Malabar Mappila food expert and cookbook author Ummi Abdulla is planning her menu for the afternoon as we speak over the phone. At her home in Kozhikode, Ummi is expecting guests for lunch and she goes for simple traditional fare. “Plain rice and kallummakayi [mussels] pulincurry with a side of mathi [sardines] prepared with dried gooseberry and pepper it is!” she says.
The pulincurry, Ummi explains, is a staple on the eve of weddings in Thikkodi, a small village near Koyilandi in Kozhikode, where she hails from. “I am not sure if the practice of serving this curry still remains; it most probably does not, but I wanted to revive the memory of its taste.”
