top of page
Search

A Kanjirappally Achayan Style Easter Meal

By Bibin Antony


Tucked away in a rather picturesque hilly corner of Kottayam is a small taluk called Kanjirappally. With a majority of the younger generation abroad, this sleepy town truly comes to life during the Christian holidays when families come together to celebrate. Bibin Antony takes us through the activities that unfold during a typical Holy Week leading up to Easter.



Growing up, the month leading up to March would be one filled with sadness and joy all at once. Sadness because Lent would be starting soon and giving up meat and alcohol is to a Mallu Catholic family what being out of water is to a fish. 


Lent is a 50 days fast leading up to Easter Sunday. It is usually the time to give up anything you absolutely love.


Lent is hard. I usually give up meat, alcohol, sugar and other such addictive vices during this time. You may think it’s just 50 days but it feels like a lifetime. But it’s also the time I feel the closest and more connected to my faith. Tradition dictates that one visit a church everyday during this fast and while everyday may have now become close to impossible, I would make it a point to go ever so often. 


Moving to college in Bangalore made observing Lent really difficult. The access to any food and the fact that everyone around is perhaps eating it, is truly a test of your patience and willpower. 


But unlike the Easter traditions in Bangalore, the holy week leading up to Easter in Kerala starts on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. On Maundy Thursdays, the elders of the family come together to prepare a very special appam called the Pesaha Appam which is then consumed with paal, made of coconut milk and jaggery. Pesaha or Maundy Thursday marks the beginning of the period commemorating the passion, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Pesaha appam, an unleavened bread is carefully prepared in memory of Christ’s last supper. Rice is soaked and ground before being poured over a container lined with banana leaves before steaming. Prayers are said during the process of cooking and these appams are cut up and served ceremoniously by an elder of the family. Today some families have swapped out the tedious appam making process with store bought hot cross buns.  




Good Friday is referred to as Dukha Veliyacha in Malayalam which actually translates to Unhappy Friday. During this day, everyone in the Kottayam region eats a fixed meal of kanji (rice porridge), cherupayar (a whole green gram preparation) and pickle. This non indulgent, humble meal is the appropriate accompaniment to the mourning. 


Such mourning and simplicity is what finally makes way for a celebratory meal on Easter day. The joy of resurrection trickles into the heavy and indulgent meals that are prepared right from the crack of dawn. 



Breakfast is usually a hearty meal of appams and mutton or beef stew. There will also be bread to sop up any leftover stew, a divine pairing, if you ask me. The house is abuzz with friends and family alike and there is an infectious energy in the air. Come noon, the premium bottles of scotch and whiskey make an appearance. A couple of pegs do a great job as an appetizer to the heartiest meal in the 50 days leading up to it. 


Beef cutlets are an Easter lunch mainstay in any Mallu household. But tuck into not more than a few of these homemade delights because the meal that follows is a heavy plateful of karimeen (pearl spot) fish fry, beef fry, prawn fry, my mother’s special pork roast, very few vegetable curries to balance things out, some salads and rice. Desserts are not to be taken lightly on such days either, a tender coconut pudding or a caramel custard will definitely show up on the dining table alongside some payasam. And of course, a solid nap will follow. 





While I have made it a point to make sure I find my way back to Kanjirapally each year around Easter, there have been a few unfortunate years I had to spend the holiday in Bangalore and one in Canada. And while nothing compares to being home, I can make do with a biryani or a ghee rice and beef fry from Shaap in Indiranagar while in Bangalore. Canada didn’t offer such luxuries so a biryani, beef fry and some pudding would be prepared promptly but with much difficulty and consumed right off the pot. This meal barely ever cuts it because it lacks joyful company, the blissful feeling of being at home and most importantly my mother’s kaipunyam (a blessed hand that has the innate gift of cooking a delicious meal) but desperate times call for desperate measures. 




And this Easter, Bibin is going to be flying home to eat that lovely decadent meal with his family and we can’t help but desire an invite and a plane ticket to go with it. 


 Solly Aunty’s Pork Roast with Shallots


Pork - 1kg, washed and cut into cubes

Shallots or pearl onions - ½ kg, peeled and left whole

Ginger - 1 inch, crushed

Garlic - 6-10 cloves, crushed

Red chilli powder - 2 teaspoons (add more or less as per taste)

Pepper powder - 1 teaspoon (add more or less as per taste)

Garam masala - ¼ teaspoon

Oil

Salt as per taste


In a heavy bottomed cast iron kadai, add oil and roast shallots, ginger and garlic until brown. Now add chilli powder, pepper powder, garam masala and salt. Roast this masala until fragrant. Now add the pork and cook on low flame until done. You can add water depending on the consistency you desire. 


About the author: Bibin is a data scientist by profession and a serial surfer and an avid foodie by choice. His love for the food from his part of Kerala is what makes conversations with him absolutely drool-worthy. And while he might claim he is a poet in the making, we are going to bet against that as a viable career option for him. 



317 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


© 2023 by Karatales. Powered and secured by Wix

bottom of page