Kerala's food Taste.

Kappa & Mathi Curry -A Traditional food Taste 

Tapioca or the ( Maracheeni ) in Malayalam, is a root storage plant extracted from the Cassava plant. It's native place is Brazil, later in South America and almost in all countries. It is a summer crop and also a staple food for the millions of people in the tropical regions. The food is highly rich with carbohydrates , vitamins and minerals. Tapioca is popularly called Kapa in Malayalam .Tapioca can be use for making many spicy dishes. They are:

 

Kappa Puzhukku, Kappa thoran , Kappa puttu, Kappa curry, Kappa chips ,Kappa Upma, Kappa Biriyani, Kapa pappadam, dried Kappa ,which can be largely stored for later uses. All these are really tasty and delicious. These are the favorite dishes of the South Indians. Kappa Puzhukku is so easy to made .

Preparation time for kappa-15minutes cook time-15 minutes.

              Total time -30 minutes.

Ingredients.

• Tapioca -half Kgs
• Mustard-1tsp
• Dry chilly- 4 no
• Garlic -4 pieces
• Green chilly-4
• Coconut-1 cup
• Oil -2 teaspoon
• Curry leaves- a sprig
• Cumin seed/Jeerakam -1/4 tsp
• Salt and water as needed

Preparation Method

• Peel the thick brown skin of the tapioca and cut it into pieces.
• Wash it well.
• Boil the Tapioca pieces , until it is cooked.
• Add some turmeric powder and salt to taste.
• Drain the tapioca pieces and keep it aside.
• Put a vessel to make the kappa puzhukku, add oil to it.
• When the oil boils, add mustard, and dry chilly to it.
• When it became brownish in colour. Add the drained tapioca to it.
• Grind the coconut chilly , garlic and cumin seed .
• Add the grinded mixer and curry leaves into the boiled Tapioca a mix well after that the smash the Tapioca well.

Then the Puzhukku is ready to serve. Sardine fish curry is a good combo of this item.

Kandari chutney is also a good comination of this food.

Sardine Fish Mango Curry.

Sardine Mango fish curry is also called Mathi Mango Curry. It is good combo for the Kappa Puzhukku. It's is one of the traditional dish of Kerala. One of the nutritious food of Keralites. It contain omega 3 fatty acids , vitamins and essential elements. They help to build and maintain a healthy body ,keeps your heart, lungs ,blood vessels and immune system strong.

The fish is called as the fish of common people , affordable to all.

Preparation time-15 minutes Cooking time -30 min

Total time -45 minute

INGREDIENCE

• Sardine Fish -1/2 Kgs
• Raw mango-2
• Red chilly powder-2tsp
• Coriander Powder-1 and half tsp.
• Ginger and Garlic paste- 1 tsp
• Shallots/ Kunjulli-3 no
• Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
• Curry leaves -2 sprig
• Tamarind (Combogia)-4 pieces
• Water , salt and oil as required
• Fenugreek -1/4 tsp
• Green chilly -3

Method of cooking.

• Prepare the raw mango and cut it into small pieces.
• Take the cleanly washed and drained fish.
• Take the Chatty (mud or clay vessel used for cooking fish by Keralites) into the stove.
• After the pan gets heated , pour oil into the vessel.
• Put the ginger , garlic paste into the vessel.
• Add shallots , green chilies and curry leaves into the vessel and salute well, until it turns brown.
• After that add the chilly powder, Coriander powder ,Turmeric powder and salute it well ,until it smells good.
• Add the required water , washed kudampuli and add mango pieces into it and cook well.
• Add the fenugreek powder and salt to taste.
• Add the fish piece into the curry and cover it with a lid and cook well. When it is cooked , there comes a good smell of fish curry and also the curry become thicken.

This curry is a good side dish for the rice. The curry is very spicy and hand a tangy taste with meals and great combination with tapioca.

Thus I can proudly say that Kappa and Sandrine Mango fish curry is one of the dish that touches the heart of the people who eat it. Even though Kappa origins from Brazil, becomes the favorite food of Keralites.

A Boating at Punnamada

          Through the waves of Punnamada.

In the southern part of India lies Kerala , the Gods own country Kerala .There is a land  called " The Venice of East", famous for its own beauty. The land of beaches, backwaters, canals, lagoons . Alappuzha as number one tourist destination in Kerala and also number one in handicrafts . Couple of times, I have been enjoyed a trip on house boating in Punnamada Backwaters. It is one of the important tourist destination in Kerala. Punnamada backwaters is famous for the Nehru Trophy Snake Boat race. Each year a millions of people from many country came to Kerala to took part in this. 

The Punnamada lake is a part of the Vambanadu lake. In each district the lake named different. In Kerala it is called as Punnamada lake. The lake attracts so many people to its center ,to show its beauty.  So many films draw the beauty of the land , this is one of the reason that makes me to visit this place. We can start's the houseboating in Punnamada Boat Jetty. The government service  boating for the tourists are also  available for the  needful.  

Each year a lot of peoples are came to Alappuzha for house boating . Houseboating is the major attractive destination of the tourists. We can see numerous house boats waiting for their travelers in the main entrance. The houseboating starts by morning 11.30 am. In the front of the house boat we are welcomed by the houseboat caption, the owner of the houseboat and the chief cook. We are welcomed by a welcome drink , the tender coconut drink, the traditional Kerala drink. The houseboat looks very spacious and attractive. The beauty of the Kuttanad cannot be explained through words ,it should be experienced through the sightseeing. After some time we were offered the meal with Kuttanad dishes, mainly the Karimeen fish .We can see so many temples, Churches, mosques , schools and toddy shops on the banks. We can also see the greenary of the paddy feild across the lake. Kerala Toddy shops are famous for their variety food items. We can also find hotels and cool bars which provide relaxation to the travelers. In each they have an eagle, grown as a pet to attract the travelers. These birds are friendly to every travelers. House boating gives a best platform for the photography and fishing. The water sight creates a good scenery at both day and night time. Other than meals they will offer the fruits cuts along with tea and snacks. Evening time are good time for best scenery's we can't expect the beauty in evening. It's is awesome. We can see the pavilion and the statue of Jawaharlal Nehru. We can also see the starting and ending points of the Nehru Trophy boat race. By 5.30 pm the cruise ends, and the boating stops. 

Well we can conclude that houseboating in Punnamada lake creates very good atmosphere to spend with the family. We can also spend so much time together. It's quite a different experience than traveling to other places. Once you do houseboating , it will definitely attract you to that place.

Exploring the beauty of Chennai.

                   Chennai Vibes

Have you ever been to Chennai ?  If you don't , you have to go as, Chennai , one of the most beautiful and busiest city of Tamil Nadu, also known as Madras. The capital of the state, located on the Coromandal cost of  Bay of Bengal. Chennai is one of the largest cultural , economical , and education center of south India. The city attracts million of tourists each year to its Centre, so that it is called as" the health capital of India". Chennai is known for its so many tourists places and it is the 4th largest city of the country in visitors flock . Any one whose visited Chennai will surely visit the place again and again as it's is ever corner is filled with beauty. Here are some of the places which attracts the tourists.

Kalpakeshwara Temple located Mylapore, Chennai, known for its, history, architect style and spiritual beliefs .The temple was built by pallavas in 7th century and reconstructed in 16th century. Kalpakeshwara temple was built in Dravidian and Vijayanagari style complete with towering gopurams.Although  it has numerous shrines ,of those Kalpakeshwahra (shiva)and Karpagambal (parvathy )was more prominent. The temple had a large scared pond in the western side .There were many halls and mandapas .The unique architectural style, gopurams and temple head makes the temple more attractive places for the visitors to visit in. In the temple we can see so many cows, bulls, goats, hens are grown there as pets in the temple premises. The people came the temple saw these animals as the gods representatives, they give them foods and take blessings from them. The temple is well known for its Brahmotsavam, take place during the Tamil month Panguni.

The Elliot's beach also known as Besant Nagar Beach,  known for its serenity  and calm atmosphere. The Beach provides a calm and quiet atmosphere to the visitors. The sand in this beach look like clean brown sands. The beach creates a pollution free environment to the tourists, every corner in the beach dustbins are placed. There we can see the memorial of Dutch sailor, Karl Schmidt, this memorial has also made the beach more attractive to the tourists. The beach forms the end -point of marina Beach. Evenings time made the beach looks more attractive as the beach is filled with  children's carnival, food stores and ventures.

Chennai is not only famous for the beach sights, it is also famous for its and amazing spot in the case of wild life. Guindy National Park had large collections of flora and fauna and reptile creatures. The park covers an area of 2.70 square kilometers, provides a great habitat to the species . In addition to it has a children's park, which attracts a lot of children's to the park. Guindy national park also known for snake and crocodile park. Main attraction of the park is 20 million year old specimen of Tyrannosaurs. The wildlife protection includes chital, Sloth bear ,Spotted deer ,dhole, Small Liven Civet ,Pangolin . Many other mammals like Hyena Common Mongoose, Three striped palm Squirrels, Jackals, Monkey  can be found here. The park also provides habitat to several herbs and crawlers  and around 60 species of butterflies. The park also gained recognition as a medium zoo and reptile park. We can see various snakes like snakes, cobra ,pythons, vipers , reptiles like crocodiles, alligator, chameleon. The other interesting part is that ,the park contain birds park and children's park. Outside the park there is the availability of drinking water, caterings and venders.

Chennai Light House, formerly known as Madras Lighthouse, facing Bay of Bengal .It is a famous landmark on Marina Beach in Chennai. The light house has a special peculiar feature the it has upstairs as well as elevator. The lighthouse completely works under solar power thus it is called as greenlight house. At the top of the lighthouse gives a good scenery of sea and city, thus it makes an attractive place. The light house comprises of four towers. In the basement of the tower we can find an exhibition which explains the functioning and parts of the lighthouse.

Vivekananda Illam , earlier known as Ice House or Castle Kernan ,the building was constructed by Fedric Tudor. Swami Vivekananda stayed in this building when he visits Chennai, later it was named after him. The Illam  currently run by Ramakrishna Math , it is a source of inspiration to thousand of people who visit this historical place. Vivekananda house contains the exhibitions with Vivekananda quotes , paintings, his teachings and mission. There is wall paintings of  small Narendra to Vivekananda.

St. Thomas Cathedral Basilica also known as San Thome church, in the city of Chennai. It was built in 6th century by Portuguese , over the tomb of Saint Thomas ,one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. Later the church was rebuild by British in Neo-gothic style. It was believed that the mortal remains of the saint was buried in the location where the church now stand's. The San Thome Basilica is a pilgrimage center in India. The church also had an attached museum, where we can find the model of the church, the bones of St Thoms still preserved there, the old coins and utensils used in olden times, there church crosses etc.

M.G.R Memorial is a memorial complex on the Marina beach in Chennai. It is the burial place of M.G. Ramachandran  the former Chief minister ,actor cum politician , near the memorial has a burning lamb which always remember about the great. his protag J .Jayalalitha  memorial provides a honor  to their beloved Amma and Karuna Nidhi  whose Samadhi were also lies beside. It was situated near Anna Complex.

Thus we can conclude that, Chennai is a very beautiful , tradition rich , diverse , politically and economically richest city in India. One must surely visit the city and should explore the beauty hidden in Chennai.

A journey to Mughal Architectures

                      A Travel to Mughal Architect.

This is my first blog about the North Indian visits to the places like Delhi the Indian capital , Jaipur the pink city , and Agra . All these places have some thing to say about their pasts. The changes they came across  during the Mughal reign. Here  my blog deals with my experience while l visited these places.

As like every girls l also get such a change after my marriage , with my little one. It was also the beginning of Covid -19 disease, so we faced a little bit problems. There were also a protest in Delhi at that time, but we managed to over come all those and started  our journey. We begins our journey at 26th February 2020 at 11.30 pm from home and reached at Nedumbassery airport. Actually it was my first flight.. with full of curiosity and tension I get into the flight and reached  Delhi on next day morning 7 am.

The first day at Delhi 27th February, As per the tour plan  we should start our sightseeing from Jaipur , the pink city. The city is also famous for its beautiful gardens, courtyard, museums and important for Mughal architecture. It takes 265kms for us to reach Jaipur from Delhi. On the way to Jaipur we had an unique opportunity to ride on elephants back. It was the most thrilling  experience to us that we had never touched or take photos with an elephant. Our first day ends up here.

On the next day  28th February after breakfast we went for sightseeing tour to,the pink city the name come pink city as all the building walls in the city is  pink in colour. Our first place was Birla temple, which is constructed solely with white marble. Inside the temple we feel a cooling and devotional effect. The next place is Amber Fort, located in Amer , Rajasthan outside the Jaipur city where we can have the unique experience on traveling on elephants back to and from the top of the hill on which the fort is situated. The Amber fort was made by Raja Man Singh and additional later made by Sawai Jai Singh. The fort is known for its artist elements .It is constructed of red sandstone and marble's. Our next place is Jal Mahal , a palace in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake in Jaipur city .The palace and the lake around it were renovated and enlarged in the 18th century by Maharaj Jai Singh 2 of Amber fort. Our forth place is City palace known for its blend of Rajasthani and Mughal  architecture. Another place is Jantar Mandir, the largest of five observatories built by Sawai Jai Singh. The Hawa Mahal , known as the palace of winds. It is the beautiful palace made up of red, and pink sandstone. The other place is the Albert Meseum, one of the oldest museum in Rajasthan, functions as the state government central museum. Here we can find different types of weapons used by the Mughal at that times, the clothes and germs they used, their personal belongings , coins pictures  etc. .. Jaipur is also famous for  Jaipuri silks and germs .We will get high quality jewelry and silk , And handicrafts there, after certain shopping our second day ends here ..

On the third day 29th February after breakfast we drive to Jaipur-Agra via Fatehpur Sikri, it is in West of Agra, founded by the Mughal emperor Ashoka in16th century. It is red sandstone building cluster at its center. Buland Darwaza gate is the entrance to Jama Masjid mosque. The Fatehpur Sikri is also known as" the city of victory" after Akbar's victorious Gujarat campaign .After lunch we visited Taj Mahal, love memorial. Built by Shah Jahan 1630 for his beloved Queen Mumtaz in the banks of river Yamuna in the city of Agra. It is no wonder that it attract millions each year, that the building is a symbolic representation of eternal love. Our third visit is to Agra Fort the royal residence of the Mughal dynasty, containing halls of public and private audiences and beautiful gardens and the day beautifully ends there.

The fourth day 1st April the visit of Indira Gandhi Museum in Delhi, the residence of the former Prime Minister of India, which later converted into museum. Here we can see the collection of photographs of Gandhi family, Nationalist movements, their personal belongings and moments. Later we go to India gate, the Indian war memorial tribute to the soldiers who died in first world war. Their names are engraved in the walls of the gate as a tribute to them. Every Republic day the prime minister visits the gate and pay tribute to the unknown soldiers. Later we saw a car side view of Presidential House, Parliament house and Rajghat. The Red fort , known as the Historic fort in the city of Delhi .It is made of Red stones, as the name red fort came from it. Red fort served as the main residential building of the Mughal Emperors. The Mughal building  has so many gardens , public halls, courtyard , marble and floral decorations. There is high level ornamentation with Kohinoor diamonds. There were so many Mahals and mosque built separately for each and every purpose including the religious centers. The features of the fort is very long that it cannot be explained through words.

Our Fifth day 2 ndApril was fully busy with shopping in Delhi .. Delhi is very famous for some of the exceptional flavors in street foods. The  tangled , crispy ,spicy and sweet food definitely attract us to the Delhi visit. Shopping is one of the main features that attracts us, Friday markets are opened which will enable us to buy this in lower prices. We had done our shopping in Chandini Chawk market ,this had given us a chance to travel in busy Delhi metro. 

Our last day 3 rd April visit was to Qutab Minar and Lotus temple .Minar is another famous Monument in Delhi, tallest minaret made up of bricks .There are Arabic quotes  and inscription written in minarets .We can see a larger beautiful gardens and tombs of Ill Thurumish .There we can see different structure which are not constructed  fully. We can see a beautiful sight of flying aeroplanes in the top of the Minar .The  atmosphere in Qutab Minar gives as  a calm and soothing effect.  The place is rich with beautiful roof carvings and structures. The place is rich with small animals and birds ,their sweet sound and chirpings adds a quiet and happy feeling to our mind. Lotus  temple is also located in Delhi. It is a house for worship .The temple looks like lotus ,creates  a calm and devotional atmosphere .

Thus our travel to the Mughal architecture hub ended, sadly we go back to Delhi international airport ,  back to Kerala, hopping that we will back soon to visit more places.  For god's sake every thing is quite well and fine. On 4 th April morning we reached our home back.