A snack at teatime is indispensable in Kerala, and there is a wide variety on offer in the State’s culinary tradition.
Nimi Sunilkumar, cookbook author and food blogger, has presented this repository of snacks to the world, and been rewarded with a Gourmand World Cookbook Award for 2015-16.
Her book 4 o’clock Temptations of Kerala has been chosen for the award in the ‘Best Indian Cuisine Cookbook’ section. The book emerged a winner, competing with entries on Indian cuisine from around the world. The award was presented in Yantai, China, recently.
A culinary teacher and dietician at Tata High Range School, Munnar, Nimi has won award for the second time. Her Lip-smacking Dishes of Kerala was selected third ‘Best Local Cuisine Book in the World’ in 2013.
“Many recipes have already vanished from our kitchen. My attempt is to preserve the traditional. I wanted to show that Indian recipes are not just about ‘dal’, ‘roti’ and ‘naan’. The recipes in 4 o’ clock Temptations are authentic collections from all over Kerala. They differ among regions, even households,” she said. The writer took the photographs that illustrate her recipes in the book.
The snacks include ‘unnakkayi’ (plantain rolls), ‘kumbilappam’ (steamed rice cones) to ‘kozhiyada’ (chicken pancakes) and ‘andiputtu’ (cashew and rice balls). The book, with 54 recipes, was exhibited at the Frankfurt World Book Fair in Germany in October 2015.
Ms. Sunilkumar started her food blog ‘Nimi’s Culinary Ventures’ in 2009. She began offering ‘Lip-smacking cooking classes,’ on traditional Kerala cooking, to tourists in 2012. She says students in the U.S., Australia, and the U.K., are now learning to get better at the art.
