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Hot
Crisps and the Calicut Crunchhh...
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In the city of spices, Pooja Bhula
discovers the secret behind Kerala's irresistably crunchy ‘hot chips’
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For most of us, Calicut would bring
to mind Vasco da Gama's successful voyage to the Malabar Coast in search of
spices, which then held great mystique in the West. All kinds of tales were
spun around it. But when I touched its shores last April, the humidity—which
is worse than Mumbai's—put all my romanticism of history to rest. I didn't
even visit Kappad Beach, where the mighty sailor had anchored his sails and
set the ball rolling for what resutled in the East India Company. Instead,
post the wedding I had gone for, I headed straight to Wayanad to cool down.
But, not before parcelling some of Calicut's (or Kerala's for that matter)
local delicacy to take back in as many packets as I could, without feeling
too guilty.
No, not the spices, which Calicut is
still known for, but banana and tapioca chips. Why bother, you may
think—Mumbai has so many hot-chips shops. But often, if not always, regional
delicacies still taste best where they come from. And Sastha Chips and Halwai
in Puthiyapalam has built quite a reputation for itself among locals in the
20 years since its inception, despite older shops around.
If not for the red signage on their
thatch-roofed, family-run shop in the lane leading to Tali Mandir, you'd
probably miss it as customers often cover the entrance, hiding from passersby
what's cooking inside.
Watching the traditional process in
itself is a delight. With the big, long, special unripe plantain—nethrakai,
Sastha makes five types of chips: sweet, salted, masala, pepper and
jaggery-dipped. For the sweet ones, bananas have to be slightly ripe. They themselves
extract oil from the coconut for frying and use the dry shells to fuel the
flames that flare up like a bonfire below the huge kadhai that's 'fit into'
the platform. The best part? Sampling them before buying. Batches after
batches of golden banana chips are fried as we wait for our packets to be
filled and sealed. A Mani, one of the four owners, says, "You have to
let the oil sizzle before you start frying." But to ensure the chips
taste great and are perfectly crispy, "slices should be cut even and
fine (in case of tapioca, all must be the same size) and more importantly,
washed very well to remove gummy excretions of both."
The initial plan was to just pick a
few packets of the simple salted banana and tapioca chips. But after a bite
we hoarded packets for the further journey, some for home, more for friends
and even more for colleagues! No wonder during season time (October - May),
business starts as early as 8.30 am. Nom
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Pooja Bhula
DNA29MAY16
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