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Lakshadweep

Lakshadweep, India’s smallest union territory, is a cluster of coral atolls in the Arabian Sea, with Kavaratti as its serene capital amid turquoise lagoons. Known for fishing, coconut groves, and pristine beaches, its economy hinges on tourism and coir, though access is tightly controlled to protect its ecology. Its Malayalam-speaking Muslims live simply, surrounded by reefs. Lakshadweep’s isolation breeds tranquil beauty.

Lakshadweep

Featured Dishes from Lakshadweep

Akki roti

Akki roti

Akki rotti or akki roti is an Indian flatbread made from rice flour. It is a part of Karnataka cuisine. Akki roti has at least two versions. The most common version is similar to the Maharashtrian flatbread thalipeeth. In this version, rice flour is mixed with onions or grated carrots and green chillies. The resulting dough is flattened on a tava or banana leaf and roasted on a stovetop. The cooked akki roti is served with unsalted butter, chutney, or pickle. In contrast with thalipeeth, akki roti has a chewy texture.

Appam

Appam

An appam or hoppers is a type of thin pancake originating from South India and Sri Lanka. It is made with fermented rice batter and coconut milk, traditionally cooked in an appachatti, a deep pan similar in shape to a wok. It is part of Tamil cuisine and Kerala cuisine found in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and in Sri Lanka. Appam is most frequently served for breakfast or dinner, often with a topping such as an egg. Appam may derive from the Sanskrit word (अपूप apupa), which refers to a type of "fried dainty."

Dosa

Dosa

Dosa may refer to:

Idli

Idli

Idli or idly or iddali or iddena is a type of savoury rice cake, originating from South India, popular as a breakfast food in Southern India and in Sri Lanka. The cakes are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented de-husked black lentils and rice. The fermentation process breaks down the starches so that they are more readily metabolised by the body. Idli has several variations, including rava idli, which is made from semolina. Regional variants include sanna of Konkan.

Puri

Puri

Puri, also poori, is a type of deep-fried bread, made from unleavened whole-wheat flour, originated from the Indian subcontinent. Puris are most commonly served as breakfast or snacks. It is also served at special or ceremonial functions as part of ceremonial rituals along with other vegetarian food offered in Hindu prayer as prasadam. When hosting guests it is common in some households to serve puri in place of roti, as a small gesture of formality. Puri is often eaten in place of roti on special holidays.

Kadalakka

Kadalakka

A sweet cake made with split chickpeas, nuts and raisins

Coconut milk

Coconut milk

Coconut milk is an opaque, milky-white liquid extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of coconut milk are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ingredient used in Southeast Asia, Oceania, South Asia, and East Africa. It is also used for cooking in the Caribbean, Central America, northern parts of South America and West Africa, where coconuts were introduced during the colonial era. Coconut milk is differentiated into subtypes based on fat content. They can be generalized into coconut cream with the highest amount of fat; coconut milk (or thin coconut milk) with a maximum of around 20% fat; and coconut skim milk with negligible amounts of fat. This terminology is not always followed in commercial coconut milk sold in Western countries.

Coconut water

Coconut water

Coconut water is the clear liquid inside young coconuts (fruits of the coconut palm). In early development, it serves as a suspension for the endosperm of the coconut during the nuclear phase of development. As development continues, the endosperm matures into its cellular phase and deposits into the rind of the coconut pulp. The liquid inside young coconuts is sometimes preferred to the liquid of a ripened coconut. Coconut water from young green coconuts is also known specifically as buko juice in Philippine English. Fresh coconuts are typically harvested from the tree while they are green. A hole may be bored into the coconut to provide access to the "meat" (liquid and pulp). In young coconuts, the liquid and air may be under some pressure and may spray slightly when the inner husk is first penetrated. Coconuts that have fallen to the ground are susceptible to rot and damage from insects or other animals.

Appam

Appam

An appam or hoppers is a type of thin pancake originating from South India and Sri Lanka. It is made with fermented rice batter and coconut milk, traditionally cooked in an appachatti, a deep pan similar in shape to a wok. It is part of Tamil cuisine and Kerala cuisine found in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and in Sri Lanka. Appam is most frequently served for breakfast or dinner, often with a topping such as an egg. Appam may derive from the Sanskrit word (अपूप apupa), which refers to a type of "fried dainty."

Bean curry

Bean curry

Indian bean curry, often made with kidney beans (rajma), is a flavorful dish cooked with spices, tomatoes, and onions. It is typically served with rice or roti for a comforting meal.

Butter garlic crab

Butter garlic crab

Indian butter garlic crab is a rich seafood dish made by cooking crabs in a flavorful mixture of butter, garlic, and spices. It is typically served with rice or naan and is known for its creamy texture and indulgent taste.

Coconut curry

Coconut curry

Curry with coconut and meat, chicken, fish, seafood, goat, vegetables, plantains

Crab

Crab

Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura , which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the thorax.[a] They live in all the world's oceans, in freshwater, and on land. They are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton. They generally have five pairs of legs, and they have pincer claws on the ends of the frontmost pair. They first appeared during the Jurassic period, around 200 million years ago. Crabs are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton, composed primarily of highly mineralized chitin. Behind their pair of chelae (claws) are six walking legs and then two swimming legs. The crab breathes through gills on its underside; gills must be at least moist to work.

Fish

Fish

Many species of fish are caught by humans and consumed as food in virtually all regions around the world. Fish has been an important dietary source of protein and other nutrients. The English language does not have a special culinary name for food prepared from fish like with other animals , or as in other languages (such as Spanish pez vs. pescado). In culinary and fishery contexts, fish may include so-called shellfish such as molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms; more expansively, seafood covers both fish and other marine life used as food. Since 1961, the average annual increase in global apparent food fish consumption (3.2 percent) has outpaced population growth (1.6 percent) and exceeded consumption of meat from all terrestrial animals, combined (2.8 percent) and individually (bovine, ovine, porcine, etc.), except poultry (4.9 percent). In per capita terms, food fish consumption has grown from 9.0 kg (19.8 lb) in 1961 to 20.2 kg (45 lb) in 2015, at an average rate of about 1.5 percent per year. The expansion in consumption has been driven not only by increased production, but also by a combination of many other factors, including reduced wastage, better utilization, improved distribution channels and growing consumer demand, linked with population growth, rising disposable incomes and urbanization.

Lobster

Lobster

Lobsters are malacostracans of the family Nephropidae or its synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, including the first pair, which are usually much larger than the others. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important and are often one of the most profitable commodities in the coastal areas they populate. Commercially important species include two species of Homarus from the northern Atlantic Ocean and scampi —the Northern Hemisphere genus Nephrops and the Southern Hemisphere genus Metanephrops.[citation needed]

Meen ada

Meen ada

Savory fish pie

Mus kavab

Mus kavab

Octopus

Octopus

People of several cultures eat octopus. The arms and sometimes other body parts are prepared in various ways, often varying by species and/or geography. Octopuses are sometimes eaten or prepared alive, a practice that is controversial due to scientific evidence that octopuses experience pain. Octopus is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine, including sushi, sashimi, karaage, stew, sour salad, takoyaki and akashiyaki.

Octopus fry

Octopus fry

Indian octopus fry typically involves marinating baby octopus with spices like garlic, green chilies, and various masalas, then frying it until crispy.

Sambar

Sambar

Sambar is a lentil-based vegetable stew, cooked with pigeon pea and tamarind broth. It originates in South Indian cuisine and is popular in other parts of India. The recorded history of Sambar is vague. According to food historian K. T. Achaya, the earliest extant reference to sambar, as "huli", can be dated to the 17th century in present-day Karnataka. Kanthirava Narasaraja Vijaya, a 1648 text by the Kannada scholar Govinda Vaidya, mentions huli saaru (literally "sourness"), a curry similar to the modern sambhar, made with vegetables and toor dal.

Seafood

Seafood

Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs , crustaceans (e.g. shrimp, crabs, and lobster), and echinoderms (e.g. sea cucumbers and sea urchins). Historically, marine mammals such as cetaceans (whales and dolphins) as well as seals have been eaten as food, though that happens to a lesser extent in modern times. Edible sea plants such as some seaweeds and microalgae are widely eaten as sea vegetables around the world, especially in Asia. Seafood is an important source of (animal) protein in many diets around the world, especially in coastal areas. Semi-vegetarians who consume seafood as the only source of meat are said to adhere to pescetarianism.

Squid

Squid

A squid is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting these criteria). Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, and a mantle. They are mainly soft-bodied, like octopuses, but have a small internal skeleton in the form of a rod-like gladius or pen, made of chitin. Squid diverged from other cephalopods during the Jurassic and occupy a similar role to teleost fish as open water predators of similar size and behaviour. They play an important role in the open water food web. The two long tentacles are used to grab prey and the eight arms to hold and control it. The beak then cuts the food into suitable size chunks for swallowing. Squid are rapid swimmers, moving by jet propulsion, and largely locate their prey by sight. They are among the most intelligent of invertebrates, with groups of Humboldt squid having been observed hunting cooperatively. They are preyed on by sharks, other fish, sea birds, seals and cetaceans, particularly sperm whales.

Tuna

Tuna

A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: 50 cm or 1.6 ft, weight: 1.8 kg or 4 lb) up to the Atlantic bluefin tuna (max length: 4.6 m or 15 ft, weight: 684 kg or 1,508 lb[citation needed]), which averages 2 m (6.6 ft) and is believed to live up to 50 years. Tuna, opah, and mackerel sharks are the only species of fish that can maintain a body temperature higher than that of the surrounding water. An active and agile predator, the tuna has a sleek, streamlined body, and is among the fastest-swimming pelagic fish – the yellowfin tuna, for example, is capable of speeds of up to 75 km/h (47 mph). Greatly inflated speeds can be found in early scientific reports and are still widely reported in the popular literature.

Akki roti

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Akki roti

Akki rotti or akki roti is an Indian flatbread made from rice flour. It is a part of Karnataka cuisine. Akki roti has at least two versions. The most common version is similar to the Maharashtrian flatbread thalipeeth. In this version, rice flour is mixed with onions or grated carrots and green chillies. The resulting dough is flattened on a tava or banana leaf and roasted on a stovetop. The cooked akki roti is served with unsalted butter, chutney, or pickle. In contrast with thalipeeth, akki roti has a chewy texture.

Appam

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Appam

An appam or hoppers is a type of thin pancake originating from South India and Sri Lanka. It is made with fermented rice batter and coconut milk, traditionally cooked in an appachatti, a deep pan similar in shape to a wok. It is part of Tamil cuisine and Kerala cuisine found in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and in Sri Lanka. Appam is most frequently served for breakfast or dinner, often with a topping such as an egg. Appam may derive from the Sanskrit word (अपूप apupa), which refers to a type of "fried dainty."

Bonda

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Bonda

Bonda may refer to:

Coconut

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Coconut

The coconut tree is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus Cocos. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which botanically is a drupe, not a nut. They are ubiquitous in coastal tropical regions and are a cultural icon of the tropics. The coconut tree provides food, fuel, cosmetics, folk medicine and building materials, among many other uses. The inner flesh of the mature seed, as well as the coconut milk extracted from it, forms a regular part of the diets of many people in the tropics and subtropics. Coconuts are distinct from other fruits because their endosperm contains a large quantity of an almost clear liquid, called "coconut water" or "coconut juice". Mature, ripe coconuts can be used as edible seeds, or processed for oil and plant milk from the flesh, charcoal from the hard shell, and coir from the fibrous husk. Dried coconut flesh is called copra, and the oil and milk derived from it are commonly used in cooking – frying in particular – as well as in soaps and cosmetics. Sweet coconut sap can be made into drinks or fermented into palm wine or coconut vinegar. The hard shells, fibrous husks and long pinnate leaves can be used as material to make a variety of products for furnishing and decoration.

Coconut rice

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Coconut rice

Coconut rice is a dish prepared by cooking white rice in coconut milk or coconut flakes. As both the coconut and the rice-plant are commonly found in the tropics all around the world, coconut rice too, is found in many cultures throughout the world. It spans across the equator from Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, South America, Central America, West Africa, East Africa, the Caribbean and Oceania. Rice cooked in coconut milk is common in Indonesian cuisine, with each region having developed their own version of it. Plain coconut rice is usually made from white rice, coconut milk, ginger, fenugreek seed, lemongrass and pandan leaves, with the most common coconut rice recipe in Indonesia being nasi uduk from Jakarta. Other coconut milk rice recipes include nasi gurih from Aceh and Javanese nasi liwet. Nasi kuning is Indonesian yellow rice which is similar to coconut rice with addition of turmeric as a coloring and flavoring agent. Other types of coconut rice recipes take the form of dumplings, such as burasa from Makassar and lemang popular in Minangkabau.

Dosa

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Dosa

Dosa may refer to:

Idli

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Idli

Idli or idly or iddali or iddena is a type of savoury rice cake, originating from South India, popular as a breakfast food in Southern India and in Sri Lanka. The cakes are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented de-husked black lentils and rice. The fermentation process breaks down the starches so that they are more readily metabolised by the body. Idli has several variations, including rava idli, which is made from semolina. Regional variants include sanna of Konkan.

Parotta

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Parotta

Parotta or porotta ,(Tamil: பரோட்டா) is a layered South Asian flatbread made from refined flour, eggs and oil. It is commonly seen in South India, especially in the states of Kerala (as Malabar Porotta; Malayalam: മലബാർ പൊറോട്ട), and Tamil Nadu, as well as in Jaffna in Sri Lanka (as Ceylon Parotta) Variants of the bread spread by Indian Muslim traders and by indentured labourers from the British Raj are popular in South Asian, South East Asian and Caribbean countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Mauritius, Maldives, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago under the names roti canai, roti prata, roti thitchu, farata, oil roti or buss up shut. Porottas are often available as street food and in restaurants, and are also served at weddings, religious festivals and feasts. In the South Indian state of Kerala it is commonly served in roadside foodstalls called thattukadas and in local toddy shops called kallushaaps. It is prepared by kneading maida, eggs, oil or ghee and water. The dough is rolled or tossed and stretched into thin layers and then spiralled into a tight dough ball. The ball is rolled flat again and pan-fried, and then beaten to release the flakey layers It is often served with a meat curry, such as chicken, goat, beef, or lamb.

Puri

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Puri

Puri, also poori, is a type of deep-fried bread, made from unleavened whole-wheat flour, originated from the Indian subcontinent. Puris are most commonly served as breakfast or snacks. It is also served at special or ceremonial functions as part of ceremonial rituals along with other vegetarian food offered in Hindu prayer as prasadam. When hosting guests it is common in some households to serve puri in place of roti, as a small gesture of formality. Puri is often eaten in place of roti on special holidays.

Rice

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Rice

Rice is a cereal grain and in its domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa —or, much less commonly, Oryza glaberrima (African rice). Asian rice was domesticated in China some 13,500 to 8,200 years ago; African rice was domesticated in Africa about 3,000 years ago. Rice has become commonplace in many cultures worldwide; in 2021, 787 million tons were produced, placing it fourth after sugarcane, maize, and wheat. Only some 8% of rice is traded internationally. China, India, and Indonesia are the largest consumers of rice. A substantial amount of the rice produced in developing nations is lost after harvest through factors such as poor transport and storage. Rice yields can be reduced by pests including insects, rodents, and birds, as well as by weeds, and by diseases such as rice blast. Traditional rice polycultures such as rice-duck farming, and modern integrated pest management seek to control damage from pests in a sustainable way. Many varieties of rice have been bred to improve crop quality and productivity. Biotechnology has created Green Revolution rice able to produce high yields when supplied with nitrogen fertiliser and managed intensively. Other products are rice able to express human proteins for medicinal use; flood-tolerant or deepwater rice; and drought-tolerant and salt-tolerant varieties. Rice is used as a model organism in biology.

Seaweed

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Seaweed

Edible seaweed, or sea vegetables, are seaweeds that can be eaten and used for culinary purposes. They typically contain high amounts of fiber. They may belong to one of several groups of multicellular algae: the red algae, green algae, and brown algae. Seaweeds are also harvested or cultivated for the extraction of polysaccharides such as alginate, agar and carrageenan, gelatinous substances collectively known as hydrocolloids or phycocolloids. Hydrocolloids have attained commercial significance, especially in food production as food additives. The food industry exploits the gelling, water-retention, emulsifying and other physical properties of these hydrocolloids. Most edible seaweeds are marine algae whereas most freshwater algae are toxic. Some marine algae contain acids that irritate the digestion canal, while others can have a laxative and electrolyte-balancing effect. Most marine macroalgae are nontoxic in normal quantities, but members of the genus Lyngbya are potentially lethal. Typically, poisoning is caused by eating fish which have fed on Lyngbya or on other fish which have done so; this is called ciguatera poisoning. Handling Lyngbya majuscula can also cause seaweed dermatitis. Some species of Desmarestia are highly acidic, with vacuoles of sulfuric acid that can cause severe gastrointestinal disorders. Seaweeds are used extensively as food in coastal cuisines around the world, particularly in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Edible seaweeds are especially prominent in the cuisines of China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and Hawaii. Seaweeds are also traditionally consumed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, as well as in the islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. The Māori people of New Zealand traditionally used a few species of red and green seaweed, Several species are also eaten by Indigenous Australians.