Alcohol consumption is injurious to health. But if you enjoy taking this risk, then you’d most likely be of the opinion that a good drinking session involves ‘touchings’. Touchings is a word that describes a uniquely Indian drinking experience. It roughly means a side dish to pair with the alcoholic beverage. This side dish is essential to complete the drinking experience and it could be as simple as a bowl of spicy lemon pickle. Peanuts, mixture, popcorn and masala papad are also popular side dishes served in local bars in India.
But visit Kerala, and the ‘touchings’ game is taken to a whole other level in the state’s toddy bars or kallu shaaps. Bar food has been significant to Kerala’s culinary landscape for generations and in recent years, several stories and videos have been dedicated to the spicy food in these toddy shops.
Here we bring you the must have foods likely found in every Kallu Shaap in Kerala:
Marinated with loads of chilli and steamed in a banana leaf, the Karimeen pollichathu is a famous delicacy in Kerala. It is made with Pearl Spot, a fish found in the backwaters of the state.
“We serve Karimeen everyday and during the season we have lots of foreigners coming in to taste our food. Their favourite is the red fish curry and the karimeen which they need to unwrap and eat,” says Pushparaja, who runs Tharavad No 9, an old toddy establishment in Kumarakom, Alappuzha.
There’s a reason why Shaap food is always cooked extra spicy, explains Pushparajan. It is to complement the sweetness of the fresh toddy or palm wine tapped from tender coconuts. Toddy tapping is a small industry in Kerala and toddy shops have to acquire a license from the State Excise department and are governed by the Abkari Act. These shops also prepare a feast for their customers.
Collage of Karimeen, duck eggs, beef and squid
“There are different kinds of toddy. You have the Munthiri kallu, the Mootha kallu, Kanthari kallu and Ilam kallu. The Mootha kallu is highly fermented and therefore very sour and the ilam kallu is sweeter. The Munthiri kallu is pink as it has grape juice and the Kanthari kallu is a spicy drink we make by mixing ground green chillies and crushed ginger to the toddy,” says Manesh Muth, who runs Rajapuram Kallu Shaap and family restaurant in Kavalam, Alappuzha.
With the toddy varieties also come the endless side-dish options.
The red fish curry or meen mulakittathu is a wildly popular side dish combined with toddy. Usually made with vatta or bluefin trevally, the curry is as spicy as it looks, thanks to the ton of red chillies added to it. This gravy is eaten with kappa or tapioca which is boiled with salt and turmeric. Kappa’s best partner, however, is the molaga chammanthi or ulli chammanthi, which is made by grinding and cooking onions and red chillies with coconut oil.
Boiled roots are a favourite in toddy shops and apart from Kappa, there is the chembu and kaachil or colocasia and elephant yam. These roots are steamed and eaten with a spicy Kanthari Chammanthi which is made with green chilli locally known as Kanthari molagu. The chammanthi is prepared by grinding the chilli and coconut gratings with a stone mortar and pestle. All of these boiled roots perfectly complement the red fish curry.
Toddy in an earthen pot
Duck breeding is a big business in the Kuttanad region in Alappuzha, where a significant chunk of the population practice agriculture and poultry farming. Not surprisingly, duck meat regularly features in many of the local dishes. The Duck cooked in mappas masala is one of the more popular items offered in toddy shops.
“We cook the duck in a spicy mix which has lots of pepper, cumin and coconut milk. The duck is boiled and cut into pieces and then slow cooked and the dry spice powders are then added,” explains Pushparajan.
A unique dish made in toddy shops, the pothu vara is thinly sliced buffalo meat which is cooked with the beef roast masala and then garnished with chopped coconuts and curry leaves. Unlike a traditional syrian beef roast, the poth vara has extremely thin slices or shavings of beef, changing the dish’s texture. Apart from beef, pork roast is also made in most shops with the meat being roasted along with the animal’s fat to make the semi-gravy dish thicker.
Fish head curry, Mussels, prawns and squid
The Meen Thala curry is another item which deserves a sub-head of its own. It is as popular as the red curry in the shaap. Made with tamarind, onions, garlic spices and coconut milk, the dish is typically made using the head of king fish or bluefin trevally. However, home cooks who post videos on YouTube have also tried preparing it with Mackerel or seer fish.
Fish head or Meen Thala curry
Apart from these, the shops also make a variety of prawn roast, squid and crab dishes. The preparation style may vary from one shop to the other but all of them are made spicy. “We usually only use fresh water crabs in Kerala as salt water crabs do not have the same taste. They are served with the shell,” Manesh adds.
A view of the backwaters from the Rajapuram Kallu Shaap in Kavalam
Kakka or clams found in the bottom of fresh water bodies are also served. “We need to clean the clams thoroughly as they have soil inside them. They are then boiled in water with salt and turmeric and then fried with coconut oil, pepper and a mixture of spices until dry,” Pushparajan says. Mussels too are prepared in the same way, but are hardly found in the Kuttanad region. “It is a very common item in Kozhikode as it is found in sea water. Mussels too are cooked in the same way as we prepare clams,” he adds.
Finally, there is the Kallu Appam - a type of Vellayappam or Appam which is a pancake or hopper made locally. The Kallappam or Toddy appam is a variation of the appam, made with toddy and milk. These appams are famously eaten with beef roast, fish curry or the duck.