Kallu shops or Toddy Bars

 May 18 2010 | Category : Food | | (8) Comments Tweet

Any tourist who visits Kerala is likely to be attracted by the ubiquitous boards before the thatched huts along the roads proclaiming kallu meaning toddy or palm wine.

While visiting Alappuzha, make it a point to visit the famous kallu shops ( toddy bars). Kallu or palm wine, made from the sap of the coconut tree flower before it blooms, has been a traditional drink of Kerala.

Kallushop: Photo by Smevin Paul

Kallu does not intoxicate when it is had  fresh off the palm. There are three kinds of kallu – the madhurakallu, andhikallu and muttankallu. Madhurakkallu is sweet toddy, tapped early in the morning, that does not give any intoxication except leaving a pleasant glow. Andhikallu ( andhi means evening) or toddy tapped in the evening gives a slight high. Muttankallu is toddy tapped the day before. Toddy ferments when it is kept unused and gives a higher level of intoxication.

Palm Tree: Photo by srinivasa krishna

Kallu: Photo by Kudithipudi

The toddy shops are not visited merely for toddy but also for the delicacies served there. The toddy bars of Kerala are famous for the native food items that have a flavor, typical of countryside. Erachi Olathiyathu or sautéed beef, Mathykkarry or sardine dish, Chemmeen(prawn) roast, fried crab, duck roast, frog legs and tortoise roast are some of the delicacies served in kallu shops.

Apart from the food and drinks served, the kallu shops are venues for the gathering of village folk to revel in shared bonhomie and local gossips as they drink in the bounty of nature.

Kallushop foods: Photos by Smevin Paul

Note: See that you drink only unadulterated kallu. If you are visiting a Kallu shop to have a taste of pure toddy, ask for madhurakkallu or andhikkallu. If it gives a quick high, it will be adulterated. A drug called diazepam which the locals call aana mayakki meaning ‘that sedates elephants’ gives this quick high.