Kerala cuisine centres coconut, rice, curry leaves and seafood, expressing three regional traditions — Malabar (north), Central Kerala (Kochi/Thrissur) and Travancore (south) — with iconic dishes like Sadhya, Kerala parotta, appam-stew, Malabar biryani and karimeen pollichathu.
Kerala's food geography follows its coast and hills. The Malabar coast (Kozhikode, Kannur, Malappuram) developed Arab-influenced cuisine — Malabar biryani (thalassery), pathiri, ghee rice and pazham nirachathu — traded with the Middle East since the 7th century. Central Kerala's toddy shops (kallu shappu) serve fish curry (meen mulakittathu), kappa (tapioca) and karimeen (pearlspot) grilled in banana leaf. Southern Travancore serves the vegetarian Sadhya, a 24–28 dish banana-leaf feast for Onam and weddings. Kerala grows about 92% of India's black pepper, 71% of cardamom and 87% of natural rubber (Spices Board of India). Popular breakfast staples are appam (rice-coconut hopper), puttu (steamed rice-cake), idiyappam (rice noodles) and Kerala parotta — the latter granted GI protection in 2010.
- Three regional cuisines: Malabar, Central, Travancore
- Coconut in nearly every savoury dish
- ~92% of India's black pepper
Key facts
- Onam Sadhya
- 24–28 vegetarian dishes on banana leaf
- Source: Kerala Tourism
- Black pepper share
- ~92% of India's output
- Source: Spices Board of India
- Cardamom share
- ~71%
- Source: Spices Board of India
- Malabar biryani GI
- Registered GI tag
- Source: GI Registry, Chennai