Kerala Spice with David Sellers

Kerala, a southernmost state in India situated along the Arabian Sea, is a virtual untapped region of subcontinental cuisine for the Western home cook. Ever eager to expand our culinary South Asian repertoire, always staring into that smoky, pink sunset of an Indian horizon, Cafe Drake is currently tapping into this fertile field of kitchen exotica.

A chief characteristic of the area is a tendency towards savoury stews thickened with turnip, radish and other root vegetables, generally served as thick gravies beladen with sweet, highly aromatic spices such as cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg. Inspired by such (again, Western mentality in full effect) autumnal flavor profiles, we created a luscious pork stew studded with halved turnips and sweet and tart apples. Said stew was ladled over cumin and bay leaf basmati rice pilaf and supported by braised kale, mango chutney and rich, whipped yogurt (raita).

Fellow Indian gastronomist - and buddy of many years, moods and lifestyle periods - David Sellers was our happy guinea pig. After the seasonally prerequisite Rye cocktails, Cafe Drake and David S tucked into our Kerali fare whilst sipping a dry yet fruity Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina (Sur De Los Andes 2004) supplied by David.