When I tell people I am a Mallu (Malayali), and a vegan, people look at me with suspicious eyes. Yes, Kerala cuisine is popular for its variety of seafood and meat-based dishes being a land surrounded by the sea. Yes, Kerala is a state which leads in non-vegetarian food consumption in India. Yes, I am the only vegan in my entire family of 200 people. But trust me when I say this that Kerala cuisine is one of the most vegan-friendly cuisines as it naturally has a lot of variety of plant-based dishes.

This came to my notice only when I turned vegan in 2020 and started looking at food from the lens of nutrition and did a consultation with a vegan nutritionist at Sharan. After a detailed discussion and further reading up on it, I realized that the food that belonged to my beautiful coastal land had everything in it. I’ll explain.

Introduction to Kerala cuisine

Kerala is the land of coconuts and spices, and this is reflected in its cuisine. It also has a proud representation of the legacy of the foreign traders who were attracted to this abundant land and brought along with them their varied flavours. This mix of flavours has given it a distinct taste and has made it stand out in the culinary spread of India.

Coconut: The Versatile Vegan Superfood

A land with a long stretch of coconut trees, the coconut is put to utmost use here. Almost every dish has some version of the coconut-be it grated coconut, dried coconut, coconut milk and oil. This nutrient rich superfood is highly versatile and acts as a main ingredient in most of the naturally vegan-friendly Kerala recipes.

Look at some of the breakfast dishes. The coconut chutney which is made with grated coconut that one can relish with idli or dosha. The vegetable stew which is made with coconut milk that accompanies appam. Or the kadala (desi chickpeas) curry which is made with coconut paste which when nicely mixed with hot puttu is one of the satiating ways to start the day.

Vegetable-Rich Dishes

If you look at Kerala cuisine, it is prepared with simple ingredients. In fact, there are two distinct styles of cooking used for most vegetables and once you learn it, then you can turn any vegetable into a Mallu dish.

The first style is the thoran style. Thoran is basically made with masala which has just three ingredients- grated coconut, cumin seeds and garlic cloves. These three ingredients are smashed together in a mortar pestle and added to the finely chopped vegetable.

Say you want to make cabbage thoran. You add finely cut cabbage, onion and green chillies to a pan which has some heated coconut oil. Saute it along with some curry leaves and then add this three-ingredient masala, saute it. Sprinkle some salt, cover it and leave it to cook. That’s it. In a few minutes, your cabbage thoran will be ready and you can follow the same recipe for any vegetable like beetroot, carrot, banana flower, beans and you use this same recipe for any leafy vegetable too. Isn’t it simple?

The second style of cooking is mezhukupuratti or in simple language stir fry. You can again make this with any vegetable, and the main difference between the two styles is that this one doesn’t have grated coconut masala in it.

If you want to make french beans stir fry in Kerala style, then you cut them into long pieces along with onions and green chillies. Heat pan, add coconut oil, splutter mustard seeds. Add shallots, green chillies and saute it. Then add the cut beans, along with salt and turmeric powder, cover it and leave it to cook. Eat it with rice, dal and pickle.

The most common stir fry made at my home is with raw banana, lady’s finger, brinjal, yam and bitter gourd.

The beauty about both these prominent styles of cooking any vegetable is that you can put out a vegan-friendly Kerala based dish in just a few minutes. This is where simplicity meets authenticity meets deliciousness. And not to forget one can easily be a vegan on a budget this way.

Fermented food

Incorporating probiotics, which come from fermented foods, is considered vital for vegans for maintaining gut health, nutrient absorption in the body and for overall wellness.

Kerala cuisine has a rich culinary tradition of fermentation, which offers a variety of flavours while also beautifully aligning with the plant-based diet.

Be it the favourite of all – idli, dosha and appam where the batter is fermented overnight but also the lesser-known dishes like kallappam or vellayappam where the rice batter is fermented and made into a rice cake.

Another lesser-known dish, known for its probiotic value along with sustainability, is pazhankanji. This dish was made by my grandmother by adding water to the leftover rice in an earthen pot. It would ferment overnight, which would increase its nutritional value and would be eaten for breakfast the next morning along with coconut chutney and pickle.

As a kid, my grandmother would make me a spoon out of a jackfruit leaf, and we would scoop out and eat it with a lot of excitement. This was known as a poor man’s dish and has its different versions across the rice eating states in our country but in the last few years it has been gaining popularity and is finding a place in restaurant menus and is known as superfood too.

Curries of Kerala

The two most popular curries from Kerala that everyone is aware of are sambhar and rasam. But there are many options that have been part of authentic Kerala cuisine for many years. First let me tell you about my favouite one which is theeyal.

Theeyal is another prominent style of cooking where the fresh coconut is dry roasted along with spices. It is then ground into a paste to form an aromatic spicy curry which fills up all your senses. Theeyal has many varieties like ulli (shallots) theeyal, drumstick theeyal, mushroom theeyal, brinjal theeyal to name a few. The recipe is the same, just the main vegetable used changes and are proudly vegan Indian dishes.

Then we have our version of different dals, potato curry, tomato curry, jackfruit seeds curry, pumpkin curry, all made with either grated coconut pastes or coconut milk and a few spices.  These curries can be easily savoured with matta rice or whichever rice you like and are good options for vegan lunch recipes.

For those with a sweet tooth

One of my favourite vegan street food to have which is easily available in any corner shop in Kerala is pazhampori or banana fritters. Ripe banana is coated with all-purpose flour and deep fried. You can never eat just one, the soft sweetness of the banana along with crispy exterior is a feast inside your mouth. Have it on a rainy day and it will turn into a perfect rainy day, have it on any other day and it will still become a perfect day.

The other vegan snack that you can easily find is unniappam, a sweet round deep fried ball made with rice, banana, jaggery, and coconut pieces. This is the best accompaniment to katanchaaya or black tea.

Another favourite of mine is kozhukutta, which is a rice dumpling filled with coconut, jaggery and a hint of cardamom. It also has a flat version of ela ada made inside banana leaves. Both fall under my favourite vegan Indian sweets. Versions of this are found in other coastal states in our country and around the world as well. You can read more about it here.

Jackfruit-the official state fruit

Kerala declared jackfruit as the official state fruit in 2018. Found in the backyard of most families, this you-cant-miss-to-notice large fruit has a place in a long list of authentic vegan-friendly Kerala recipes long before the west called it the vegan meat.

This tropical fruit is consumed both in its raw form and ripe form. The raw form is made into idichakka (jackfruit) thoran, chakka puzhukku i.e. cooked and mashed jackfruit with coconut, curry leaves and spices, jackfruit seeds curry to name a few and all are naturally plant-based lunch dishes.

The ripe one is turned into Chakka ada that is steamed rice cakes filled with ripe jackfruit. Chakka payasam – which can be made without ghee and then it falls beautifully under vegan desserts for me. The semi ripe pieces of jackfruit is sliced and made into chips.

A fruit packed with nutrients has also seen a rise in experimental dishes and is finding a place in five-star hotel menus. And not to forget it is good for vegans too.

I think by now I have cleared up the myth that a Mallu cannot be a vegan. The cuisine from Kerala is abundant with naturally vegan-friendly food which are not only delicious to the tongue but also satisfying to the soul.

If the question still lingering in your mind is – how to be a vegan in India – then I would suggest that you talk to a nutritionist who can answer all your questions, help you transition into that lifestyle and give you a plant-based Indian diet plan as per your taste. Since we have an existing culture of vegetarian population and food habits, being vegan in India is not that difficult. There is a steady growth of veganism in India and hence a lot of information is easily available online.

But if the question is – how to be a vegan in Kerala while travelling – then try out all the dishes that I have mentioned and trust me your stomach will thank me. Happy eating and Happy travels!