More Grey Than Black

As we get deeper into Moplah food, we discover another grand dish prepared for weddings—the mutta mala (egg garland), made from pure egg yolk and cooked in sugar syrup, without a trace of oil. "Making this noodle-like dish requires considerable expertise as the only device used is a smooth coconut shell ladle with a hole in the middle," says Ummi Abdulla, a food writer for Malayalam magazines. In traditional wedding feasts, the groom's party was first served mutta mala, followed by 'aleesa', another sweet dish, and, finally, richly cooked meat or chicken biryani.

What else spices up Thalassery? For a start, there are the three Cs—cricket, circus and condiments. Thalassery is the unacknowledged cradle of Indian cricket. The game was introduced here by British army officer, Sir Arthur Wellesley, who came here in the 1790s. England skipper Colin Cowdrey's father laid a decent pitch here in the early 20th century. In 2002, Sri Lanka and India played a one-dayer to celebrate 200 years of cricket in Thalassery.

For many decades, Thalassery also provided the nation's acrobatic talent. Keelery Kunhikannan, said to be the father of the Indian circus, was a local man. With hopes of getting an international medal, the Sports Authority of India also set up a gymnastic training centre here. Besides, the place also has some claim to literary fame—Chandu Menon who wrote the first Malayalam novel, Indulekha, hailed from here. German missionary Hermann Gundert, who compiled the first Malayalam-English dictionary in 1872, had made Thalassery his home.

No pepper, sadly, but there is still plenty of spice in Thalassery!