Wake up to Kasargod cuisine, Thrissur

Thrissur: The flavours of Kasaragod that once charmed the palate of the French has come to Thrissur. The Kasargod food festival was brought to Thrissur by a team comprising Rati Sukumaran and Ambika Achuthan, who had organized a food festival at the Gana Festival in France in July. They are now busy feeding Thrissur folks with assorted Kasargod cuisine, like chicken _kadambu_, _koli kayisuruthu, odey kolicurry, ganasu podi and neypathiri_. Chicken _kadambu_, made by mixing together chicken curry and _kadambu_ (made out of rice powder), is the major attraction among Kasargod dishes. Kozhi Pollichathu, which does away with masala powders but instead, uses ground leaves and ginger for marinating the chicken before frying, and Neypathiri made from raw rice, cumin and coconut are sure to tickle the taste buds of the connoisseurs. Most Kasaragod dishes are different from Chinese, North Indian dishes just because of the fact that they avoid harmful masalas which are considered sacrosanct in other cuisine cultures. The food prepared by these lady members of Kudumbasree packages indigenous tastes catering to the preferences of the diners. When Ambika and Rati prepared Kerala food for the French, they had taken care to avoid masala powders that the French were not keen on. The Kasargod Food Festival is on at the Women’s Food Court in Naduvilal. It will conclude on the 25th of this month. It is held with the objective of introducing to Thrissur, the cuisines from various parts of Kerala. It is planned to bring Kozhikode Food Festival and Kuttanadan Food Festival to Thrissur in the coming months as well.