Get into high spirits on Kerala’s local brew - Toddy!
Any tourist travelling along the highways and byways of Kerala is likely to notice a distinctive black-and-white board with a single Malayalam word written on it. And that word is ‘Kallu’, which means toddy, a traditional, local alcoholic drink. Toddy is extracted from the inflorescence of the coconut tree using an indigenous technique developed by toddy tappers. Extraction is done by cutting the inflorescence in its bud and then covering it with an earthen pitcher so that the oozing liquid gets collected in the pitcher. The yield per tree varies from 1 to 5 litres per day. The alcohol content in toddy ranges from 4 to 6% v/v.
Toddy has a special place in celebrations and ceremonies such as marriages, burials and settlings. It is also believed to be good for health, particularly for eyesight, and also serves as a sedative and a mild laxative. In many households of Kerala, toddy is used in leavening as a substitute for yeast to make a local form of rice pancake called the Vellayappam.
Toddy is usually served in 600ml beer bottles, but you can also see it served in 1 litre earthen vessels. There are three kinds of toddy. Sweet toddy tapped early in the morning is not intoxicating and only leaves you pleasantly elated. A bottle of toddy tapped in the evening can leave you mildly inebriated. A bottle of toddy tapped the day before can make you tipsy. The best toddy is slightly sweet, with a faint note of ferment. It is best consumed immediately after collecting from the tree, since it becomes more sour and acidic as the hours pass.
The ‘chethukaran’ or toddy tapper gently taps the selected bud from bottom to top so that the sap flows smoothly to the pitcher. It is normally done in the evening, and by the next morning the pot will be full of white frothy toddy. When it is collected as sap from the tree, the toddy is entirely non-alcoholic. It gets fermented when it picks up tiny residues of yeast from the air. It is fermentation that adds ‘kick’ to the brew. Traditionally, toddy tapping is a task performed by the lower Ezhava community of Kerala.
The toddy bars in the state are auctioned every year, generating substantial revenue for the government. Most toddy bars look like run down shacks, but you also find posh and well appointed toddy parlours in places. More than the drink itself, what draws people to the toddy shops is the spicy ethnic food served there which has the typical taste of countryside cuisine. In fact lots of people come to these outlets purely for the food, having just a glass of toddy to wash it down.
Call Kerala Travel Centre on Freephone 0808 178 9799 to book you on a Kerala Holiday, and we’ll make sure you get to taste the finest of Kerala’s traditional drink.
