It isn't just the rich heritage of Kannur but also its magnificent food scenario that left a lasting impression on us. During the last two days in the city, which were also the last two days of our North Kerala Food Tour, along with our knowledgeable host Shihad from Kannur City Heritage Foundation, we had a miscellaneous food experience ranging from wedding food to Muttamala to fusion Malabari dishes. Let's take you through this delightful journey.
First we visited the catering area of a local wedding. Interestingly we weren't invited there but sensing our curiosity about the same, Shihad made a quick arrangement for us to witness what all dishes are served at wedding feast. This was possible solely due to the generous support of the owner of Shani Caterers who were in charge of the food and who is Shihad's childhood friend. A lot of food was being prepared by an enthused team of young cooks. There was biryani, vellappam, malabar parotta, chicken macaroni, veg stew, mutton stew, fried chicken etc. Since we had covered most of the dishes during our food tour, we just tasted some vellappam with veg stew. The white coloured stew was rich, creamy and hearty.
From there we went to meet Misriya Ji and her friends who have volunteered to show us the making of Malabar's legendary sweet dish muttamala. Together, they run a popular food community, that carries out various food related activities like pop ups, cooking competitions, recipe exchange events etc. Each and every member themselves is a talented home chef with keen interest in native and various cuisines. After a brief introduction, we straight away headed to the kitchen to oversee the intricate preparation of muttamala. It is that one sweet dish, in which the Malabaris takes pride in and is only served to special guests on special occasions. The name literally translates to a garland of eggs and it entails a laborious making process. Muttamala is basically an ensemble of sweetened egg yolk threads and steamed beaten egg white pieces. Our warm and generous hosts also served us two Malabari and an Arabic snack along with the muttamala. Since Anubhav is more fond of egg white, he liked the steamed chunks more than the yolk threads.
After this, in the evening we went to meet our friend Chef Shameem who had invited us for dinner at his popular restaurant called 7th Lounge. He is one of the celebrated chefs in Kannur who has garnered huge fame for his contemporary take on Malabari cuisine. Not to mention, he is a wonderful person too. To our surprise he laid out an elaborate spread consisting of malabar parotta, kallappam, puttu biryani, kizhi parotta, karimeen pollichathu, kozhi sizzler, malabar chilli chicken, ghee rice and parippu. Sharing the table with such a talented chef cum good friend was an exhilarating experience. The vibe of the restaurant was electrifying too. Everyone could be seen enjoying Chef Shameem's recipes.
Our tour ended with a relaxing and rejuvenating time at Krishna Beach Resort which is the brainchild of Dr. C.V Ravindranath. Built on the ancient wisdom of Vasthu Shilpa, this resort is an effort to amalgamate spirituality into the hospitality sector, in order to make the experience conducive for mind, body and soul.