Indian Food You've Never Seen Before! Coconut Fish Curry Marathon at Fort Kochi, Kerala South India

Oh, look at that coconut milk! Healthy, right? Yes, healthy! Yes! Rice is nice, yeah, but butter rice is nicer. What's up everyone, I'm Chris. We got Steph behind the camera and today we are exploring the historic area of Fort Kochi in the south of India. Here on this peninsula there's lots to see and do and of course eat so we're going to be tasting delicious street food along with some iconic Kerala seafood. This is going to be fun so let's get eating. It is a blistering hot morning here in Kochi so the best way to start a day is with some fresh avocado juice. Hello, namaskaram. Is this avocado? Shake? Oh wow, Of course so many avocados here. So the shake starts with fresh avocado, sugar. Oh, and he's banging and crushing that frozen milk, adding it into that smoothie there. Oh, look at that milkiness. Oh, look at these avocado shakes, filled to the brim. We had to get two, one for each of us because it is a hot day here in Kochi. Oh, cheers Steph. Cheers. Look at that, all right. Mm, oh wow. That is just pure avocado. Look at that, so thick. It's got that avocado flavor, almost like a bitterness to it, but with that sugar that he puts in and all that frozen milk just makes it so thick and creamy. Oh man, it is so hot this morning, but this is so refreshing, really cools you down. And again, just avocado, sugar, and milk. Doesn't get healthier than that, minus the sugar, but look at that, so thick, so good and he's got like so many avocados going on here. Look over here, he's just putting them out right now too. Oh, so many avocados. Ruchi caught them, Ruchi caught them, so delicious. Delicious. Perfect way to start our day here on the island, the peninsula of Fort Kochi. Fort Kochi, located on a small peninsula just a short ferry ride from Kochi itself, is one of the most visited places in the city. It has a rich colonial history, with old houses and historic churches built by the Portuguese, Dutch and British lining the streets. Wander through the small roads out to the coast and you'll get beachfront views, as well as a glimpse of the iconic pre-colonial Chinese fishing nets. Introduced by Chinese traders in the 14th century, this traditional method of fishing uses large nets with a mechanical system that is still in use today. With a rich history and influences ranging from architecture and culture to cuisine and society, Fort Kochi is a must visit when you're in Kerala. We made it along to the beach walkway here and you can see it is so nice right on the beach, the water. There's a lot of people selling different things, like little knickknacks and stuff like that, as well as what looks like some fresh fruit here. Hello! Pineapple. Mango? Mango, green mango. Green mango? Yeah. And masala? Chilli powder. Chilli powder? Ah, okay. How much? 20 rupees. 20 rupees? Can we get one? One. One? Oh, fresh green mango. Oh, look at that. Perfect, thank you so much Nani, Nani. So you can see a lot of these guys here are selling fresh fruit, they've got pineapple as well as green mango here with chili powder on top. Very Indian thing, I feel like taking your fresh fruit and putting something spicy on it so let's just go for one of these here just covered in that chili powder. That is a lot. of flavor wow so that green mango is unripe and it is so sour actually but with the chili powder on top adds a little spiciness which kind of cuts the sourness in a way but it's honestly decently refreshing even with the chili powder on top because that mango is just so sour it's a little drier than a ripe mango like a bit more on the sort of like raw potato texture kind of side but the sourness of it there is so nice rooty catum Ruchikaram, very nice. Nice. I have to say these are definitely not your typical sweet ripe yellow mangoes, but honestly with the sourness I'd say they're still decently refreshing on a hot day like today. And the perfect little snack to walk along the beach here. Nani, thank you. Okay, up next we are here at Fusion Bay for our first seafood of the day. We're going to be trying a special Kerala fish stew. Oh man, how beautiful this restaurant is. Garlic, turmeric and vinegar marinating the mahi-mahi. Yeah, change it. Change it. Just going in different ways. Thank you. Prying that mahi-mahi up on that tawa first. Oil. Coconut oil. Some ginger. Ginger. Yeah. Fresh pepper corn. Yeah. And this is some onion gravy. Ah. Onion gravy. Yeah. Turmeric powder. Turmeric powder. They give it that yellow. Yellow color. Because of that. And some coconut milk as well. Oh, look at that coconut milk. Yeah. Salt powder. Salt. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Look at the color of that stew. In goes the mahi-mahi fish. Curry leaves. Slices of boiled potato. Coconut milk. Fresh coconut milk. Yeah. Ghee. Oh wow, ghee. Yeah. And some ghee to give it that buttery flavor. Finishing touch with some tomato. I'm starting to speak now. I've seen you there, I've seen you. Me too. Thank you. What's up? What's up? Thank you. We have our special Kerala combo of appam with fish moly. Now this is a mahi-mahi fish that we got here, and it is massive. It's like a huge fish steak here. So big. It smells incredible. So much coconut was used to cook this. Coconut oil, coconut water, coconut milk goes into the stew sauce here. I feel like it couldn't be any more coconutty, which is all of what Kerala food is about. I mean, this fresh seafood and the fresh coconut And that fish was double cooked, first marinated and cooked on that tava, and then finished off with that stew. Now this is what makes this special, is this appam that you have with it, and you can see here It's almost like a pancake that but it's made with a fermented rice batter. Yeah, look at all those holes It's like a bowl. You can see you can see how bubbly it is. It's really quite bubbly I think from the fermentation like the batter is just you can see how light and fluffy it is It smells fermented too and it's like a bowl. It's like a pancake bowl here actually. Yeah Oh so soft though. Okay. Okay. I am so looking forward to digging into this I'm just I want a piece of this mahi-mahi first. Wow Look at that, it was so soft there, just rips right apart. Okay, you know what? Yeah. That's a good idea. Let's get a fish bite because, oh, it's boneless, a nice big piece of steak here. Yes. Okay, first seafood bite of the day. Mmm. Thank you. Mmm. Wow. Wow, that is actually amazing. The flavors on that, so, so good. I was going to say the fish just melts away. It is so soft. It has a nice vinegary flavor, a sour vinegary flavor because they added vinegar into it. But the flavor of the coconut and the spices, like the curry leaves, just really make it so aromatic. And the fish itself is actually quite mild. Like it's not an overpoweringly fishy flavor or anything like that. It is so soft and tender though, that meat. Okay, we need to get a bite of our appam. And oh wow, look how soft and almost spongy the appam is here. It is actually super soft and the edges of it are nice and just a little bit crispy too. Okay, let's get a nice piece, ultimate bite here. Yeah, with the fish and the appam. Oh, that is soaking up that appam so well there. Oh wow. Okay, all right, here we go. Here we go. Oh man, that you can just taste that curry more almost because it just soaks up that appam on there. Wow. But the flavor, I just can't get over the coconut. It adds a nice sweetness to it as well and I think because you have the layers of coconut from the coconut oil to the milk to the water. Yeah it's coconutty goodness. I love coconut, I really really do. I mean we both do and this is like... Coconut, coconut-y fish on a whole other level. And I love just the yellow color from the turmeric that's used on the fish marinade, but also in the stew too, so this makes it so nice and yellow. And you know what's actually quite nice is it's quite low on the spices like it was only really turmeric garlic ginger I believe in there too. So it's quite aromatic, but it's not overly spicy or too heavy on the spices So it's really light and you can just really taste the flavors of the fish and the coconut. Yeah Yeah, which is such a signature. Oh, man. It's so so soft I really love the appam with it because it has a bit of a sourness to it from the fermentation and it just goes so well with the stew. But I feel like something like this is just like the epitome of Kerala food. You've got your fresh seafood, like a ton of coconut, creamy delicious, just insanely good. It's really good. That fish. I love mahi-mahi because it's so meaty. Super meaty fish actually, yeah you're right. And it's just lean meat too. There's a little bit of the fishy fat oils that you can see glistening in the meat, but just so much meat on this mahi-mahi. And I almost forgot, we got tomato, we got some potato in there as well, some boiled potatoes there. So I'm gonna make myself ultimate bite here. I think there's some cucumber here too. Ultimate appam and fish bite just falls right apart. Okay, this is the best way to start our seafood adventure, hey? All right, here we go. Ultimate bite. Burger? It's an appam sandwich. So good. I love this bit. Our next little stop here is for a very local Kerala drink that's actually more of a dessert than anything but looks refreshing. We've got loads of fruit at this place here so I'm excited. Hello, namaskaram. Oh, poha? Banana. Banana and milk. Banana and milk. Oh look at that! Oh vanilla ice cream. Peanuts? Yes. Wow, chocolate powder? Yeah, pistachio, chocolate, Ha ha ha ha. popos, papaya. Oh, papaya. Oh, wow. Nani, thank you so much. Wow, this is jam-packed. All right we've got our Avil milk here and honestly this is more of an energy packed smoothie than a drink. We have got the Avil or poha which is like a flattened puff rice that he filled it practically with. Then we've got banana shake, we've got a scoop of ice cream on top. He drizzled it with pistachio sauce, chocolate sauce, sprinkled it with some sort of like chocolatey Horlicks kind of thing. We've got peanuts as well as dried papaya on the top so this thing is just Packed with fruits, veggies, a little bit of sweet with your ice cream, but that banana shake as well. So, okay. Gonna get a little mix from the bottom here. Try and get some of that avil. Here we go. There we go. So you can see we've got some nice ice cream there and those little puffed rice. Oh, that is tasty. The avil honestly tastes exactly like Little Rice Krispies. It's actually quite satisfying having a little bit of that crunchiness to it, but the banana shake is so rich and flavorful. And that ice cream on top adds a nice sweetness to it as well. That makes it a bit more indulgent than just like a banana shake. With the chocolate on top, crunchy peanut, nice nuttiness. Mmm. It's actually super tasty, there's a lot of flavors, a lot of textures going on, sweet but you've got the nuttiness from the nuts and again the heartiness from the avil there. You can see, oh look at that, just packed with all those little flattened puffed rice there. There. This is definitely energy-packed. Honestly with the banana, the nuts and the fruit and everything, it kind of reminds me of a protein shake. This is definitely something I could see being good First thing in the morning. Especially that ice cream. Right? Ice cream for breakfast? I mean, come on. Or, like, any time of day. Either way, I am happy. This is delicious. And those little puff pohas actually are still staying crispy, which is so nice. They're not really going soggy or anything like that. So they're still nice and crispy to chew. Ruchi kharam. Ruchi kharam. It's very tasty. It's tasty. This guy makes a really good aval milk. Definitely, definitely a must stop here. And that dried papaya on top, a nice little flavor explosion. Our next stop is to try some more delicious local Kerala seafood. This one that we're going to be trying is a mango fish curry. Oh wow, this place is really nice. Coconut milk, fresh raw mango goes into this mango curry too. You can see the pieces of the sear fish in there. Leaves and fresh mango to garnish. We have got our Kerala style curry here. Now this is a Fish mango curry, and it looks and smells so good. So orange colored. So orange. So the colors of it are coming from the base of the sauce, which is made of tomato paste, turmeric, and coconut milk. Looks so creamy. I was gonna say, so I think it's gonna be super creamy. We've got chunks of tomato in there, as well as the raw green mango that he put in while cooking it, and some raw green mango garnished on top. So I think it's gonna be tangy. And of course, the fish, which is seer fish. Or Spanish mackerel, which makes this fish curry the fish curry. Yeah, we've got huge chunks of that in there too. And to go along with it, this time for this curry we have our parota. Look at that flaky, flaky bread. Looks so nice and fluffy actually. I always love with the parota like that when they just smash it up. They fluff it up actually, they fluff it up. That's so soft, oily smelling and oh okay. Let's get just, you know what, I'm just going to break some in and just dip it in. Just go for a dip this time? Go for it. Okay, let's just try. Again, just look how oily, nice and light and thin the parotta is. Okay, I want to just try this sauce here. Dip it up. Oh, wow, look at that. It just soaks up that mango coconut curry. Very, very thick. Oh, that is so good. It smells like coconut milk, like pure coconut milk. Okay, have a try. Interesting. Okay it tastes more like almost like a pasta sauce than the curry because of the use of the tomato. I was going to say I think with the tomatoes the tomato paste that coconut milk makes it creamy. It's very very tomato-y. It is actually but it has a nice sour tanginess to it from those raw mangoes. It's actually really nice and there's a bit of heat to it from the spices. Like I think there's a bit of red chili in there, but it's not overly spicy at all. It's just creamy. Oh, that's super tasty. And this fish again just breaks apart this fresh sear fish, the Spanish mackerel. Oh, that's tasty. Boneless honestly, just so soft again. This mackerel has a pretty decently strong fishy flavor and taste to it because that's mackerel Yeah, that's like a mackerel taste, but it's really good I'd have to say and it has a bit more of a flaky consistency compared to the other one, which was a bit more oily Yeah, this one's a little drier and flakier I would say. Yeah, I'm gonna get an ultimate bite here with the mango, the fresh raw mango With our parotta too. I want to get a bite like that as well Ultimate, ultimate bite here Oh that fresh mango kicks up that sour so much. Such a nice sour flavor and crunch in the raw green mango. That was a big bite. Yeah that was a slurp, that's nice. Oh you're right actually the raw mango is super nice with it. I think the star is definitely just the flavor of that curry base, that tomato curry. Yeah, it's actually really nice. It's a different kind of flavor for coconut milk curry, yeah. Unique for our Indian curry, too. Actually, yeah, you're right. Very, very unique. Like, completely different flavors than we've had before. The mixture and balance of it all, though, because you got the fishy taste of the mackerel, you have the sourness of the mangoes, and just the sweet tomato of the sauce, the curry. Just it melds together perfectly. It's a beautiful harmony of flavor. Yeah honestly I think I could just sit here and just dip the parotta and slurp up this curry sauce all day long because actually just with the parotta itself it's so so tasty. And actually the curry sauce is not spicy at all. Mm. Mm-mm. It's surprisingly not spicy. It's very mild. So flavorful. Flavorful? Mmm hmm. This is delicious. I can't get enough. Ah. I know, right? It's like, it just sops it up. I know. Mmm, I really love not only the creaminess of this but the tanginess of that raw mango I have to say I am honestly kind of just loving the flavors here in Kerala and in the south of India just the creaminess and flavors of it. Just the coconut milk and the coconut juice too. And the lightness and the spices Just so good. Look at that ultimate fish mango parotta bite again to finish off this Fish mango curry. The seafood. So good. Mmm. That fish is so fresh. Mmm. Mmm-hmm. But that coconut everything steals my heart every time. I just want to drink this all day long. That was good. One thing that we've seen in abundance here in India and we actually haven't had a chance to try yet is a fresh coconut, so there's no better time than now on this hot day here in Kochi. Hello. Namaskaram. Fresh coconut. Oh, wow. Look at these, there's so many here. Can we get one? One coconut? Fresh coconut. Nani, thank you. Look at that knife. Now that's a knife. Nani, thank you so much. Look at that. Look at this, yeah, just one. Thank you, Nani. This coconut is huge, look at that. The coconut is massive. So big. He cut it like it's a little coconut man. Eyes, little mouth here. Let's give this coconut water a try. Oh, this is packed, you can't see in there because the hole's a little too small, but oh man, there is a ton of coconut water in there. Mmm. Oh man, doesn't get fresher than this either. That is good, and this area is just so nice. You see families going for walks, walking along the beach here. There's tons of people right here, right here. Sure, yeah, yeah, photo, sure. Nice to meet you all. Which country? Canada. Canada. Nice to meet you, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Thank you. India, Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu? Ah, we've been, we visited. Very nice. Nice. Nice to meet you all. Bye-bye. Nani, thank you. Nice to meet you. Oh, it's so good. Fresh. Very healthy. Very healthy, very good on a hot day today. Oh, for hot season, this is very healthy and very good. The best, yes. What? Healthy, right? Yes, healthy! Yes! Richie got them! Bye bye! Bye bye! Bye! Oh man, the locals are so friendly here. And again, just so many families, children just coming here, having a coconut, having a drink. Oh, what a good time. And again, you need to have a fresh coconut on such a hot day. This straw is like kind of crushed on me, so. Mm, ooh, and just look there. It looks like there's a ton of coconut meat in here, so I think we're gonna finish up the coconut water and get him to cut it open so we can eat that meat. Nani, thank you so much. Master coconut maker here, or cutter, I should say. Look at that, all that meat on the inside there. There's actually a lot of husk, you can see there too. Let's give this a try here. Oh wow, look at that, pure white coconut meat. The coconut water is what you buy the fresh coconut for, but the coconut meat is definitely the added bonus. So fresh, so healthy. Oh man, the thickness on this coconut meat is unreal. And again, just so much coconut here in Kerala. The coconuts here in this state are just so delicious and all the curries, the chutneys, all the different dishes. Can't get enough of the coconut here in Kochi in Kerala. So much meat. All right, we're back along the water now to finish up our day. And it is so packed and busy now along this walkway, along the beach here. So many people just going around in the water too. Oh, this is crazy. We are off to another restaurant to try Kerala's number one most iconic fish and dish. And dish. This is gonna be good. I think it's just up here. We are here at Maple's restaurant right on the beach here. The water is right behind us and this is such a cool location. We came here to try Karimeen Pollichathu, which is a pearl spot fish that is native to Kerala. Unfortunately, they didn't catch any today. So we have two other fish here and we got to choose. So I think we're going to go with the special Kerala tilapia and we're going to get it prepared. in the Pollichathu way, the special Kerala way in a banana leaf, so this is really special. And look at these fresh fish here, so cool. He's really good. Lemon. Ah, lemon. Lemon. Garlic paste. Ginger and garlic paste. Ginger and garlic paste. Cumin powder. Cumin powder. Yes. Turmeric powder. Turmeric. Turmeric. Fish masala. Fish masala. Yes. Garam masala powder. Garam masala. Coriander. Coriander. Chili powder. Chili powder. Some more lime, and a little bit of salt. Himalayan water. Himalayan water. Coconut water. Coconut water being added to that mixture. And now just marinating the fish with all of those spices. Look at that. Look at that marinated fish. Cooking that fish on the tawa. What are you answering? Can I have a look? Putting on an onion-tomato mixture onto that banana leaf. Curry leaf. Fresh curry leaf. Wrapping that fish in the banana leaf there. Tying it closed. Five minutes. Five minutes. Yeah. The time has come, our final fish of the day. This is our tilapia puluttu chatu, which is that delicious, fresh tilapia cooked up in a banana leaf there. And just look at that. You can smell just like the char and just the grill. I love how it's wrapped up like a present for us. Wrapped up like a present, so, so cool. Just marinated in all of those different spices, garam masala, fish masala, turmeric, cumin, garlic, ginger. So many spices with that tomato, onion, almost like a sauce chutney on the top and on the bottom of it too. So great. Of course, we couldn't get it plain, so what did we have Steph? Got some nice butter rice and you can just see, look at it there, just glistening, covered in butter. I gotta say, rice is nice. You can smell the butter off that too. Yeah. Rice is nice, yeah, but butter rice is nicer. So much better. Okay, let's unwrap our little present here. Here. Ooh. Look at the grill marks on that banana leaf. Look at this. Oh my gosh, that is a hot, hot fish there. Look at that, oh my gosh, look at all those spices, the oils from everything as well as the fish all over the banana leaf there, oh my gosh this looks incredible. Oh man, you can smell that onion and tomato mixture there with the curry leaves on top. And it's so thick, like you can't even see the fish anymore, like they put so much of it on there. It's hiding underneath all that though, so let's start with some rice. Yeah, I'm gonna start, get a little bit of rice here. Looks really nice. I can smell the butter off that too. Looks like there's a little bit of green, like some cilantro or something in there too. All right. Okay. Want me some rice too? Yes. Yes. Look at that, it looks super buttery, nice and fluffy basmati rice. Oh look at that. All right, there you go. Is that good? That's good, that's good. All right, let's start with that. Oh, this rice. Okay, looks so good. Let's get into this fish here. Yeah, I love that And they like deboned it and filleted it and it is so piping, piping hot here. Look at that, so white on the inside there, but just marinated to perfection. Oh wow, this looks incredible. Watch the bones because I think there are still a few bones in there. But okay, I'm gonna get a nice bite with my rice. Yeah okay, just go like on its own first. Okay, here we go. Oh, interesting. Wow, the fish itself is very nice and juicy and tender and very meaty too. It's very meaty, but I'm going to say there's just so many flavors of like spice because you have that onion and tomato grilled up mixture on top, but like the fish itself has so many different spiced flavors. Yeah, it's actually very like deep in terms of flavor. I would have to agree with you, like it's spiced. It's a bit spicy, like a little kick, a little fire to it, but the spices that they've used are very, very nice. It really complements the taste of the flesh of the fish. And you can just see, look at that, just how white. And fatty that fish is. And we get a whole fish. The whole tilapia fish is ours. With that rice too. Rice is ultra buttery. Yeah, I'm just going to town on this rice on its own now because... Yeah, but it's nice because it just soaks up all of that delicious onion tomato mixture and all the spiced flavor. Do you like the flavor? Mmm. That's good super super tasty wow and such a nice fresh fish too like I mean we are literally sitting on the beach right here yeah it's such a great location sunset behind us yeah tons of locals friends families coming out to enjoy the weather walk around and to eat and I mean there's nothing like fresh seafood like this. When you can hear the ocean laughing behind you, I mean there's no better thing. That is the best and today has been such a great day trying all the different types of fish and all the different carbs that we've had between the appam and the parotta and now the rice, they all really go well. With the fish? With the seafood? Yeah. With the fish yeah but just soak up again the spices of like all the fishes and the curries that we've had today. That is delicious. I have to say I think finishing off our day with the most iconic dish here in Kerala was a great way to finish. I mean the fish wrapped in the banana leaf like this with all the spices and everything like that. Such a signature Kochi Kerala dish. Yes and I'd have to say All the dishes we had today, all the fish was so tasty and the use of the coconut milk and just all the local spices and local ingredients honestly has made the food just so so tasty. I've really really enjoyed it. It's been a fish filled day. It really has been. And all the fish has just been so meaty, like there's so much meat. It really has been. Very fresh, like you can tell that this fish is fresh this day. Caught today in those Chinese nets that we saw earlier. I hope so, because those are pretty cool. What a day. Here at Fort Kochi on the peninsula. I'm glad we came here. It was really cool, very historic, beautiful buildings and delicious food. And the people have been so amazing and friendly here as well. Friendly locals. Amazing. It's been great. It's been great. On the beach here too. No better way to end the day than on the beach. Eating on the beach. You're so right. I feel like we've been slowly making our way here all day. So this is the perfect way to finish it. Absolutely been a perfect day here in Kochi. Mm, mm-hmm. That's a wrap for this video guys thank you all so much for watching. If you enjoyed this video please give it a like and hit that thumbs up button and make sure you subscribe to our channel below if you haven't already to join us on all of our food adventures. We're hungry to travel and we'll see you next meal. See you next meal guys. Mint lime juice so good.