AZHEEKAN’S HOMESTAY, KERALA - By: tijo

Soul Curry
‘Lenge’ is ready”, pipe bjorn and her toddler brother, Brain, as they call you down from theTour to Kerala breezy verandah in front of your room in their traditional wooden Kerala home-an invitation as warm and informal as the atmosphere at Azheekan’s Homestay(pronouncedKerala Holidays ‘adee’-said with your tongue stuck to your palate-and ‘ken’). Whether you come here for the gentle village life in the backwaters of Alleppey, or to enjoy Chethy Beach, one of the last deserted, beautiful beaches in India, your trip will inevitably come to be centred around the food served here.

What’s on the menu?
Creamy meen pollichathu(fish in coconut curry), crisply-fried fish, koonthal(squid pepper fry).katty parippu(yellow daal laced with ghee), duck roast, kerala beef, and whatever Kerala Holidayselse takes your fancy, really. Being a homestay, the Azheekans don’t have a large menu for youto peruse through every day. Instead, they invite you to tell them what you feel in the mood for and in turn will tell you what’s been the catch of the day in the local market. Unlike most other homestays these days, however, the family doesn/t refrigerate, so everything has to be made fresh that very day.

And, boy does it show. A meal here is so comforting that you’ll be convinced that you were Malayali in a past life. Kerala Holidays Perhaps it’s a combination of things- the fact that the ingredients have all come from within a 30 km radius, and of course, that it’s made and served by the sweet-faced, ever-smiling granny of the family, incongruously named ‘girly’.
Even though it’s Girly who makes most of the meals at the homesty, it was Babu Azheekan, the patriarch of the family,Tour to Kerala whose cooking skills have been featured on a local TV channel. His specialty is the duck roast, but Babu is also a storehouse of information on the curative powers of locally-found plants and vegetables.Diagnosed with diabetes, Babu scorns modern medicine, instead using plants from his
Garden to control his condition.

The food may well lull you into a delicious stupor, but it s worthrolling off your perch to walk the 15 odd minutes to ‘secret beach’ as it’s been christened by guests. Chethy beach, as it’s more commonly known, is a long, gently-curving stretch of white sand divided by a Kerala Holidaysrocky causeway. Stick to the right; the left seems to have been earmarked by the local fishermen for their morning ablutions.
Swimming here is a joy, but tread warily,Tour to Kerala as there aren’t any lifeguards around, and you’re quite likely to be the only one around in an emergency.

You could also call Aravind, the local rickshaw-driver, to take you around the local sights. There’s St Andreq’s Basilica at Arthunkalm,a large, granite church, tacked onto a 17th century stone-and –lime construction with a beautiful gilded altar within(arthunkal church.org).Kerala Holidays You can also visit some homes to see coir being made by hand; and ride, or at least meet Mohan, the local tusker(arranged through the homestay; Rs.3000 for two people). If you’re interested in tasting local toddy, ask Aravind (who may also invite you to visit his home and meet his wife) to takeTour to Kerala you to his grandmother’s shop, which, honestly, has the best toddy around (toddy shop no 5; Rs.60 litre)
By the end of a few days here you’ll start recognizing people on the street and get comfortable enough to ask for a repeat of your favorite dish, and as you hug the Azxheekan family goodbye, Tour to Keralayou’ll find yourself promising to return.

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