthathu — R052
- Low-sodium all-purpose podi · Podi, the low-sodium all-purpose — M06
- Low-sodium lime pickle · Naranga achar — R096
- Low-sodium mango pickle · Kadumanga achar — R097
M
- Mackerel baked with a chilli-masala rub · Ayala varuthathu, baked — R027
- Malabar black tea with lime and spice · Sulaimani — R111
- Mambazha pulissery · Ripe mango in curd and coconut — R085
- Mathi curry · Sardine curry with kudampuli — R026
- Mathi cutlet, baked · Baked sardine cutlets — R039
- Matta rice, properly cooked · Red parboiled rice, properly cooked — R015
- Meen mappas · Mild coconut-milk fish stew — R035
- Meen moilee · Pale coconut-milk fish curry — R025
- Meen vevichathu · Kudampuli fish curry — R024
- Mild coconut-milk fish stew · Meen mappas — R035
- Mixed vegetable stew · Ishtu, vegetable — R080
- Mixed vegetables in coarse coconut-cumin paste · Avial — R069
- Moong dal with amaranth greens · Parippu with cheera — R060
- Moringa leaf thoran · Muringayila thoran — R066
- Moru curry · Tempered buttermilk curry with ground coconut — R081
- Moru kachiyathu · Buttermilk, warmed and tempered — R087
- Muringayila thoran · Moringa leaf thoran — R066
- Muthira curry · Horse gram in a roasted-coconut gravy — R057
- Muthira thoran · Horse gram with coconut — R056
- Mutta curry · Egg curry in coconut milk — R046
- Mutta roast · Egg roast, rebuilt — R014
- Mutta thoran · Egg thoran — R047
- Mutton stew · Attirachi ishtu — R050
N
- Nadan beef curry · Beef curry with coconut slivers — R049
- Nadan chicken masala · Country-style chicken and beef masala — M04
- Nadan kozhi curry · Everyday country chicken curry — R040
- Nannari sharbat · Lime and sarsaparilla sharbat, unsweetened — R110
- Naranga achar · Low-sodium lime pickle — R096
- Neychoru · Ghee rice, reworked — R017
- Neymeen manga curry · Seer fish with raw mango and coconut milk — R030
O
- Oats and red rice dosa · Dosa, oats and matta — R009
- Okra cooked dry and oil-glazed · Vendakka mezhukkupuratti — R074
- Onnaam paal · randaam paal · moonnaam paal · Coconut milk, three extractions — M08
P
- Paal payasam · Sadya milk payasam, portioned — R120
- Pachadi, beetroot · Beetroot pachadi — R090
- Pachadi, pineapple · Pineapple pachadi — R092
- Padavalanga curry · Snake gourd and moong dal in coconut-cumin paste — R075
- Palada payasam · Rice ada in reduced milk — R112
- Palappam · Lace-edged fermented rice hopper — R001
- Pale coconut-milk fish curry · Meen moilee — R025
- Parippu curry · The sadya dal, with its spoon of ghee — R058
- Parippu with cheera · Moong dal with amaranth greens — R060
- Pavakka theeyal · Bitter gourd and shallots in dark roasted coconut — R072
- Pazham nirachathu · Stuffed ripe plantain, steamed — R102
- Pearl spot cooked in a banana leaf · Karimeen pollichathu — R029
- Pepper chicken · Kurumulaku kozhi — R042
- Pineapple pachadi · Pachadi, pineapple — R092
- Pineapple pulissery · Pulissery, pineapple — R082
- Podi, the low-sodium all-purpose · Low-sodium all-purpose podi — M06
- Prawns in roasted coconut and tamarind · Chemmeen theeyal — R032
- Pulao with jeerakasala · Vegetable pulao — R019
- Pulissery, pineapple · Pineapple pulissery — R082
- Puttu, matta rice · Steamed rice-and-coconut cylinder — R002
- Puttu, wheat and coconut · Wheat and coconut puttu — R004
R
- Ragi dosa · Finger millet dosa — R008
- Ragi kanji · Finger millet porridge — R021
- Ragi pancake · Finger millet and banana pancake — R101
- Ragi puttu · Finger millet puttu — R003
- Ragi-matta dosa batter · Finger millet and red rice batter — M12
- Raita, carrot and coconut · Carrot and coconut raita — R099
- Rasam · Tamarind and pepper broth — R086
- Rasam podi · Rasam spice blend — M03
- Rasam spice blend · Rasam podi — M03
- Red parboiled rice, properly cooked · Matta rice, properly cooked — R015
- Red rice and moong dal in one pot · Khichdi, Kerala — R023
- Rice ada in jaggery and coconut milk · Ada pradhaman — R113
- Rice ada in reduced milk · Palada payasam — R112
- Rice gruel, three ways · Kanji, three ways — R020
- Rice gruel with cowpea · Kanji with vanpayar — R012
- Ripe jackfruit pradhaman · Chakka pradhaman — R116
- Ripe mango in curd and coconut · Mambazha pulissery — R085
- Roasted black chickpea mix · Kadala mix, roasted — R105
- Roasted coconut paste, in freezer portions · Varutharacha thenga — M09
S
- Sadya milk payasam, portioned · Paal payasam — R120
- Sadya parippu · Festival dal for the first rice course, with ghee — R117
- Sadya sambar · The festival sambar, at full scale — R118
- Salt, the 70:30 blend — M07
- Sambar · Toor dal, tamarind and five vegetables — R059
- Sambar podi · Sambar spice blend — M02
- Sambar spice blend · Sambar podi — M02
- Sambharam · Spiced buttermilk — R107
- Sardine curry with kudampuli · Mathi curry — R026
- Seer fish with raw mango and coconut milk · Neymeen manga curry — R030
- Semolina rebuilt around its vegetables · Upma, vegetable — R013
- Shallots in roasted coconut and tamarind · Ulli theeyal — R084
- Snake gourd and moong dal in coconut-cumin paste · Padavalanga curry — R075
- Spiced buttermilk · Sambharam — R107
- Sprouted green gram salad · Cherupayar mulapichathu — R062
- Squid roasted dry with pepper · Koonthal roast — R037
- Steamed fermented rice and black gram cakes · Idli — R006
- Steamed rice dumplings with a moong dal filling · Kozhukkatta, savoury — R104
- Steamed rice parcels of coconut and jaggery · Elayada — R115
- Steamed rice-and-coconut cylinder · Puttu, matta rice — R002
- String hoppers · Idiyappam — R005
- Stuffed ripe plantain, steamed · Pazham nirachathu — R102
- Sulaimani · Malabar black tea with lime and spice — R111
T
- Tamarind and pepper broth · Rasam — R086
- Tempered buttermilk curry with ground coconut · Moru curry — R081
- Tempered curd · Thaliched moru — M17
- Thakkali chammanthi · Tomato chutney — R094
- Thakkali curry · Tomato curry with shallots and coconut milk — R088
- Thalassery chicken biryani, rebuilt · Thalassery kozhi biryani — R018
- Thalassery kozhi biryani · Thalassery chicken biryani, rebuilt — R018
- Thaliched moru · Tempered curd, with a mustard tempering — M17
- Tharavu mappas · Duck mappas — R051
- Thattu dosa · Thick griddle dosa — R007
- The chilled-and-reheated rice method — R016
- The dry podi that makes rice gruel a meal · Kanji podi — R095
- The festival sambar, at full scale · Sadya sambar — R118
- The Mappila plantain pod, steamed · Unnakkaya — R103
- The monsoon gruel of Karkidakam · Karkidaka kanji — R108
- The sadya dal, with its spoon of ghee · Parippu curry — R058
- The sadya pickle and relish set · Inji puli · naranga achar · manga achar — R119
- Thenga chammanthi · Coconut chutney, rebuilt — R093
- Thick griddle dosa · Thattu dosa — R007
- Thoran, beans · French bean thoran — R064
- Thoran, beetroot · Beetroot thoran — R067
- Thoran, cabbage · Cabbage thoran — R063
- Thoran, raw papaya · Green papaya thoran — R076
- Tomato chutney · Thakkali chammanthi — R094
- Tomato curry with shallots and coconut milk · Thakkali curry — R088
- Toor dal, tamarind and five vegetables · Sambar — R059
U
- Ulli theeyal · Shallots in roasted coconut and tamarind — R084
- Unakka meen thoran · Amaranth greens with dried fish — R036
- Unnakkaya · The Mappila plantain pod, steamed — R103
- Upma, millet · Little millet upma — R022
- Upma, vegetable · Semolina rebuilt around its vegetables — R013
- Upperi, cabbage and carrot · Cabbage and carrot upperi — R079
V
- Vanpayar erissery · Cowpea and pumpkin erissery — R054
- Vanpayar thoran · Brown cowpea with grated coconut — R053
- Varutharacha thenga · Roasted coconut paste, in freezer portions — M09
- Vazhapindi pachadi · Banana stem pachadi — R078
- Vegetable pulao · Pulao with jeerakasala — R019
- Vegetable stock, Kerala aromatics — M14
- Vellarikka pachadi · Cucumber pachadi — R091
- Vendakka mezhukkupuratti · Okra cooked dry and oil-glazed — R074
W
- Wheat and coconut puttu · Puttu, wheat and coconut — R004
- Whole green gram curry · Cherupayar curry — R011
Y
- Yam and green plantain in thick soured curd · Kalan — R070
5. Index by Ingredient
Extracted from the ingredient lists of all 136 preparations. An ingredient is listed where it does real work in the dish; a garnish that could be left out without changing anything is not indexed. Sub-entries appear wherever a heading carries enough hits to need them. Salt is not indexed, because it appears in almost everything: for the low-sodium blend see M07, and for cooking without any added salt at all see M06, M13, M14 and M15.
A
- Amaranth · cheera — R036 · R047 · R060 · R065
- Asafoetida · kayam — M02 · M03 · M05 · M06 · R059 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R107 · R118 · R119
- Ash gourd · kumbalanga — M14 · R023 · R059 · R068 · R069 · R080 · R083 · R118
B
-
Banana and plantain
-
Bay leaf — R019
- Beans, French and green — R013 · R019 · R022 · R064 · R080
- Beef — R048 · R049 · R052
- Beetroot — R067 · R090
- Bengal gram, split · kadala parippu, chana dal — M02 · M06 · R022 · R093 · R095
- Bitter gourd · pavakka — R072
C
- Cabbage — R063 · R079
- Cardamom · elakka — M01 · M04 · R017 · R019 · R021 · R041 · R044 · R050 · R051 · R080 · R100 · R101 · R102 · R103 · R106 · R109 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R116 · R120
- Carrot — M14 · R013 · R019 · R022 · R023 · R041 · R050 · R059 · R062 · R069 · R079 · R080 · R089 · R099
- Cashew nut — R017 · R019
- Chicken — R018 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R048
- Chickpea, black · kadala — R010 · R055 · R061 · R105
- Chilli powder — M15 · R010 · R014 · R043 · R046 · R049 · R057 · R061 · R073 · R074 · R077 · R088 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R105 · R119
- Chilli, dried red — M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 · M09 · M14 · M15 · R010 · R014 · R043 · R046 · R049 · R053 · R054 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R061 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R077 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R105 · R118 · R119
- Chilli, green · pacha mulaku — M13 · M15 · M16 · R011 · R013 · R014 · R018 · R019 · R022 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R033 · R034 · R035 · R036 · R037 · R038 · R039 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R058 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R075 · R076 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R085 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R098 · R099 · R104 · R107 · R117 · R119
- Cinnamon · karuvapatta — M01 · M04 · R017 · R019 · R041 · R044 · R050 · R051 · R080 · R111
- Cloves · grambu — M01 · M04 · R017 · R019 · R041 · R044 · R050 · R051 · R080 · R111
-
Coconut
- fresh grated — M08 · M09 · M10 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R011 · R012 · R022 · R023 · R031 · R036 · R038 · R047 · R053 · R054 · R056 · R058 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R075 · R076 · R078 · R079 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R085 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R099 · R101 · R102 · R103 · R104 · R117 · R118
- slivers · thenga kothu — R033 · R034 · R045 · R048 · R049 · R055
- milk, three extractions — R001 · R021 · R025 · R030 · R035 · R040 · R041 · R044 · R046 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R068 · R080 · R088 · R108 · R113 · R114 · R116
- oil · velichenna — M15 · R001 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R014 · R018 · R019 · R022 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R033 · R034 · R035 · R036 · R037 · R038 · R039 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R099 · R115 · R118 · R119
- roasted ground paste · varutharacha, M09 — R010 · R032 · R057 · R061 · R084
- copra, dried — R095
- Coriander seed and ground coriander · mallii — M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M09 · M15 · R010 · R014 · R018 · R042 · R044 · R046 · R049 · R051 · R052 · R055 · R057 · R061 · R072 · R088 · R108
- Cowpea, red · vanpayar — R012 · R053 · R054 · R068 · R071
- Cucumber · vellarikka — R062 · R089 · R091
- Cumin · jeerakam — M02 · M03 · M05 · M06 · R011 · R018 · R019 · R023 · R054 · R058 · R060 · R064 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R075 · R076 · R078 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R085 · R095 · R108 · R109 · R114 · R117
- Curd and buttermilk · thairu, moru — R018 · R043 · R069 · R070 · R078 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R085 · R087 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R099 · R107
- Curry leaves · kariveppila — M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 · M07 · M13 · M14 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R014 · R022 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R032 · R033 · R034 · R035 · R036 · R037 · R039 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R098 · R099 · R104 · R105 · R107 · R108 · R117 · R118 · R119
D
- Duck — R051
E
- Egg — R014 · R039 · R046 · R047 · R101 · R103
- Elephant foot yam · chena — R069 · R070 · R071 · R073 · R118
F
- Fennel · perumjeerakam — M01 · M04 · M09 · R018 · R034 · R035 · R043 · R044 · R046 · R049 · R051 · R052 · R057 · R061
- Fenugreek · uluva — M02 · M04 · M05 · M11 · M12 · R009 · R059 · R070 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R088 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R108 · R109 · R119
- Fish and seafood
- anchovy and whitebait · kozhuva — R031 · R036
- dried fish · unakka meen — R036
- mackerel · ayala — R027 · R028
- mussels · kallummakkaya — R034
- pearl spot · karimeen — M13 · R025 · R029
- pomfret, snapper, bream — M13 · R025 · R035
- prawns · chemmeen — R032 · R033
- sardine · mathi — R026 · R036 · R039
- seer fish and kingfish · neymeen — M13 · R024 · R025 · R030 · R035
- squid · koonthal — R037
- stock, from heads and frames — R025 · R030 · R032 · R035
G
- Garlic · velluthulli — M15 · M16 · R014 · R018 · R019 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R033 · R034 · R037 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R055 · R057 · R060 · R061 · R065 · R086 · R088
- Ghee — R017 · R018 · R019 · R058 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R120
-
Ginger · inchi
- fresh — M13 · M14 · M15 · M16 · R013 · R014 · R018 · R019 · R022 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R033 · R034 · R035 · R037 · R038 · R039 · R041 · R044 · R050 · R051 · R080 · R081 · R087 · R088 · R093 · R098 · R099 · R104 · R106 · R107 · R108 · R113 · R114 · R116 · R119
- dried · chukku — R108 · R113
- ginger-garlic-green chilli paste, M16 — R040 · R042 · R043 · R045 · R046 · R048 · R049 · R052 · R055 · R061
-
Green gram · cherupayar, moong — R011 · R013 · R023 · R058 · R060 · R062 · R075 · R095 · R104 · R108 · R114 · R117
- Groundnut oil — M16 · R043 · R062
H
J
- Jackfruit · chakka — R116
- Jaggery, cane and palm · sharkara, karuppatti — R021 · R072 · R082 · R092 · R098 · R100 · R102 · R103 · R108 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R116 · R119
K
L
- Lime · cherunaranga — R013 · R017 · R018 · R022 · R023 · R025 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R035 · R038 · R039 · R043 · R052 · R060 · R062 · R089 · R096 · R099 · R107 · R109 · R110 · R111
- Liver — R052
M
- Mace and nutmeg · jathipathri, jathikka — M01
- Mango, raw · pacha manga — R030 · R097
- Mango, ripe — R085
- Millet, little · samai — R022
- Mint — R017 · R018 · R019 · R110 · R111
-
Moringa · muringayila and muringakka
-
Mustard seed · kaduku — R010 · R011 · R013 · R022 · R032 · R036 · R047 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R075 · R076 · R078 · R079 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R099 · R104 · R118 · R119
- Mutton and goat — R050 · R052
O
P
- Papaya, raw — R076
- Peas, green — R013 · R019 · R022
-
Pepper · kurumulaku
- Potato — R039 · R041 · R050 · R051 · R077
R
- Ragi · finger millet — M12 · R003 · R008 · R021 · R101
- Raisins — R102 · R103
- Rice
- matta and unpolished parboiled — M11 · M12 · R002 · R003 · R008 · R009 · R012 · R015 · R016 · R020 · R023
- jeerakasala — R017 · R019
- raw short-grain · pachari, unakkalari — M10 · R120
- njavara — R108
- flour, and puttu podi — R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R043 · R100 · R101 · R104 · R115
- ada, dried rice flakes — R112 · R113
- aval, flattened rice — R039
S
- Semolina · rava — R013
- Sesame oil · nallenna, gingelly — R008 · R009 · R013 · R032 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R100 · R101 · R103 · R104 · R105
- Sesame seed — R021
- Shallots · cheriya ulli — M09 · M13 · M14 · M15 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R014 · R017 · R018 · R019 · R022 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R032 · R033 · R034 · R035 · R036 · R037 · R038 · R039 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R069 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R084 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R093 · R094 · R107 · R108
- Snake gourd · padavalanga — R069 · R075 · R118
- Star anise — M01 · R017 · R051
T
- Tamarind · puli — R032 · R059 · R072 · R084 · R086 · R093 · R094 · R098 · R118 · R119
- Tea leaf and tea dust — R106 · R111
- Tomato · thakkali — M15 · R014 · R018 · R023 · R025 · R029 · R034 · R037 · R040 · R046 · R049 · R057 · R059 · R061 · R062 · R086 · R088 · R089 · R094
- Toor dal · thuvara parippu — M02 · M03 · R059 · R086 · R118
- Turmeric · manjal — M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M09 · M15 · R010 · R011 · R014 · R018 · R023 · R025 · R031 · R035 · R036 · R040 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R051 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R085 · R087 · R088 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R100 · R105 · R108 · R117 · R118
U
V
W
Y
- Yeast — M10
6. Index by Condition and Attribute
This is the index that makes the book usable by the reader who has been handed a blood test and told to change something. Membership is derived from the attribute tags printed on each recipe's title line, from the six-letter icon strip, and from the estimated nutrition panels — nowhere from opinion. Where a grouping is derived by a rule rather than lifted from a tag, the rule is stated so you can disagree with it.
6.1 By attribute
Under 250 kcal per serving · tagged [UNDER 250 KCAL], 63 recipes R006 · R011 · R014 · R020 · R021 · R024 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R032 · R033 · R034 · R036 · R037 · R047 · R052 · R054 · R058 · R059 · R062 · R067 · R069 · R071 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R078 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R099 · R100 · R102 · R103 · R104 · R105 · R106 · R107 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R119 · R120
Note that R093 to R099 and R105 are portioned as a condiment or a snack rather than as a course, so their panels are per tablespoon or per weighed portion and are not comparable with a main dish. R101, at 261 kcal for two pancakes, is the one tea-time item that misses the threshold.
Low glycaemic load · tagged [LOW GL], 35 recipes R002 · R003 · R014 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R033 · R035 · R038 · R040 · R042 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R053 · R055 · R063 · R064 · R068 · R072 · R074 · R076 · R078 · R079 · R093 · R107 · R109 · R110 · R117
High protein · tagged [HIGH PROTEIN], 25 g or more of protein a serving, 18 recipes R018 · R024 · R025 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R035 · R038 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R048 · R050 · R051
High fibre · tagged [HIGH FIBRE], 6 g or more of fibre a serving, 28 recipes R003 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R019 · R022 · R023 · R036 · R053 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R065 · R066 · R069 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R075 · R077 · R080 · R105 · R118
Low sodium, under 300 mg a serving · the L icon, 93 recipes R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R014 · R015 · R016 · R017 · R019 · R020 · R021 · R022 · R023 · R031 · R032 · R037 · R042 · R043 · R047 · R049 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R099 · R100 · R101 · R102 · R103 · R104 · R105 · R106 · R107 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R120
All seventeen mother preparations also carry the L icon except M07, which is salt. R036 Unakka Meen Thoran is deliberately not on this list: no verified sodium figure exists for salted dried fish, its panel prints high — see note rather than a number, and it therefore carries neither the L icon nor the [LOW SODIUM] tag. Its recipe explains why, and offers a dried-fish-free version whose sodium is known.
Low saturated fat · tagged [LOW SAT FAT], under 5 g of saturated fat a serving, 19 recipes R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R013 · R015 · R016 · R027 · R052 · R060 · R073 · R074 · R077 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R100 · R101 · R104
Vegetarian · tagged [VEGETARIAN] or [VEGAN], 88 recipes R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R015 · R016 · R017 · R019 · R020 · R021 · R022 · R023 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R099 · R100 · R101 · R102 · R103 · R104 · R105 · R106 · R107 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R119 · R120
Vegan · tagged [VEGAN], 62 recipes R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R015 · R016 · R020 · R021 · R022 · R023 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R079 · R080 · R084 · R086 · R088 · R089 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R100 · R102 · R104 · R105 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R118 · R119
Of the mother preparations, all are vegan except M13 fish stock and M05 fish masala, which is a spice blend and contains no fish.
Quick, 30 minutes or less start to table · the Q icon, 35 preparations M07 · M08 · M16 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R021 · R025 · R031 · R032 · R033 · R047 · R060 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R074 · R076 · R079 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R091 · R093 · R094 · R099 · R106 · R111
Every preparation on this list states a Total time of 30 minutes or less and needs no unattended time at all, which is what the Q icon means. Where a dish asks for unattended soaking, marinating, resting, fermenting, sprouting, cooling or chilling on top of that — whether the recipe calls it required or merely recommended — it does not carry Q however short the hands-on work is; read the Active figure on the recipe if that is the number that matters to your evening.
Batch-friendly, doubles cleanly and keeps · the B icon, 94 preparations M01 · M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 · M07 · M09 · M10 · M11 · M12 · M13 · M14 · M15 · M16 · M17 · R001 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R014 · R015 · R016 · R017 · R018 · R019 · R020 · R023 · R024 · R026 · R038 · R039 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R063 · R064 · R067 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R079 · R084 · R088 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R100 · R101 · R103 · R104 · R105 · R107 · R108 · R110 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R119 · R120
Freezer-friendly · the F icon, 43 preparations M09 · M13 · M14 · M15 · M16 · R001 · R006 · R010 · R011 · R015 · R016 · R023 · R024 · R026 · R039 · R040 · R043 · R045 · R048 · R049 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R067 · R071 · R072 · R098 · R101 · R103 · R104 · R108 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118
Vegetable-forward, half the plate or more · the V icon, 49 preparations M14 · M15 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R014 · R019 · R022 · R023 · R036 · R041 · R047 · R050 · R051 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R083 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R094 · R099 · R118
Pulse-containing · a pulse in the ingredient list, not merely paired with one, 35 preparations M02 · M03 · M06 · M11 · M12 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R022 · R023 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R068 · R071 · R075 · R079 · R086 · R093 · R095 · R104 · R105 · R108 · R114 · R117 · R118
The wider P icon marks 70 preparations: those that contain a pulse and those that complete the plate when one is served beside them. Use the P icon to build a meal and this list to find the pulse itself.
One-pot and one-pan · cooked start to finish in a single pan, pot, pressure cooker, uruli or chatti, with no second cooking vessel named in the EQUIPMENT field, 63 recipes R001 · R010 · R011 · R013 · R014 · R015 · R017 · R019 · R021 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R028 · R030 · R031 · R032 · R033 · R035 · R036 · R037 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R044 · R045 · R047 · R049 · R050 · R052 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R079 · R080 · R084 · R088 · R091 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R099 · R102 · R106 · R108 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R116 · R117 · R120
No added oil, or minimal oil · no added fat at all, or 2 g or less of oil or ghee per serving, 74 recipes R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R015 · R016 · R020 · R021 · R031 · R036 · R038 · R047 · R053 · R054 · R056 · R058 · R059 · R062 · R065 · R066 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R075 · R078 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R099 · R101 · R102 · R103 · R104 · R105 · R106 · R107 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R119 · R120
R028, the honest fried mackerel, is deliberately excluded: its ingredient list states that about 38 g of the frying oil ends up in the fish, which is roughly 9 g a serving, and the recipe exists precisely so that the number is on the page.
Suitable for a packed lunch · dry-finished or firm dishes that hold four to six hours without reheating, do not leak, and are good cool, 45 recipes R006 · R013 · R015 · R016 · R017 · R018 · R019 · R022 · R023 · R027 · R031 · R033 · R036 · R037 · R039 · R045 · R047 · R048 · R052 · R053 · R055 · R056 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R073 · R074 · R076 · R077 · R079 · R089 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R100 · R101 · R104 · R105 · R119
One caution, and it is a food-safety one rather than a nutritional one. Cooked rice held at room temperature for hours is the one item on this list that carries a real risk. Chill it fast, carry it cold, and eat it the same day. R016 is built around exactly that handling and its own notes are the ones to follow.
Suitable for hosting · dishes that scale to a crowd, hold their quality for the half-hour between kitchen and table, and are what Kerala households actually put in front of guests. This grouping is editorial rather than computed, 45 recipes R001 · R010 · R017 · R018 · R019 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R029 · R030 · R034 · R038 · R039 · R040 · R041 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R061 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R080 · R084 · R090 · R092 · R093 · R098 · R103 · R107 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R119 · R120
6.2 The four condition finders
Every one of the four lists below is a grouping by nutritional attribute, not a prescription, not a treatment, and not a claim that any dish affects a disease; what to do about a blood test belongs to you and your clinician, and this index only tells you which recipes carry which numbers.
If you are watching blood sugar
Lower glycaemic load — R002 · R003 · R014 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R033 · R035 · R038 · R040 · R042 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R053 · R055 · R063 · R064 · R068 · R072 · R074 · R076 · R078 · R079 · R093 · R107 · R109 · R110 · R117
A pulse in the dish itself — M02 · M03 · M06 · M11 · M12 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R022 · R023 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R068 · R071 · R075 · R079 · R086 · R093 · R095 · R104 · R105 · R108 · R114 · R117 · R118
Higher fibre — the [HIGH FIBRE] list in 5.1
The grain itself — R015 and R016 are the two rice methods Chapter 7 is built on, and R016 carries a warning that applies specifically to readers using insulin or a sulfonylurea. Read it before you adopt the method.
If you are watching blood pressure
Under 300 mg sodium a serving — the 93-recipe L icon list in 5.1
Made with no added salt at all — M06 · M13 · M14 · M15
The low-sodium condiments, where most household sodium actually hides — R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R119
Vegetable-forward dishes, which are also the potassium-rich ones — M14 · M15 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R014 · R019 · R022 · R023 · R036 · R041 · R047 · R050 · R051 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R083 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R094 · R099 · R118
The salt blend — M07, the 70:30 potassium-and-sodium blend, cuts the sodium of any recipe made with it by roughly 30%. It is not for everyone: anyone with chronic kidney disease, anyone taking a RAAS inhibitor such as an ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin-receptor blocker, and anyone on a potassium-sparing diuretic or a potassium supplement should not use it without asking their clinician first. That carve-out is printed with M07 itself and every time the blend is mentioned in this book.
If you are watching cholesterol
Lower saturated fat — R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R013 · R015 · R016 · R027 · R052 · R060 · R073 · R074 · R077 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R100 · R101 · R104
Fish and seafood, the oily ones first — R026 and R039, both sardine; R027 and R028, mackerel; R030 and R035, seer fish; then R024 · R025 · R029 · R031 · R032 · R033 · R034 · R036 · R037
A pulse in the dish itself — the 35-recipe list above
No added oil, or 2 g or less a serving — the 74-recipe list in 5.1
What to read — Chapter 8 on coconut oil against coconut, and Chapter 14's oil table, which is where the saturated fat in this cuisine is actually decided.
If you are working on fat loss
Under 250 kcal a serving — the 63 tagged recipes in 5.1
Higher protein, for the 25 to 30 g a meal Chapter 5 sets out — R018 · R024 · R025 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R035 · R038 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R048 · R050 · R051
Vegetable-forward, for the half of the plate that does the volume work — the 49-preparation V icon list in 5.1
No added oil, or minimal oil — the 74-recipe list in 5.1
Batch-friendly and freezer-friendly, because the strongest predictor of whether you keep eating this way is whether the food is already cooked when you are hungry — the B and F lists in 5.1
6.3 The allergen finder
Each list below is derived from the ALLERGENS line printed on every recipe, which is itself derived from that recipe's ingredient list and from the mother preparations it calls in. Read Chapter 12's note on allergens before you use these lists: they describe the recipes as this book writes them, and they cannot describe the jar in your cupboard. Asafoetida, curry powders, dried prawn, jaggery and commercially dried fruit all vary by brand, and shared equipment in a shop or a kitchen is not covered by any list. Where a recipe offers a choice — sesame oil or coconut oil, ghee or coconut oil, dairy milk or coconut milk — it appears in the free list only if the allergen-free option is taken, and those cases are named separately underneath. If an allergy in your household is severe, check every label yourself, every time.
Free of fish · 123 of the 137 preparations M01 · M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 · M07 · M08 · M09 · M10 · M11 · M12 · M14 · M15 · M16 · M17 · R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R014 · R015 · R016 · R017 · R018 · R019 · R020 · R021 · R022 · R023 · R033 · R034 · R037 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R099 · R100 · R101 · R102 · R103 · R104 · R105 · R106 · R107 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R119 · R120
Free of crustaceans · 135 of the 137 preparations M01 · M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 · M07 · M08 · M09 · M10 · M11 · M12 · M13 · M14 · M15 · M16 · M17 · R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R014 · R015 · R016 · R017 · R018 · R019 · R020 · R021 · R022 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R034 · R035 · R036 · R037 · R038 · R039 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R099 · R100 · R101 · R102 · R103 · R104 · R105 · R106 · R107 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R119 · R120
Free of molluscs · 135 of the 137 preparations M01 · M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 · M07 · M08 · M09 · M10 · M11 · M12 · M13 · M14 · M15 · M16 · M17 · R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R014 · R015 · R016 · R017 · R018 · R019 · R020 · R021 · R022 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R032 · R033 · R035 · R036 · R038 · R039 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R099 · R100 · R101 · R102 · R103 · R104 · R105 · R106 · R107 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R119 · R120
Free of egg · 131 of the 137 preparations M01 · M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 · M07 · M08 · M09 · M10 · M11 · M12 · M13 · M14 · M15 · M16 · M17 · R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R015 · R016 · R017 · R018 · R019 · R020 · R021 · R022 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R032 · R033 · R034 · R035 · R036 · R037 · R038 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R099 · R100 · R102 · R104 · R105 · R106 · R107 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R119 · R120
Free of milk · 108 of the 137 preparations M01 · M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 · M07 · M08 · M09 · M10 · M11 · M12 · M13 · M14 · M15 · M16 · R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R014 · R015 · R016 · R020 · R022 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R032 · R033 · R034 · R035 · R036 · R037 · R038 · R039 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R079 · R080 · R084 · R086 · R088 · R089 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R100 · R102 · R103 · R104 · R105 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R118 · R119
Free of milk only if you take the stated option: R021 (use the second-extraction coconut milk rather than dairy milk) · R115 (grease your palms with coconut oil rather than ghee)
Free of tree nuts (cashew) · 133 of the 137 preparations M01 · M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 · M07 · M08 · M09 · M10 · M11 · M12 · M13 · M14 · M15 · M16 · M17 · R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R014 · R015 · R016 · R020 · R022 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R032 · R033 · R034 · R035 · R036 · R037 · R038 · R039 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R099 · R100 · R101 · R102 · R103 · R104 · R105 · R106 · R107 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R119 · R120
Depends on the choice you make — conditional: R021
Free of peanuts · 125 of the 137 preparations M01 · M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 · M07 · M08 · M09 · M10 · M11 · M12 · M13 · M14 · M15 · M17 · R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R014 · R015 · R016 · R017 · R018 · R019 · R020 · R021 · R022 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R032 · R033 · R034 · R035 · R036 · R037 · R038 · R039 · R041 · R044 · R047 · R050 · R051 · R053 · R054 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R099 · R100 · R101 · R102 · R103 · R104 · R105 · R106 · R107 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R119 · R120
Depends on the choice you make — these are free of peanuts only if you take the other of the two oils the recipe offers: M16 · R040 · R042 · R043 · R045 · R046 · R048 · R049 · R052 · R055 · R061 · R062
Free of sesame · 109 of the 137 preparations M01 · M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 · M07 · M08 · M09 · M10 · M11 · M12 · M13 · M14 · M15 · M17 · R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R014 · R015 · R016 · R017 · R018 · R019 · R020 · R022 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R033 · R034 · R035 · R036 · R037 · R038 · R039 · R041 · R044 · R047 · R050 · R051 · R053 · R054 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R099 · R102 · R106 · R107 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R120
Depends on the choice you make — these are free of sesame only if you take the other of the two oils the recipe offers: M16 · R006 · R007 · R021 · R040 · R042 · R043 · R045 · R046 · R048 · R049 · R052 · R055 · R061 · R062
Free of mustard · 88 of the 137 preparations M01 · M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 · M07 · M08 · M09 · M10 · M11 · M12 · M13 · M14 · M15 · M16 · R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R012 · R014 · R015 · R016 · R017 · R018 · R019 · R021 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R033 · R034 · R035 · R037 · R038 · R039 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R061 · R062 · R068 · R069 · R073 · R074 · R077 · R080 · R089 · R095 · R100 · R101 · R102 · R103 · R105 · R106 · R107 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R120
Free of soya · 137 of the 137 preparations All 137. No preparation in this book uses soya in any form.
Free of gluten (wheat) · 109 of the 137 preparations M01 · M04 · M07 · M08 · M09 · M10 · M11 · M12 · M13 · M14 · M15 · M16 · R001 · R002 · R003 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R014 · R015 · R016 · R017 · R018 · R019 · R020 · R021 · R022 · R023 · R025 · R031 · R032 · R035 · R036 · R038 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R098 · R099 · R101 · R102 · R103 · R104 · R106 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R120
Depends on the choice you make — conditional: M02 · M03 · M05 · M06 · M17 · R009 · R024 · R026 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R033 · R034 · R037 · R039 · R059 · R086 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R105 · R107 · R118 · R119
Free of sulphites · 134 of the 137 preparations M01 · M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 · M07 · M08 · M09 · M10 · M11 · M12 · M13 · M14 · M15 · M16 · M17 · R001 · R002 · R003 · R004 · R005 · R006 · R007 · R008 · R009 · R010 · R011 · R012 · R013 · R014 · R015 · R016 · R017 · R019 · R020 · R021 · R022 · R023 · R024 · R025 · R026 · R027 · R028 · R029 · R030 · R031 · R032 · R033 · R034 · R035 · R036 · R037 · R038 · R039 · R040 · R041 · R042 · R043 · R044 · R045 · R046 · R047 · R048 · R049 · R050 · R051 · R052 · R053 · R054 · R055 · R056 · R057 · R058 · R059 · R060 · R061 · R062 · R063 · R064 · R065 · R066 · R067 · R068 · R069 · R070 · R071 · R072 · R073 · R074 · R075 · R076 · R077 · R078 · R079 · R080 · R081 · R082 · R083 · R084 · R085 · R086 · R087 · R088 · R089 · R090 · R091 · R092 · R093 · R094 · R095 · R096 · R097 · R098 · R099 · R100 · R101 · R104 · R105 · R106 · R107 · R108 · R109 · R110 · R111 · R112 · R113 · R114 · R115 · R116 · R117 · R118 · R119 · R120
7. Troubleshooting Index
Gathered from the TROUBLESHOOTING field of all 137 preparations and sorted by what went wrong rather than by which recipe it went wrong in. Where the honest answer is that a batch cannot be saved, the table says so; a reference section that pretends everything is recoverable is not useful. The last column names the recipes whose own notes go into more detail.
7.1 Batters that will not ferment or rise
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batter did not rise overnight | Kitchen too cold | Oven light on, or a warm cupboard; give it longer | Warmer grinding water, a warmer spot, or a quarter-teaspoon of instant yeast | M11 · M12 · R009 |
| Flat, dense idlis | Dal under-ground, or batter over-fermented and collapsed — the same symptom from opposite causes | Use the batter for dosa | Grind the dal light and aerated; stop the ferment at its peak, not past it | M11 · R006 |
| Sour, sharp batter with no rise in the pan | Over-fermented | Use it for dosa or vellayappam, where sourness is an asset | Shorter ferment, cooler spot | M10 · M11 · R001 · R006 |
| Barely rose at all | Normal for ragi and oat blends | Nothing; judge by smell and bubbles, not height | Expect it | M12 · R009 |
| Appam with no lace and a thick opaque rim | Batter too thick, or the pan swirled twice | Thin with water a tablespoon at a time | Swirl once, and only once | M10 · R001 |
| Dosa tears when spread, or sticks and shreds | Batter too thick, or the griddle not hot enough or under-seasoned | Thin the batter; heat the griddle longer, wipe with oil, rub with half a cut onion | Season the iron and wait 20–30 seconds between dosas | M11 · M12 · R007 · R008 · R009 |
| Gritty flecks through the cooked dosa | Ragi or oat flour went in dry | Nothing for this batch | Whisk the flour into water separately before it meets the batter | M12 · R008 · R009 |
| Bitter, paint-like taste | The ragi flour is rancid | Nothing will fix it | Buy small quantities and keep them cold; ragi flour is finished at about three months at room temperature | M12 · R003 · R008 · R101 |
| Idlis stick to the plates | Plates not greased, or unmoulded hot | Rest them 2–3 minutes and try again | Grease, and rest | M11 · R006 |
7.2 Coconut milk or curd that has split
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oil on the surface with grainy curds beneath | The first-extraction milk boiled | There is no repair | Add the thick milk with the pan off the heat, and swirl rather than stir | M08 · R025 · R035 · R040 · R041 · R044 · R046 · R050 · R068 · R080 · R108 · R113 · R114 · R116 |
| Split even with the pan off the heat | The pan was still too hot, or the milk was stirred in | None | Let the pan stand 60 seconds, then swirl | R025 |
| Second-extraction milk split | Second extraction is forgiving but not immune | None | Off the heat for the later milks too | R088 |
| Curd split, with visible whey | The curd boiled, went in cold, or was under-stirred | Blending the finished dish smooth disguises it and it will taste right | Lowest flame, constant stirring, off at the first shudder | R069 · R070 · R078 · R081 · R087 · R090 · R092 |
| Pulissery thin and bitter | The pineapple was not cooked long enough before the curd went in, and its bromelain has cleaved the milk protein | None | Eight minutes minimum, then off the heat before the curd | R082 |
| Lumpy, with set pieces of curd | Not whisked smooth before heating; heat sets those lumps permanently | Pass it through a sieve and whisk again | Whisk the curd alone first, then dilute | R087 · R107 |
| Frozen coconut milk thawed grainy | Normal | Blend it 10 seconds and it comes back | Nothing to change | M08 |
7.3 Thorans that are wet or mushy
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wet and heavy | Pan too small, lid left on too long, or water added | Uncover and cook it dry over a higher flame; you will recover most of it | The widest pan you own, and no added water | R047 · R063 · R079 |
| Gluey, pasty coconut | The crush was ground to a paste | Nothing rescues this batch | Pulse, do not grind; stop while the coconut is still recognisable | R063 · R069 |
| Wet, claggy pulse thoran | The beans were not drained, or the coconut went in with them | Cook it dry uncovered | Drain hard; coconut first, beans second | R053 |
| Greens dark, wet and sour | A lid was used, or the pan was too small | Not recoverable; the flavour has gone | Widest pan, no lid, high flame, short cook | R065 |
| Vegetable grey and sulphurous, or khaki and limp | Overcooked | Nothing | Cut finer and cook faster, not slower | R063 · R064 |
| Greens turned brown | Too much acid, too high a flame, or an iron pan | Nothing | Medium heat, and no lime until serving | R036 |
| Vegetable collapsed to mush | Beginning to ripen, or two minutes too long | Nothing | Test early and often | R076 |
| Peera wet and pasty | Not enough time uncovered, or water was added | Keep going with the lid off | No added water at any point | R031 |
| Tastes of raw coconut | The coconut did not get its two minutes in the pan | Return it to a low flame briefly | Give it the time the recipe states | R047 · R058 |
7.4 Curries that are thin, oily or bitter
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thin, watery gravy | Shallots rushed, liquid not reduced, or tomato added before the water had gone | Lift the solids out, reduce the liquid uncovered 4–6 minutes, return them | Reduce before the coconut milk goes in; after it, you cannot | R024 · R040 · R041 · R044 · R049 · R057 · R061 · R071 · R075 · R080 · R083 |
| Bitter, ashy taste through the whole dish | The coconut went past dark toast into burnt when M09 was made | Nothing buries it; start the paste again — seven minutes | Chapter 14 gives the three stages of the roast; stop at stage three | M09 · R010 · R032 · R054 · R071 · R072 · R084 |
| Bitter, with a burnt-seed edge | The fenugreek in the tempering went past reddish-brown | Start the tempering again | Fenugreek wants 10–15 seconds, not a minute | M02 · M05 · R059 · R088 · R096 · R098 · R118 |
| Tastes of raw chilli powder, or dusty | The powders were not fried, or the podi went in at the end | Simmer another 8–10 minutes; it will come round | Powders need 2–3 minutes in oil and a podi needs 6–10 minutes in liquid | M02 · M04 · M05 · R010 · R024 · R057 · R059 · R061 · R118 |
| Greasy, with a fat layer on top | Skin or fat pads left in | Skim it off with a spoon | Skin and trim the bird or the meat | R051 |
| Metallic, dull greyish colour | Tamarind or tomato acid reacted with the pan | Nothing | Clay, stainless steel or enamel; never bare cast iron or aluminium | R024 · R084 · R088 |
| Harshly sour | Too much tamarind, or it went in unstrained with its fibre | Add 3 g of jaggery, which is traditional in some households | Strain it, and 10 g of pulp is enough for four | R057 · R084 |
| Flat and sweet where it should be sharp | Not enough pepper, or not enough vinegar | Add both, off the heat | A mappas that does not taste faintly sour is a stew with more spice in it | R044 · R049 · R051 |
| Bitter tempering | Mustard seed burnt, or the curry leaves sat in oil that was not hot enough | Start the tempering again in a clean pan | Mustard should pop and stop; leaves want 10–15 seconds | R087 · R090 · R093 · R094 · R099 · R118 |
7.5 Fish that fell apart or overcooked
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fish broke up into the gravy | It was stirred, it went in before the gravy thickened, or it was not fresh | A broken fish curry is still a very good sauce | Shake the pot, never stir it | R024 · R026 · R031 |
| Fish tough and dry in a coconut-milk curry | It cooked twice, once in the gravy and again while the milk went in | Nothing | Pan off the heat before the milk, and the fish only just set | R025 · R035 |
| Prawns tough and rubbery | More than four minutes; they go from raw to overdone in about 90 seconds | Nothing | Lift them out and return them for the last 90 seconds; watch the curl | R032 · R033 |
| Squid rubbery | Cooked 5–10 minutes, which is exactly the wrong amount | Braise it another 10 minutes and it will come back | Under 3 minutes, or over 15 | R037 |
| Mussels tough and squeaky | Held at a simmer, or cooked twice — steamed open and then cooked again | Nothing | Dry pan, high flame, short time | R034 |
| Baked fish dry and cottony | Overcooked, which happens in the last three minutes | Nothing | Pull it when the thickest part has just gone opaque | R027 |
| Fried fish greasy | Pan not hot enough, fish went in wet, or the pan was crowded | Nothing | Two fish at a time, patted dry, and test the oil first | R028 |
| Crust or spice rub came off | The fish was moved before it released, or the paste was too wet | Nothing | Thicker paste, drier fish, hot and brushed rack, and let it release itself | R027 · R028 · R039 |
| Bitter fish | The black line inside the cavity was not scraped out, a gall bladder burst, or the fish was not gutted | Nothing fixes it | Clean carefully, and cut away anything green-tinged | R026 · R031 |
| Leaf split and the masala leaked out | The leaf was not softened, or was folded against the grain | Nothing for that parcel | Ten to fifteen seconds over a flame changes the leaf completely; fold along the ribs | R029 · R038 · R102 · R115 |
7.6 Rice that is sticky, hard or gluey
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chalky white core after 30 minutes | Not enough water, or the flame too low to hold a simmer | Add 100 ml boiling water, cover, 8–10 minutes | Matta needs the water and the time; do not rush the simmer | R015 |
| Gluey, collapsed grains | Overcooked by three or four minutes, or stirred during the simmer | Nothing | The absorption method wants no stirring at all | R015 · R020 |
| Kanji thick, gluey and pasty | Stirred too often, or cooked too fast so the water went before the grain softened | Add boiling water, drop the flame, stop stirring | Low and slow, and a pan twice the height of the finished liquid | R012 · R020 · R108 |
| Rice still hard after the full time | Matta needs longer, or it went in unsoaked | Sprinkle boiling water over the surface, cover, 5–10 minutes | Soak the rice 30 minutes and it will cook in 25 | R012 · R020 · R023 |
| Biryani rice mushy below, hard on top | The masala was too wet, or the flame too high during the dum | Nothing | Boil the masala down until a spoon drawn across the base leaves a clear track | R018 |
| Biryani rice hard throughout after the dum | Drained too early, or the seal leaked | Sprinkle 60 ml hot water over the surface, reseal, 8–10 minutes | Six minutes is the floor for the parboil, and the seal must hold | R018 |
| Ghee rice sticky and clumped | Too much water, or stirred during the covered cooking | Nothing | Jeerakasala at 1.9 parts water by weight; basmati wants 1.7 | R017 |
| Reheated rice dry and faintly hard | Not enough water, or reheated uncovered | Two to three tablespoons per portion and a lid | The same, from the start | R016 |
| Reheated rice smells sour or faintly fermented | It cooled too slowly, or has been refrigerated longer than 24 hours | Throw it away. This is the one place in the book where the answer is not a rescue | Cool it fast, spread thin, and use it inside 24 hours | R016 |
| Payasam rice still hard after an hour | Parboiled or long-grain rice was used | It will not break down; start again | Short round raw rice only | R120 |
| Millet sticky and porridge-like | Not roasted, or cold water used | Nothing | Roast it, and use hot water | R022 |
7.7 Pulses that will not soften
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chickpeas still hard after full pressure | Old stock, a short soak, or salt added at the start | Another 8–10 minutes under pressure | Overnight soak, salt late; there is no rescue at the gravy stage | R010 · R055 · R061 · R105 |
| Horse gram never softens | Old pulses, or a soak under 10 hours | Not fixable once cooking has started | Ten to twelve hours in plenty of water, and change the water | R056 |
| Beans still hard after the full time | Old pulses, or hard water | Another five minutes will help | If it does not, they are too old to save; buy pulses from a shop that turns them over | R053 · R064 |
| Beans burst and turned to mush | Overcooked, or split dal used where whole was meant | Nothing | Release the pressure naturally and check two minutes early | R011 · R012 · R053 |
| Dal disintegrated to soup | Cooked too long, or not dry-roasted first | Nothing | Roast, then watch it | R058 · R075 |
| Grainy, chalky pulse in a sweet | The dal was not fully soft before the jaggery went in, and sugar slows the softening of pulses considerably | Nothing; once the jaggery is in, what you have is what you get | Get it soft first | R114 · R117 |
| Skins everywhere and floury insides | Kabuli chickpeas used instead of kadala, or five minutes too long | Nothing | Small dark kadala, and check early | R055 |
| Beans did not sprout | Old pulses, split beans, or too cold a jar | Discard and start again with twice-daily draining | Whole moong only; split moong will never sprout | R062 |
7.8 Pickles showing signs of spoilage
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mould on the surface within a fortnight | Water somewhere — a damp jar, damp fruit, or a wet spoon | Discard the jar. Mould in a pickle is not something to scrape off | Sterilise and dry the jar completely, dry the fruit, dry spoon only | R096 · R097 · R119 |
| Liquid does not cover the solids | Under-filled, or the fruit swelled | Add 20 ml more vinegar and 10 g more oil | Exposed fruit is where a jar fails; keep the oil layer over the surface | R097 |
| Mushy within a week | The mango was not fully unripe, or the salting step was skipped | Nothing | Rock-hard fruit, and do not skip the salting | R097 |
| Peel still tough after a week | The salting was too short, or the limes were thick-skinned | Leave it another week; it will soften | Small thin-skinned limes | R096 |
| Unbearably bitter | Pith from large thick-skinned limes, or burnt fenugreek | Nothing | Small thin-skinned limes, or halve the lime and add lemon | R096 · R119 |
| Burnt taste throughout | The chilli powder went into hot oil | Nothing | Chilli powder goes in off the heat, every time | R096 · R097 · R119 |
| Harsh and raw after a week | It simply needs longer | Wait | Fenugreek and mustard round out over about two weeks | R097 · R098 |
7.9 Steamed items that are dense or dry
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puttu a solid heavy plug | Too much water, or the mix was packed into the cylinder | Nothing | Rake, never pack; both faults are invisible until it comes out | R002 · R003 · R004 |
| Puttu falls apart as dry powder | Under-hydrated | Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water over the crumb, rake, re-steam | Hydrate to a crumb that holds when squeezed and breaks when raked | R002 · R004 |
| Dense and rubbery, or grey and heavy | Too much water, or over-steamed | Nothing | Nine to ten minutes is the ceiling | R003 · R004 |
| Tastes of raw flour or pasty | The flour was unroasted, or it is under-steamed | Three minutes more in the steamer; there is no other fix | Dry-toast the flour, and use water at a full boil where the recipe says so | R002 · R004 · R005 · R104 |
| Idiyappam strands fused into a mat | Over-steamed, or pressed too densely onto the plate | Nothing | Thinner layers, fewer per plate | R005 |
| Dough will not go through the press, or strands break | The dough cooled, or is too dry | Add 1–2 tablespoons of boiling water and knead it again hot | Work hot, and keep the rest of the dough covered | R005 |
| Dumpling or parcel burst, filling leaked | Filling too wet, overfilled, or the seam unsealed | Nothing | A teaspoon per 23 g of dough is the limit; press the seams closed | R103 · R104 · R115 |
| Dough cracks when flattened | Not enough water, or worked cold | Wet your palms and knead again while warm; add a tablespoon of boiling water if it has gone cold | Keep it warm and covered | R103 · R104 · R115 |
| Wet, gummy centre in idlis | Moulds overfilled, or the lid dripped condensation in | Nothing | Wrap the steamer lid in a cloth | R006 |
| Steamed parcels watery | Condensation dripped from the lid | Nothing | Lay a cloth under the lid | R102 |
| Tough and rubbery dumplings | Over-steamed, or reheated in a microwave | Nothing | Reheat by steaming, briefly | R104 |
7.10 Dishes that taste flat after salt reduction
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tastes flat despite the salt | It needs acid, not more sodium | Add the other half of the lime and taste again | Build the acid in as seasoning, not as garnish | R023 · R075 · R089 · R107 · R110 |
| Thin and sharp, with no body | Not enough ground coconut, or very thin sour curd | Add 15 g more ground coconut, or a tablespoon of rice flour slaked in cold water | Coconut and dal are the body; salt never was | R081 |
| Olan tastes of nothing | The final teaspoon of raw oil was skipped, or the chilli went in whole | Add the raw oil now | Slit the chilli, correct the salt, and never skip the finishing oil | R068 |
| Fish curry bland | Under-peppered rather than under-salted, nine times out of ten | Crush 2 g more pepper and stir it in | Pepper at two stages, some at the end | R035 |
| Thoran bland | Under-chillied; muthira, snake gourd and green papaya all need more heat than you expect | More green chilli, off the heat | Take the salt and chilli to the top of the stated range for these three | R056 · R075 · R076 |
| Beetroot flat and earthy | Geosmin, the earthy compound, needs an acid against it | A teaspoon of lime juice off the heat | Acid in every beetroot dish | R067 |
| Too salty | Dried fish not soaked twice, or salt added where the recipe said not to | Stir in 100 g more cooked greens and a squeeze of lime to spread the load | Soak dried fish twice and add no further salt | R034 · R036 |
| Podi tastes of nothing | Curry leaves damp, or the dals under-roasted | Nothing; both faults are invisible until you taste | Dry the leaves, roast the dals properly | M06 · R095 |
| Kanji bland | Kanji is meant to be plain; the flavour is supposed to be beside it | Add the chammanthi or the podi | Serve it with something, not saltier | R012 · R020 |
| Sambharam or sharbat tastes watery | Under-seasoned rather than over-diluted | Add lime, then salt in 0.25 g increments; the improvement is startling | Season before you dilute | R107 · R110 |
7.11 Spice blends, pastes and the salt jar
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blend tastes bitter or ashy | One spice scorched while the others were still pale | Nothing; a scorched blend does not recover | Roast each spice separately to its own colour, and take coriander and fenugreek off early | M01 · M02 · M03 · M04 · M05 · M06 |
| Podi caked solid in the jar | Ground or jarred warm, so the residual moisture condensed | Break it up and dry-roast it 2 minutes; use it within a week | Cool completely on a tray before jarring, and keep the jar out of the steam of the hob | M01 · M02 · M03 · M06 · M07 · R095 |
| Rasam hot rather than fragrant | Too much pepper against the cumin, or the cumin under-roasted | Add a spoonful of roasted cumin to the jar and re-blend | Weigh both; the ratio is the whole recipe | M03 · R086 |
| Podi sandy or gritty on the tongue | Ground too coarse, or the grinder overloaded | Sieve and re-grind the tailings | Grind in two small batches rather than one large one | M03 · M06 · R095 |
| Metallic aftertaste in the salt | The potassium fraction is too high for your palate | Re-blend at 80:20 and work down again over a few months | Taste the blend on food, not on a fingertip, before you commit a jar | M07 |
| Paste bitter | The grinder jar warmed during grinding, or the garlic browned | Nothing | Grind in short bursts and let the jar cool between them | M16 · M17 |
| Paste stringy | The ginger was ground with the garlic, or it was old and woody | Re-grind alone | Grind ginger first, on its own, and cut out the woody core | M16 |
| Paste turned bluish-green | A harmless reaction between garlic's sulphur compounds and trace acids and metals | Safe to eat, though it usually means the jar is past its best | Freeze in portions rather than keeping a jar | M16 |
| Paste sharp and stale | It is over a week old | Discard | Freeze at 15 g a cube on the day you make it | M16 |
7.12 Stocks, freezer bases and made-ahead jars
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stock cloudy | It boiled rather than simmered | Strain through a cloth; it will taste fine and look worse | Bare tremble only, and skim the first ten minutes | M13 · M14 |
| Stock bitter | Gills left in, or the bones cooked too long | Nothing | Take the gills out, and stop a fish stock at 25–30 minutes | M13 · M14 |
| Stock strongly fishy rather than sweet | Oily fish frames, or frames that were not fresh | Use it in a heavily spiced curry or discard it | White-fleshed frames only, on the day they were cut | M13 |
| Stock tastes of nothing | Too much water for the trimmings, or no reduction | Reduce it hard by a third | Weigh the trimmings against the water and reduce before you store it | M14 · M15 |
| Stock sulphurous or cabbagey | Brassica cores or bitter gourd trimmings went in | Nothing | Keep both out of the stock bag | M14 |
| Base masala sharp and oniony | The shallots were not cooked far enough | Return it to the pan for another 10 minutes | Cook until there is no white left anywhere in the pan | M15 · R014 |
| Base burnt at the edges | Flame too high, or the pan too thin | Discard the burnt layer; do not stir it through | Heavy pan, low flame, and stir every few minutes | M15 · R014 |
| Frozen cubes will not release | Tray overfilled, or frozen less than four hours | Stand the tray in warm water for 20 seconds | Fill to two-thirds and freeze overnight | M15 |
| Tempered curd lumpy | The curd was not whisked alone before the water went in | Pass it through a sieve | Whisk first, then add water in three additions | M17 |
| Tempered curd watery and separated by day two | Low-fat or stabilised curd, or over-thinning | Nothing | Full-fat set curd, and start with less water | M17 |
7.13 Dry roasts, fries and mezhukkupuratti that will not crust
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pale and steamed rather than roasted | The pan was crowded, or the meat went in wet | Take half of it out and roast in two batches | Dry the surface, use a wide pan, and leave the pieces alone between turns | R033 · R042 · R043 · R045 · R048 |
| Masala pasty rather than crusted | Liquid still in the pan when the roast began | Raise the heat and keep moving it until the pan is dry | Drain the braise properly before the roast starts | R045 · R048 · R055 |
| Coconut slivers burnt while the meat is still wet | The coconut went in too early | Pick out the worst of it | Add the slivers in the last five minutes, not the first | R045 · R048 |
| Meat tough after the full braise | The cut was wrong, or the braise was cut short | Another 20–30 minutes with the lid on | Chuck, shoulder or blade, and judge by the meat rather than the clock | R048 · R050 |
| Meat dry and stringy though tender | Too lean a cut taken too far | Nothing | Stop the braise at the point the fibres give, and roast fast | R048 |
| Liver grainy, dry and metallic | Cooked past the point where it is faintly pink inside | Nothing | Two minutes a side on a hot pan, and rest it off the heat | R052 |
| Liver stuck and tore | The pan was not hot enough, or it was moved too early | Nothing | Hot pan, and leave it until it releases itself | R052 |
| Chicken bitter or harsh at the finish | The pepper scorched | Nothing | Crush the pepper coarse and add it late | R042 |
| Crust fell off in sheets | The coating went on wet, or the piece was moved too soon | Press the crust back and finish it | Dry the surface, coat thinly, and turn once | R043 |
| Pieces broke into mash | The par-boil went too far | Use it as a mash and say so | Par-boil until a skewer meets resistance at the centre | R073 · R077 |
| No colour after twelve minutes | Pan too crowded, or flame too low | Raise the flame and spread the pieces out | Wide pan, single layer, and do not stir for the first four minutes | R073 · R074 |
| Okra slimy | Wet okra, or too much stirring early | Raise the heat and leave it alone until the slime dries off | Wipe the pods dry, cut them dry, and do not add salt until the end | R074 |
| Okra tough and stringy | The pods were over-mature | Nothing | Buy pods that snap rather than bend | R074 |
| Burnt outside, raw inside | Flame too high for the thickness of the cut | Nothing | Lower the flame and cut thinner | R074 · R077 |
| Itchy hands after handling chena | Calcium oxalate crystals in the raw yam | Rinse with lime juice or a little oil | Oil your hands before you peel it, or wear gloves | R073 · R071 |
| Half the koorka went in the bin | Peeled rather than scrubbed | Nothing | Scrub in a cloth or a coarse bag; koorka is not peeled | R077 |
| Gritty | Soil left in the crevices | Nothing for this batch | Two washes, the second after scrubbing | R077 |
7.14 Gruels, upma, drinks and the softer breakfasts
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lumps in a flour gruel | The flour met hot water directly | Sieve it, or blend it smooth | Slake the flour in cold water first, then add the boiling water | R021 · R013 · R112 |
| Gluey, pasty upma | Semolina under-roasted, or too much water | Nothing | Roast the rava until it smells nutty and moves loosely, and measure the water | R013 |
| Upma dry and crumbly, or watery and loose | The water ratio, either side of it | Add boiling water a tablespoon at a time, or cook it out uncovered | Weigh the rava and measure the water | R013 |
| Gruel sets to a solid block before you eat it | Normal for ragi; the starch sets fast as it cools | Loosen with hot water or milk | Serve it straight from the pan | R021 |
| Chalky, raw-cereal taste | The flour was not cooked out | Another 3–4 minutes at a simmer, stirring | Cook until the gruel goes glossy and stops tasting of flour | R021 |
| Vegetables mushy while the rice is right, or hard while the rice is done | Everything went in at once | Nothing | Stage the vegetables by density, hardest first | R019 · R013 |
| Watery base under a rice dish | The masala was not reduced before the rice went on | Uncover and drive the moisture off | Reduce until the oil separates before the rice goes in | R019 |
| Tea bitter and flat | Over-boiled, or the leaf boiled with the milk | Nothing | Boil the water and spices, steep the leaf off the heat, add hot milk last | R106 · R111 |
| No foam | Not pulled, or pulled from too low | Pull it between two vessels four or five times | Pull from as high as your nerve allows | R106 |
| Tea weak and watery even after four minutes | Not enough leaf, or the water was off the boil | More leaf, not more time | Weigh the leaf; time does not substitute for quantity | R111 · R106 |
| Lime tastes cooked and slightly bitter | It went in hot | Nothing | Lime after the strain, off the heat | R111 |
| Cloudy when it cools | Tea cream — a harmless complex of polyphenols and caffeine | Nothing; drink it | Expect it in a strong black tea | R111 |
| Infusion unbearably bitter, or slimy to swallow | Too much fenugreek, or too long a steep | Halve the seed and shorten the steep | Start at half the quantity and work up | R109 |
| Payasam scorched, with brown flecks | The milk caught on a thin base | Decant off the top and leave the base behind | Heavy pan, low flame, and stir the bottom rather than the surface | R112 · R120 |
| Payasam grainy or slightly separated | The milk boiled after the acid or the ada went in | Nothing | Reduce first, then add, and never at a rolling boil | R112 |
| Too thin after cooling | Reduced too little | Return it to the heat | Reduce to the volume the recipe gives, not to the clock | R112 |
| Baked fritter soggy and pale, or bitter at the edges | Oven too cool, or the tray crowded; bitter edges are scorched batter | Nothing | Hot oven, spaced pieces, and pull them at colour rather than at time | R100 |
| Batter slid off the plantain | The fruit was wet | Nothing | Dry each piece before it is dipped | R100 |
7.15 Curries, pachadis and the last course that split, weep or taste flat
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do now | Differently next time | Recipes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curd or coconut-milk curry split with an oily surface | It boiled after the curd or the first milk went in | Take it off, cool it a little and whisk; the flavour survives, the look does not | Add off the heat, and never bring it back to a boil | R030 · R085 · R091 |
| Fish or mango curry tastes sweet rather than sour | The mango was ripe, or the souring agent was short | More kudampuli or a squeeze of lime | Use raw green mango, and taste the gravy before the fish goes in | R030 |
| Fruit disintegrated into the gravy | Cut too small, or cooked too long | Serve it as a purée and call it one | Larger wedges, added later | R030 · R085 |
| Gravy thin | Not reduced before the protein went in | Lift the fish out and reduce the gravy | Reduce first, add last | R030 |
| Pulissery cloying | Too much jaggery against the curd | A squeeze of lime | Halve the jaggery; the mango brings its own | R085 |
| Stringy and fibrous | A fibrous mango variety | Nothing | Buy a low-fibre variety for this dish, or sieve the pulp | R085 |
| Rasam harsh, raw and puckering | The tamarind was not cooked out | Simmer another five minutes before the tempering | Boil the tamarind water first, and add the podi late | R086 |
| Rasam flat and dull despite the tamarind | Under-salted, or the podi is stale | Salt, then a fresh pinch of podi off the heat | Grind M03 in small batches | R086 |
| Rasam muddy rather than clear-tasting | Boiled hard after the podi went in | Nothing | Take it off as the surface begins to froth, never at a rolling boil | R086 |
| Dal watery, or grey and dull | Too much water, or the greens overcooked | Reduce uncovered; add the greens later next time | Measure the water, and fold greens in for the last three minutes | R060 |
| Greens stalky and unpleasant to eat | Thick stalks left in | Nothing | Strip the leaves off the stalk before they go in the pan | R066 · R060 |
| Greens very bitter | Mature leaves, or moringa leaves cooked too long | Nothing | Young leaves, and three minutes at most | R066 |
| Pachadi watery within the hour | The vegetable was salted early, or boiled | Drain the liquid off and fold in a spoon of ground coconut | Salt at the last moment, and leave cucumber raw | R091 · R078 |
| Pachadi flat | The mustard was not ground into the coconut | Grind a pinch of mustard seed with a spoonful of the paste and fold it back | Grind the mustard with the coconut, not after it | R091 |
8. Shopping Lists
8.1 The starter pantry
Thirty lines, and with them you can cook the large majority of this book. Quantities assume a household of two to four and a first shop that will last two to three months on the dry goods. Everything here is in Chapter 12 with its buying, storing and substituting notes.
| # | Item | Quantity | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unpolished parboiled matta rice | 5 kg | R015, R016, R020, R012, R023 and every plate in the book |
| 2 | Parboiled idli rice | 2 kg | M11, M12, R006 to R009 |
| 3 | Matta rice flour, or puttu podi | 1 kg | R002, R003, R004, R005 |
| 4 | Ragi flour | 500 g | M12, R003, R008, R021, R101 |
| 5 | Urad dal, split and skinned | 500 g | M06, M11, M12, R009, R013, R079 |
| 6 | Toor dal | 1 kg | M02, M03, R059, R086, R118 |
| 7 | Moong dal, split and skinned | 500 g | R058, R060, R095, R104, R114, R117 |
| 8 | Vanpayar, red cowpea | 1 kg | R012, R053, R054, R068, R071 |
| 9 | Kadala, black chickpea | 1 kg | R010, R055, R061, R105 |
| 10 | Frozen grated coconut | 4 bags, about 400 g each | 50 recipes; the single most useful item in this list |
| 11 | Tinned full-fat coconut milk, 17–22% fat | 4 tins, 400 ml | M08 and every mappas, olan, stew and payasam |
| 12 | Coconut oil | 500 ml | Where coconut oil is the flavour, in teaspoons |
| 13 | Sesame, gingelly, oil | 500 ml | R008, R009, R013, R096 to R098, R100, R101, R104, R105 |
| 14 | Groundnut or rice bran oil | 1 litre | Shallow and deep frying, at 16–24% saturated fat against coconut oil's 91% |
| 15 | Mustard seed | 200 g | 47 recipes; where every tempering begins |
| 16 | Fenugreek seed | 100 g | 20 recipes, and the one spice Chapter 9 finds reachable through food |
| 17 | Cumin | 200 g | 27 recipes, and the coconut-and-cumin paste under avial and erissery |
| 18 | Coriander seed | 400 g | 21 recipes; a fish masala is mostly coriander by weight |
| 19 | Fennel | 100 g | 14 recipes; the signature of Malabar meat cooking |
| 20 | Black peppercorns | 200 g | 38 preparations |
| 21 | Ground turmeric | 200 g | 65 preparations |
| 22 | Kashmiri chilli powder, for colour | 200 g | 17 recipes; colour and heat are two different jobs |
| 23 | Dried red chillies | 200 g | 45 preparations |
| 24 | Cardamom, Ceylon cinnamon quills, cloves | 50 g each | M01, M04, the biryani, the stews, the payasams |
| 25 | Kudampuli | 100 g | R024, R026, R031, R057 — and it keeps two years |
| 26 | Tamarind, seedless block | 500 g | R059, R072, R084, R086, R098, R118, R119 |
| 27 | Jaggery, cane or palm | 500 g | The sweets, and 3 g at a time as a corrective in savoury dishes |
| 28 | Curry leaves, fresh or frozen | 2 large bunches | 93 preparations. Strip and freeze; they go into hot oil from frozen |
| 29 | Shallots, ginger, garlic, green chillies | 1 kg · 250 g · 250 g · 200 g | M15, M16 and the base of almost everything |
| 30 | Fine salt, and food-grade potassium chloride | 500 g · 100 g | M07, the 70:30 blend — read its safety note before you make it |
8.2 The full pantry, by category
Rices and grains — unpolished parboiled matta; Palakkadan Matta or rosematta; Kerala red rice; parboiled idli rice; raw short-grain rice (pachari, unakkalari); jeerakasala or gandhakasala; njavara; pokkali if you find it; matta rice flour and puttu podi; wheat puttu podi; coarse wholemeal wheat flour (atta); coarse semolina (rava); ragi flour; little millet (samai); rolled oats; aval, flattened rice; dried rice ada.
Pulses — vanpayar (red cowpea); muthira (horse gram); kadala (black chickpea); toor dal; moong dal, split and skinned; whole green gram (cherupayar); urad dal, split and skinned, and whole black urad for tempering; chana dal (kadala parippu); roasted Bengal gram (pottukadala).
Coconut — whole mature coconuts; frozen grated coconut; tinned full-fat coconut milk at 17–22% fat; desiccated coconut as a last resort; copra for podis.
Oils and fats — coconut oil; sesame (gingelly) oil, the light Indian kind and not the dark toasted one; groundnut oil; rice bran oil; ghee.
Souring agents — kudampuli; seedless tamarind block; kokum; limes; curd; coconut vinegar (kaadi); raw green mango, fresh or frozen in slices.
Whole spices — mustard seed; fenugreek; cumin; coriander seed; fennel; black peppercorns; dried red chillies, both a mild colour chilli and a hot one; green cardamom; Ceylon cinnamon quills; cloves; star anise; nutmeg and mace; bay leaf.
Ground spices and blends — turmeric; Kashmiri chilli powder; hot chilli powder; asafoetida; and the house blends M01 to M06, which are cheaper, fresher and better than anything in a packet.
Fresh aromatics — shallots; ginger; garlic; green chillies; curry leaves; coriander leaf; mint; pandan if your shop has it.
Tubers and starchy vegetables — chena (elephant foot yam); chembu (colocasia); koorka (Chinese potato); kappa (tapioca); sweet potato; potato.
Plantain and banana — green plantain; ripe Nendran; banana stem; banana flower; banana leaves.
Greens and vegetables — cheera (amaranth); moringa leaves; drumstick pods; ash gourd; snake gourd; bitter gourd; okra; cluster beans; French beans; cabbage; carrot; beetroot; cucumber; tomato; raw green papaya; tender green jackfruit.
Fish and seafood — mackerel; sardine; anchovy or whitebait; seer fish or kingfish; pearl spot; pomfret, snapper or bream; prawns; mussels; squid; dried fish (unakka meen), kept in the freezer.
Meat, poultry and eggs — chicken, bone-in; stewing beef; goat or mutton on the bone; duck legs; liver; eggs.
Dairy — plain full-fat curd; milk; ghee.
Sweeteners — cane jaggery; palm jaggery (karuppatti); coconut sap sugar. Chapter 12 says plainly that jaggery is unrefined sugar and behaves like sugar; its advantage is that it tastes better, which lets you use less.
Preserved and fermented — homemade or small-producer achar; pappadams, to be roasted rather than fried; the house batters M10, M11 and M12, in the fridge on rotation.
Odds and ends — cashew nuts; raisins; nannari root; tea dust; food-grade potassium chloride for M07; muslin; banana leaf or parchment for parcels.
8.3 The weekly fresh list — a blank template
Photocopy this page. It is organised by the order you walk a shop rather than by food group, because that is what stops you going back for the coriander.
Produce — greens and gourds
| Item | Quantity | Got it |
|---|---|---|
| Curry leaves | ||
| Green chillies | ||
| Shallots | ||
| Ginger | ||
| Garlic | ||
| Coriander leaf | ||
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ |
Produce — vegetables and tubers
| Item | Quantity | Got it |
|---|---|---|
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ |
Fish counter and freezer
| Item | Quantity | Got it |
|---|---|---|
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ |
Meat, poultry and eggs
| Item | Quantity | Got it |
|---|---|---|
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ |
Dairy
| Item | Quantity | Got it |
|---|---|---|
| Curd | ||
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ |
Frozen
| Item | Quantity | Got it |
|---|---|---|
| Grated coconut | ||
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ |
Dry goods to top up
| Item | Quantity | Got it |
|---|---|---|
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ | |
| ________ | ______ |
Already in the pantry — do not buy again this week
8.4 Sourcing by country
What the difficult items are called where you live, and where in a shop to look. Shop categories are given rather than chain names, because chains change and categories do not.
| Item | Ask for it as | United States | United Kingdom | Gulf states | Canada | Australia | Singapore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matta rice | Kerala Matta, Rosematta, red parboiled rice | South Asian grocer, 5–10 kg bags | Widely stocked; also Sri Lankan grocers | Stocked as a staple in most large groceries | South Asian grocer | Sri Lankan and Indian grocers | Little India shops and large supermarkets |
| Jeerakasala | Kaima, seeraga samba | South Asian grocer | Kerala- and Tamil-facing shops | Common | South Asian grocer | Sri Lankan grocers | Little India shops |
| Kudampuli | Malabar tamarind, fish tamarind, gambooge | Online spice sellers; posts well as it is light and dry | Kerala grocers and online | Common | Online and South Asian grocers | Online | Little India shops |
| Frozen grated coconut | Frozen grated coconut, unsweetened | Freezer aisle, South Asian, Thai, Filipino or Caribbean | Same | Common | Same | Same, plus Sri Lankan | Common |
| Coconut milk, 17–22% fat | Full-fat coconut milk, tinned | Thai and South Asian brands; read the fat percentage, not the front label | Same | Common | Same | Same | Common |
| Curry leaves | Curry leaves, kadi patta | Fresh in South Asian grocers; frozen elsewhere | Fresh, widely | Fresh, cheap | Fresh or frozen | Fresh; also grown at home | Fresh, cheap |
| Drumstick, muringakka | Drumstick, moringa pods, saijan | Frozen, South Asian | Fresh in season, frozen otherwise | Fresh, common | Frozen | Fresh in Sri Lankan shops | Fresh, common |
| Moringa leaves | Moringa, drumstick leaves, malunggay | Filipino shops carry frozen malunggay | South Asian grocers | Fresh | Filipino and South Asian | Fresh | Common |
| Ash gourd | Winter melon, wax gourd, dong gua | Chinese grocers, sold in wedges | Chinese and South Asian | Common | Chinese grocers | Chinese grocers | Common |
| Snake gourd | Snake gourd, pudalangai, chichinda | South Asian grocer | South Asian grocer | Common | Seasonal | Sri Lankan grocers | Common |
| Bitter gourd | Bitter gourd, bitter melon, karela, ku gua | South Asian and Chinese | Widely | Common | Widely | Widely | Common |
| Amaranth, cheera | Callaloo, yin choy, Chinese spinach, thotakura | Caribbean and Chinese grocers | Caribbean and South Asian | Common | Caribbean and Chinese | Chinese grocers | Common |
| Tender jackfruit | Green jackfruit in brine, tinned | Now mainstream through the vegan aisle | Same | Fresh and frozen | Same | Same | Fresh and tinned |
| Koorka | Chinese potato, coleus | Frozen, peeled, South Asian | Frozen | Frozen and fresh | Frozen | Frozen | Frozen |
| Kappa | Cassava, yuca, frozen cassava chunks | Caribbean, Latin American, West African freezers | Same | Fresh and frozen | Same | Same | Common |
| Green plantain | Green plantain, plátano verde | Caribbean and Latin American grocers, better than Indian shops | Same | Fresh Nendran available | Same | Same | Common |
| Vanpayar | Red cowpea; black-eyed bean, lobia, as a fallback | South Asian grocer | South Asian grocer | Common | South Asian grocer | South Asian grocer | Common |
| Muthira | Horse gram, kollu, kulthi, hurali | South Asian grocer | Tamil- and Kerala-facing shops | Common | Online | Sri Lankan grocers | Little India shops |
| Kadala | Kala chana, desi chana, brown chickpea | Widely | Widely | Common | Widely | Widely | Common |
| Jaggery | Jaggery block or powder; panela, piloncillo | South Asian; Latin American shops as panela | Widely | Common | Widely | Widely | Common |
| Unakka meen | Dried fish; tuyo, dilis in Filipino shops | Kerala- and Sri Lanka-facing shops, or Filipino aisle | Same | Common | Same | Sri Lankan grocers | Common |
| Coconut vinegar | Kaadi, coconut vinegar | Filipino aisle is the reliable source | Kerala grocers and online | Common | Filipino aisle | Filipino aisle | Common |
| Ceylon cinnamon | True cinnamon, Ceylon cinnamon, Cinnamomum verum | Sri Lankan grocers, or a spice specialist | Sri Lankan grocers | Common | Spice specialists | Sri Lankan grocers | Common |
| Karimeen | Pearl spot | Rarely available | Rarely available | Sometimes frozen | Rarely available | Rarely available | Sometimes |
| Banana leaf | Banana leaf, frozen | Freezer aisle, Thai or Latin American | Thai and Caribbean | Fresh | Thai and Latin American | Fresh and frozen | Fresh |
| Nannari | Nannari root, anantamool, Hemidesmus indicus | Online, or a Kerala grocer | Online | Sometimes | Online | Online | Little India shops |
And where an item genuinely is not there.
| Item | Substitute | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Matta rice | Any parboiled red or brown short-grain rice, brown basmati, or Sri Lankan red parboiled | You lose the earthy bite and gain a longer, more separate grain — fine under a stew, wrong under a kudampuli curry |
| Jeerakasala | Seeraga samba, or basmati in less water | You lose the aroma the dish is named for |
| Kudampuli | 15 g tamarind pulp for three pieces | The curry becomes rounder and brighter, and does not improve overnight |
| Fresh or frozen grated coconut | Desiccated, 25 g soaked in 25 ml warm water for 10–15 minutes per 50 g replaced | Drier and sweeter; it will never grind to a glossy paste, and a thoran depends on the coconut still holding water |
| Curry leaves | None. Omit rather than replace | The dish becomes a different dish, and dried leaf is a duller ingredient rather than a substitute |
| Ash gourd | Courgette, or Chinese winter melon | Wetter and blander; reduce the added water |
| Snake gourd | Courgette | Wetter and blander |
| Moringa leaves | Spinach, with less added water | The protein and fibre fall substantially; the dish still works |
| Amaranth, cheera | Spinach, chard or callaloo, with less added water | Spinach is wetter and milder |
| Kerala shallots | Banana shallots or small red onions at about three-quarters the weight | A wetter, milder base that needs longer to reduce; a large onion changes a curry more than changing the fish does |
| Limes | Lemon at about three-quarters the quantity | Rounder, less floral acidity |
| Raw green mango | Tamarind with a little green apple for body, or amchur at about 1 teaspoon per 100 g replaced | You lose the flesh, which in a mango curry is half the dish |
| Coconut oil, for volume frying | Groundnut, rice bran or light sesame | Saturated fat falls sharply; where coconut oil is the flavour rather than the medium, the dish changes and the recipe says so |
| Kadala, soaked and cooked | Tinned chickpeas or black-eyed beans, rinsed | A legitimate Tuesday shortcut; rinse them, because the brine is where the sodium is |
| Karimeen | Any small firm whole fish — sea bream, tilapia, pomfret | The dish works; the fish that gave it its name does not travel |
| Coconut vinegar | Cider vinegar at the same volume | A little sharper |
| Pappadams and pickles from a jar | Homemade, or a small producer with a short ingredients list | Commercial versions carry acetic acid, preservative and often far more oil and salt |
9. Reader Tools and Trackers
Six pages built to be photocopied or written on. Nothing here is a substitute for a clinician, a laboratory or a scale, and none of it needs an app.
9.1 Weekly measurement log
Before you fill in the first row, read Chapter 3 again. The short version, because the technique is what makes the number mean anything. The tape goes at the midpoint between the lowest palpable rib and the top of the iliac crest, not at the navel and not at the waistband of your trousers. First thing in the morning, after the bathroom, before eating or drinking. Standing, feet together or a hand's width apart, weight even, arms relaxed. Read at the end of a normal exhalation, not on a held breath. Against bare skin, or one thin layer. The tape flat all the way round and level with the floor at the back as well as the front, snug but not denting you. Take three readings and use the middle one if they disagree by more than half a centimetre; if they disagree by more than 2 cm your landmark has moved and you should find the bones again. The same tape, the same morning of the week, every week.
Waist-to-height ratio is your waist in centimetres divided by your height in centimetres. Chapter 3 sets out why this is the primary number in this book: a ratio above 0.5 is the boundary value, the same for men and women, and it discriminates adverse cardiometabolic outcomes 4–5% better than BMI. If you would rather not do the arithmetic, cut a string to your height, fold it in half, and pass it round your waist: if the ends meet, you are under 0.5.
My height: __ cm · Half my height: __ cm
| Week | Date | Weight, kg | Waist, cm | Waist ÷ height | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | __ | __ | __ | __ | ________ |
| 2 | __ | __ | __ | __ | ________ |
| 3 | __ | __ | __ | __ | ________ |
| 4 | __ | __ | __ | __ | ________ |
| 5 | __ | __ | __ | __ | ________ |
| 6 | __ | __ | __ | __ | ________ |
| 7 | __ | __ | __ | __ | ________ |
| 8 | __ | __ | __ | __ | ________ |
| 9 | __ | __ | __ | __ | ________ |
| 10 | __ | __ | __ | __ | ________ |
| 11 | __ | __ | __ | __ | ________ |
| 12 | __ | __ | __ | __ | ________ |
Weight is noisy over a week and honest over a month; the waist is quieter and is measuring the compartment that matters. If you keep one number, keep the waist.
9.2 Blood work log
Four dated columns, so that a change is visible as a line rather than remembered as an impression. Write the units your laboratory uses, because they differ between countries and mixing them is how people frighten themselves.
Reading these results, deciding what they mean and deciding what to do about them belongs to your clinician. This page is a place to write them down, and nothing more. Nothing in this book asks you to start, stop or alter any medication.
| Test | Date __ | Date __ | Date __ | Date __ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HbA1c | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Fasting plasma glucose | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Total cholesterol | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| LDL cholesterol | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| HDL cholesterol | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Non-HDL cholesterol | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Triglycerides | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| ALT, alanine aminotransferase | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| AST, aspartate aminotransferase | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Weight on the day, kg | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Waist on the day, cm | __ | __ | __ | __ |
Non-HDL cholesterol is simply total cholesterol minus HDL, and you can work it out yourself from any lipid panel. On timing, Chapter 3 is specific: three months is the shortest interval at which repeating an HbA1c tells you anything real, because repeating it after four weeks measures mostly the four weeks before you started.
Notes for my next appointment:
9.3 The habit grid
The four habits of the 7-Day Reset, carried across 28 days. Habits one to three are daily. Habit four is weekly, so tick it once in the row for the morning you measured.
1 Half the plate vegetables · 2 A pulse at every main meal · 3 Oil measured, not poured · 4 Measured this week
| Day | 1 · Half vegetables | 2 · A pulse | 3 · Oil measured | 4 · Measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 | ||||
| 5 | ||||
| 6 | ||||
| 7 | ||||
| 8 | ||||
| 9 | ||||
| 10 | ||||
| 11 | ||||
| 12 | ||||
| 13 | ||||
| 14 | ||||
| 15 | ||||
| 16 | ||||
| 17 | ||||
| 18 | ||||
| 19 | ||||
| 20 | ||||
| 21 | ||||
| 22 | ||||
| 23 | ||||
| 24 | ||||
| 25 | ||||
| 26 | ||||
| 27 | ||||
| 28 |
Two of these four are the best-supported instructions in the book. The pulse is Chapter 7's central practical finding: 50 g of cooked pulses a day eaten with brown rice took the glycaemic response 22.9% below white rice, where switching the rice and stopping there reached 19.8%. The measured oil is Chapter 13's, and the arithmetic is unforgiving — a curry for four cooked with 20 g of oil rather than 10 g carries about 89 extra kilocalories a portion, invisibly, at every meal.
9.4 Weekly meal planner — blank template
Seven days by four meals. Fill in recipe numbers rather than dish names; it is faster, and it forces you to look the recipe up before you shop rather than after.
| Day | Breakfast | Lunch | Evening or snack | Dinner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Tuesday | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Wednesday | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Thursday | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Friday | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Saturday | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Sunday | __ | __ | __ | __ |
Check before you shop. Is there a pulse on every lunch and dinner line? Is half of each plate a vegetable dish? Is there a fish line at least twice? Have you written down which grain, and how much?
Shopping-list panel for the week above
| Produce | Fish, meat, eggs | Dairy and frozen | Dry goods |
|---|---|---|---|
| __ | __ | __ | __ |
| __ | __ | __ | __ |
| __ | __ | __ | __ |
| __ | __ | __ | __ |
| __ | __ | __ | __ |
| __ | __ | __ | __ |
| __ | __ | __ | __ |
| __ | __ | __ | __ |
9.5 Batch-cooking planner — blank template
The mother preparations and the batch-friendly recipes are in section 6.1. A Sunday that produces four containers and three frozen cubes of base masala is worth more than a week of intentions.
| Slot | Preparation | Recipe no. | Portions | Fridge or freezer | Use by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soak the night before | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Set to ferment the night before | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| First hour | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Second hour | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Third hour | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| While something else cooks | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Portioned into containers | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| Into the freezer | __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
What is already in the freezer, and until when
| Item | Recipe no. | Date frozen | Portions | Use by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
| __ | __ | __ | __ | __ |
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9.6 Recipes I have cooked
The most useful page in the book after about a year, and the reason to own this on paper. Write in it even when the dish went wrong, especially when the dish went wrong.
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10. A Note on Further Reading
A short shelf, annotated. Every title below is a real book that exists, and where an edition or an authorial detail is genuinely uncertain that is said rather than tidied away. None of these is a health book, and that is the point: read them for the food and the history, and take the metabolic argument from the chapters and the bibliography of this one.
The Kerala shelf, in English
Vijayan Kannampilly, The Essential Kerala Cookbook (Penguin India). The standard reference: comprehensive, community-aware and unfussy. If a Kerala cookbook in English is canonical, this is it. Buy it if you buy only one.
Ammini Ramachandran, Grains, Greens and Grated Coconuts: Recipes and Remembrances of a Vegetarian Legacy (2007). The best-researched book on Palakkad Brahmin vegetarian cooking and the strongest food-historical writing by any Kerala author. Her demolition of the reflex that anything steamed or fermented in Kerala must be a colonial import is the argument this book leans on in Chapter 12: the Portuguese and Dutch had neither coconut nor bamboo in their own kitchens.
Ummi Abdulla, Malabar Muslim Cookery (Orient Longman, 1981). The canonical Mappila text and one of the most important regional cookbooks published in India: 143 recipes, step-by-step illustrations by Anant Kulkarni, and more pages given to sweets and egg dishes than to vegetables — which is itself an ethnographic finding. Two generations of expatriate Mappilas have cooked from it.
Lathika George, The Suriani Kitchen, and the same author's The Kerala Kitchen: Recipes and Recollections from the Syrian Christians of South India (Hippocrene, in several editions including an expanded one with a foreword by Abraham Verghese). The reference work on Syrian Christian cooking, with substantial historical framing, and the source of the best single line about the community: "Hindu in culture, Christian in religion, and Syro-Oriental in worship."
Maya Kaimal, Curried Favors: Family Recipes from South India (1996), reissued as Savoring the Spice Coast of India: Fresh Flavors from Kerala (2000). The book that introduced Kerala food to the American mainstream. Warm, accurate, family-sourced.
Mrs K. M. Mathew, Flavours of the Spice Coast, and the Penguin centenary compilation Mrs K. M. Mathew's Finest Recipes. Annamma Mathew, 1922–2003, is the founding figure of Kerala food writing in any language: her first column, Pachakavidhi, appeared in Malayala Manorama on 30 May 1953, and she wrote for five decades. She travelled Kerala visiting households to document regional cooking, which makes her the first person to treat the state's community cuisines as a subject for systematic field collection.
The history and scholarship
K. T. Achaya, Indian Food: A Historical Companion (Oxford University Press, 1994) and A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food (Oxford University Press, 1998); also The Story of Our Food. The indispensable source, and the one every serious Indian food book cites. Achaya was a food scientist, and his books' central virtue is that they say when they do not know. His summary of the Portuguese introductions — the "floodgate" of potato, tomato, tapioca, groundnut, maize, papaya, pineapple, guava, cashew, and chilli in all its forms — is behind Chapter 2 of this book, and his Sangam-era datings of appam, idiyappam, idli and dosa are behind Chapter 12.
Colleen Taylor Sen, Feasts and Fasts: A History of Food in India (Reaktion, 2015); also Curry: A Global History and Food Culture in India. The best single modern narrative history of Indian food, and strong on religious dietary systems and on the six-taste framework.
Lizzie Collingham, Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors (2006). The standard popular history of Indian food's collisions with empire, and excellent on the Portuguese introductions and on Anglo-Indian food. Note that the author publishes as both Lizzie Collingham and E. M. Collingham, so check the edition when you order it.
Federico De Romanis, The Indo-Roman Pepper Trade and the Muziris Papyrus (Oxford Studies on the Roman Economy, 2020). The scholarly foundation for the pepper history in Chapter 2: the Hermapollon, the tonnages, the tetarte. Not a light read, and the only place to get the trade right.
Salma Husain, The Emperor's Table: The Art of Mughal Cuisine, and her translation of the Nuskha-e-Shahjahani. The authority on Mughal court cooking, and therefore the reference point for establishing what Thalassery biryani is not.
Marryam H. Reshii, The Flavour of Spice (Hachette India, 2017). Not a Kerala book, and the best contemporary Indian writing on spice as a material. Read it alongside Chapter 9.
Mrs Balbir Singh's Indian Cookery (1961). Not Kerala, and the book that established the modern Indian cookbook in English. Worth having for the chronology alone: Malayalam food journalism began in 1953, eight years before the canonical English-language Indian cookbook.
V. Nagam Aiya, Travancore State Manual (1906). A colonial administrator's survey rather than a food book, and the earliest crisp documentary statement of tapioca's social position in Kerala — "the poor man's food par excellence". The Cochin State Manual is its companion.
Two things worth knowing before you go looking
The printed Malayalam cookbook is a twentieth-century form. Before it, recipes lived in Ayurvedic compendia such as the Sahasrayogam and the Cikitsamanjari, in temple kitchen practice, and in household oral transmission. That is a more interesting and more honest claim than inventing a lineage, and a reader who goes hunting for a nineteenth-century Malayalam cookbook should know they may not find one.
And for readers with Malayalam, the scholarship on Malabar foodways is largely in Malayalam. Dr Azeez Tharuvana's essay "Malabar Cuisine: History, Culture and the Present", published by Sahapedia, is the best short scholarly treatment in English and cites the Malayalam sources worth chasing, among them Nysa Ayesha's Athishayapathiri, which documents about forty varieties of pathiri.
What is not on this list
There is no Kerala diet cookbook to recommend, because there was not one. The Indian diabetic cookbooks that are credible are pan-Indian and North-Indian by default: Azmina Govindji and Sanjeev Kapoor, Healthy Indian Cooking for Diabetes (Grub Street) is the most reliable of them, and May Abraham Fridel's Indian Cuisine Diabetes Cookbook and Sobia Khan's 150 Best Indian, Asian, Caribbean and More Diabetes Recipes (Robert Rose) are both written by qualified people. None of them addresses a plate built on matta rice, coconut, tapioca, jackfruit and daily fish, which is why this book exists.
11. About the Author
Reshmi R Nair is an applied linguist and educator. Her working life has been spent in Malayalam and English language education, in curriculum design and in educational publishing — which is to say, in the practical question of how a person is taught something they did not already know, and how a page has to be built for that teaching to survive the reading.
This book came out of that discipline rather than out of a restaurant kitchen. It is written by someone inside this food, cooking it at home, and by someone in the habit of checking a claim against its source before printing it. Where the evidence is strong, this book states it plainly and cites it. Where the evidence is weak or absent, the book says so and prints nothing in its place. That second habit is the one she would most like a reader to take away.