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Kerala recipes

The dishes the world is talking about

Lonely Planet just named Kerala's food culture one of its 25 Best Experiences in the World for 2026 — the only entry from India. These are the five dishes driving the conversation, written for home cooks in South Florida: US measurements, honest shortcuts, and notes on where to find every ingredient locally.

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Layered Kerala parottas on a banana leaf beside dark roasted beef fry with coconut slices and curry leaves Mains

105 min total · Serves 4 · Hot

Kerala Parotta & Beef Fry

Flaky, layered parottas with peppery, coconut-roasted beef — the combo that converts everyone.

Kerala Intermediate
A bowl-shaped appam with lacy crisp edges beside a bowl of creamy chicken stew with potatoes and carrots Breakfast

65 min total · Serves 4 · Mild

Appam & Chicken Stew

Lacy, bowl-shaped appams with a gentle coconut-milk chicken ishtu — Kerala's beloved breakfast.

Kerala Intermediate
A steamed puttu cylinder layered with grated coconut next to a bowl of black chickpea kadala curry Breakfast

60 min total · Serves 4 · Medium

Puttu & Kadala Curry

Steamed rice-flour cylinders layered with coconut, plus black chickpeas in roasted-coconut masala.

Kerala Easy
Malabar chicken biryani in a wide handi topped with crisp fried onions, cashews, raisins and mint Mains

105 min total · Serves 6 · Medium-Hot

Malabar Chicken Biryani

Short-grain kaima rice layered over spiced chicken masala, sealed and dum-cooked, crowned with birista.

Kerala (Malabar) Advanced
Mashed kappa yuca with a tempering of curry leaves beside a clay pot of red Kerala fish curry Mains

60 min total · Serves 4 · Hot

Kappa & Meen Curry

Buttered-soft yuca mashed with coconut, under a fiery kudampuli fish curry — coastal Kerala on a plate.

Kerala Easy

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