Tribute to the Kerala Kitchen

Kappa Chakka Kandhari is a restaurant like no other. Chef Regi Mathew, the presiding genius, speaks to Kaveri Ponnapa about how the award-winning restaurant, specialising in the homecooking of Kerala, came into being

- Kaveri Ponnapa

The warm aromas of spices and coconut entice your senses the moment you walk into Kappa Chakka Kandhari. The tables are packed with multigenerational families, engrossed in the platters of food set out on their tables which might include star dishes such as kallummekka (roast mussels, with shallots and spices from North Malabar), the superb prawn kizhi (steamed banana leaf pouches with coconut and kodampuli), a spicy, aromatic, kappa fish curry (fish curry and boiled, mashed tapioca) and the unfamiliar, flavour-intense pazham nanachathu, made from sundried bananas.The open kitchen, from where the aromas waft towards you has several ammachis, home-cooks, the women who inspired this unique restaurant and worked on a selection of specialized dishes that feature on the menu. Many dishes are hyperlocal, rarely found outside individual homes or a specific region.

Named after the three essentials of a Kerala kitchen - tapioca, jackfruit and bird's eye chillies - the award-winning Kappa Chakka Kandhari was cofounded by Chef Regi Mathew as a tribute to the home-cooking of Kerala. A chemistry graduate who chose the world of hotel management, Mathew found his metier in the kitchen, and joined the Taj Group as a trainee at Paradise Island, Taj West End in 1993. After decades of working with Thai cuisine, Mathew decided to turn his attention to the traditional cuisine of his home state, Kerala. Regi Mathew was named the number one Chef in Food Superstars 2023 by Culinary Culture, co-founded by food critic Vir Sanghvi

Kappa Chakka Khandhari is not a typical Indian restaurant. In fact, it does not fit any category easily. What were the ideas that went into its creation?

My philosophy was simple. I wanted to recreate the slow-cooked home food of Kerala, the food cooked by women every day, with great thought and care.