Rice is the staple food of the people in thrissur. The Nair , Ezhavas
and such other castes are not generally vegetarians, though some individual
members may avoid non-vegetarians. There is no great difference in
the dietary habits of the Christians and Muslims . The routine dietary
in a family consists of breakfast , lunch, tiffin and supper. Kanji
or Rice gruel with some vegetable curry and pickles formed the main
breakfast until very recently in almost all families, but it has now
been replaced by tea, coffee or other beverages taken along with dishes
like Dosai , Iddali, Poori,Chappathi and Uppuma.
The lunch is always substantial ,the most important items of the
menu being cooked rice of Choru, special curries and butter milk.Parboiled
rice is used here instead of Kaccha or raw is that in all culinary
preparations coconut oil is freely used instead of gingli or mustard
oil used in other parts of India . The tiffin in the afternoon consists
of a cup of tea or coffee and some sweet or delicacy. The supper which
is taken after sunset consists either of Kanji or similar items as
for lunch.When there was acute scarcity of rice in the wake of the
Second World war, Wheat was used as a substitute for rice. Preparations
of wheat such as Poori , Chappathi and Uppuma are becoming popular
. Owing to the poor cattle wealth of the District, milk is used only
by richer sections of the community. Pickles of mango , cherunaranga
(lime fruit ), nellikka (the fruit of phyllanthus emblica), etc .,
are popular. The condiments generally used are turmeric, pepper,
ginger, cardamom , cloves , spices , chilli , mustard , onion, garlic
etc. Hydrogenated oils like Vanaspathi are seldom used .
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