Crisp hot pathiris with creamy mutton kuruma; thick orattis and chicken thoran; soft plump idlis with spicy neimeen pollichathu and tomato chutney… These are some of Raj Kalesh’s favourites.
Noon is absolutely the wrong time to talk about food with a foodie like Raj Kalesh. By the time he takes a pause, you are yearning to bite into some food. The best option is to read his book Ruchivattam, which lists 25 of his favourite combo meals; flavours that he discovered during his travels during Kerala as anchor of a popular television show on food.
“I have also picked up some combinations from my friends,” says Raj. But why did he opt for combinations? “I believe that a particular dish tastes better when you have it with something that complements its taste. For me, the secret of taste lies in combination,” he says. And combine he did, coming up with a book that lists winsome combos and their recipes.
Instead of a bland compilation of recipes from all across Kerala, Raj tweaks ingredients and cooking methods to garnish some popular eats. So in Kasaragod, velichanna pathiri – a regional version of puri, made of rice flour, maida and shallots – is often eaten with mutton curry. But Raj insists that it tastes even better with mutton or vegetarian kuruma made with rich coconut milk.
“In Palakkad, Anandavalli teacher’s house is a treasure trove of tastes. She makes crunchy kondattams and I have a mouth watering combination of some of the dishes she makes at home – boiled matta rice, jackfruit erissery, mulaku varutha puli and bitter gourd kondattam. Then there is Sathyan’s Sreemuruga Café in Poonithura, near Tripunithura, where beef and pazhampori is served together. Once, he gave me steaming hot puttu and boiled banana. Since beef curry was also there, I tried it with puttu and banana and it was awesome,” says Raj.
That is not all. His version of chicken thoran (instead of red chilli powder, he uses pepper, green chillies and shallots) is savoured with piping hot rice, rasam and pappadam while wheat oratti and meat thoran “becomes more tasty when you chew the oratti and thoran properly.”
Most of the choices in the book have a story behind it and he has included those as titbits to chew on while you read the book. One such nugget is about ila ada with coconut filling and roasted mutton liver that he “stole from Uthaman, an autorickshaw driver in the capital city” while another is a lip-smacking description of coconut rice from Malappuram and tuna fry from Thiruvananthapuram that blend well with ginger chutney!
There are some interesting finds for vegetarians as well. According to Raj, chapathi, palak dal, curd and pickle is not to be missed. He credits the combo to his wife, Divya. Gruel, jack fruit seed-mango curry (“a masterpiece of my father Divakaran’s) and chutney; and rice, mango kalan, garlic pickle and pappadam are some of the combinations that veggies can try.
“Each region has its own specific flavours and once you embark on a food trail, there is no end to it,” he says.
The book, published by DC Books, will be released at the DC International Book Fair on October 11 at 5.30 p.m.
Short takes
* A trained magician, Raj Kalesh was supposed to do a magic show on television when he was offered the cookery show. He became a household name with his cookery-cum-travelogue show Taste of Kerala on Amrita TV. After hosting the show for five years, he globe-trotted in Food Path (Asianet), showcasing cuisines from across the world. At present Raj is a full-time magician. He was a contestant of Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega on Sony TV. He hosts the outdoor shoots of the show Ugram Ujwalam on Mazhavil Manorama and is on an all-India tour to identify talents who make a living by performing on the street for the show.
* He is acting in Anil Radhakrishnan Menon’s Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi as Innappan, an ironsmith who lives in forest. He had done small roles in the movies Ustad Hotel and Saptamasree Thaskaraha .
