Pic no 5: In Kerala it is almost a sin to cook food in anything but coconut oil. Traditionally, the oil to be used for household cooking at home was extracted from coconuts grown at home and is considered to be symbol of purity. Most of the modern shop keepers started substituting coconut oil with other oils perceived to be inferior, such as mustard or gingelly. Hence the need for a promise. Some shops go one step further. Coconut oil chips- Certified by none other than God!!

Pic no 6: ‘Puttu kutti’ -The instrument used to make puttu, one of the favourite breakfasts in Kerala. The puttu mix is fed into the hollow cylinder that is mounted on a pot filled with boiling water and cooked by rising steam. Before the invention of metal people used hollow bamboo stalks to cook the dish. The entire instrument can be purchased as a set from utensil stores. ‘Puttu kuttis’ used at homes generally have only a single stalk, however in busy restaurants such as this one you will be able to spot ‘kuttis’ with upto 4 stalks.

Pic no 7: Say the word ‘grape’ and we automatically associate it with wine and alcohol. A stray wineglass will somehow creep into the picture as is the case here. The concept of ball grapes was brought to Kerala from emigrants to UAE –a thicker pulpier sweeter version of the regular grape juice .The regular grape juice is all but extinct.

Pic no 8: True to the name MAHA chips is one of the biggest ‘banana chips showroom’ in Kerala. Here you’ll find banana chips, sharkkara upperi (chunks of raw banana coated in jaggery) and jackfruit chips. Apart from the classic varieties, here you get about seven varieties of chips flavoured with chilli powder, chaat powder, pepper or masalas, finger chips (as thin strips of banana), chips coated in onion paste.

Pic no 9: A board seen outside a bakery in Kerala. People generally harbor feelings of distrust towards outside food. People find it hard to trust what they do not see. “Do they use fresh ingredients, how clean is the kitchen, is the food adulterated”-these are some of the questions that plague the minds of anyone who ever sets foot in a bakery or restaurant in Kerala. Several incidents have come to light where pesticides or other foreign agents were discovered in food, and this is not at all reassuring to the consumer. Hence the need for such ‘authentic certifications’.

Pic no 10: ‘Arabian Paradise’ sounds like something from an Arabian fable. The name is stylized after the Arabic script and the logo resembles Alladin’s mystic lamp. For the Keralite there is always an element of mystery and magic surrounding the Arabic countries. Even after so many years, the UAE, or ‘the gulf’ as it is referred to in Kerala, remains the most popular destination for Keralites to move to. For those who did not have the means or opportunity to visit the gulf, restaurants such as these provide the nearest experience.

Pic no 11: The ubiquitous green chilli. Comes in range of shapes and sizes and is a powerful flavouring agent. It is said that the flavour and tone of a dish can be changed by carefully regulating the quantity of chilly that goes in. There is a scientific side to it too. While cooking food that is alkaline in nature , the acid in the green chilly will help neutralize the alkalis making food easier for digestion.

Pic no 12: Mango Festival underway at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Mango is not just a fruit .It is nostalgia- it evokes memories of summer and home. But to a younger generation summer means days

at home, watching cartoons. A very discernable generation gap exists. And how do we transcend that? By taking images of summer from both generations and placing them next to each other, of course. Here we see the popular cartoon characters dancing under a fruit laden mango tree from the 90s summer.

Pic no 13: Although the popularity of pizza has grown tremendously over the past few years, a sizeable section of the population has resisted the influence. The idea of pizza is still to foreign to them. They will never venture far beyond familiar territory. They will never be bold enough go to a dominoes store an order a large cheese burst pizza. However it is possible to bring the pizza to them. The elite Pizza Rusk is new, yet treads the realm of familiar. Some of the more adventurous ones might just pick it up when they see it in a store. A fleeting fad or a breakthrough invention? Only time will tell.

Pic no 14: A spice trader in Calicut lays out his merchandise on the table. Each silver bowl contains a different fragrance, a different color. However they seem to be vaguely familiar. Laid out in a similar fashion to the Thali, I feel I can almost call this arrangement a meta-thali, with each bowl reminding me of at least half a dozen dishes that include the spice. No matter how hard you try you will not be able to identify all of them. The very ingredients that lend a dish its character remain anonymous.