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| Prawn kizhi, chicken peralan, mutton coconut fry, kozhuva fry |
My Malayali friends always tell me that KCK isn’t as good as the food in their homes or their favourite local joints and toddy shops. I think that’s missing the point and not understanding the brilliance of this remarkable restaurant.
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Appam with mutton stew
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For most non Malayalis, our exposure to the food of Kerala is limited to Malabar Parotas and Thalassery biryani, and sometimes a Karimeen fry or a “Kerala beef fry”. Even that level of awareness is limited to very few people. People who have been to Kerala, people who live in a place like Bangalore where there is a Malayali community or very serious foodies. Even for those of us to have been to Kerala, it’s usually resorts or houseboats or Paragon or The Grand Hotel in Kochi. I consider myself as someone who knows his food reasonably well and really likes different Kerala cuisines but I had never had a beetroot pachidi until 2 years ago, or a pineapple nendram for that matter.
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| Fried soft shell crab |
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| The entrees arrive… |
Going to Kappa Chakka Kandhari allows people like us to discover the diversity of Kerala cuisine. I know that a restaurant menu can offer only a glimpse of that diversity, something that has evolved as a result of centuries of spice traders and Arab dhows, the syncretic intermingling of the major religions from East and West, of a land that is blessed with rivers and oceans, with rain and green and with an abundance of all that man desires.
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| Karimeen in banana leaf |
That being said, that glimpse that KCK offers allows the diner to experience more of Kerala’s diverse food in one meal than they would have their entire lives before stepping into Kappa Chakka Kandhari. And while I know that every dish will probably have versions that may be better elsewhere, there is no other place where you can have a Ramassery idli made by cooks from Ramassery and also try a toddy shop favourite like Kozhuva fry, the tiny anchovy like fish that practically scream for a bottle of cold beer.
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| Prawn putthu biryani |
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| The extraordinary cloud pudding |
Just to be clear, my point isn’t that the only reason why KCK is fantastic is the breadth of its menu. Every dish is cooked well, the flavours are robust and deeply satisfying, there is skill and research and depth that goes into making food this good. And when it comes to the famous cloud pudding, I don’t think there are too many better desserts in all of India. It’s a marvel of technique and subtlety, and the way it almost bursts into liquid in the mouth is reminiscent of the El Bulli and Gaggan Anand spheres while staying far away from the trappings of molecular gastronomy in presentation or in the feeling it evokes.
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| Pidi Kozhi curry |
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| Toddy shop style grilled jumbo prawn |
I am not a Malayali and I do not speak from the perspective of one. I am no one to judge authenticity or fidelity. I can only speak as someone who loves food and seeks to discover and learn about our world and the people who live in it though the food, drink and travel I experience. Kappa Chakka Kandhari broadens my perspective on Kerala, its communities and their food, it enriches my understanding and it gives me joy.
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Cloud pudding and chilli ice cream
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Karimeen fry
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| The menu I ordered |
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