12th August to 13th August, 2016.

Our drive started from Kollam, Kerala on August 12th (our day ‘0’). Our first stop was Kozhikode (marked day 1!). However, driving is serious business, and food is a serious requirement. So, by noon, we reached Shibin‘s place at Ernakulam. After a couple of hours (and a couple of biriyanis) we were ready for Kozhikode. Saijal, a fellow traveler, was waiting for us there.

Kappad beach is the first place we visited in Kozhikode. After all, it is one of the country’s most important beaches. This is where Vasco Da Gama landed in 1498, opening the door to more European explorers, and much later, the East India Company.

Today, Kappad is a tranquil fishing town with the occasional tourist resort and hotel. Overtly, nothing but a memorial plaque highlights its historic significance. However, the arrival of the Portuguese did change this city, and these changes can be seen everywhere. One such example is the Mishkal Mosque.

Mishkal mosque is 650 years old. It stands majestically next to an age old water body, the Kuttichira. It was once seven stories high, serving as a watch tower as well. Five hundred years ago, the Portuguese attacked the mosque and burnt it down. It was later rebuilt and now stands at five stories. Mohammed Ali, who told us this story looks a few days younger.

He found us outside the mosque, wondering if it is OK to go in. He soon took us under his wing. After all, this was his home turf, and we were his guests. “We at Kozhikode take great pride in interacting with each other and coexisting peacefully, not like you people from the south” he said, referring to the fact that we were from the southernmost part of the state. I smiled, thinking he was not entirely wrong.

“This mosque is only 650 years old, there are two others nearby that are over 1000 years old.” he said. We followed him through winding lanes filled with mossy walls and age old buildings. He pointed to each house and told us its history. Every house was at least half a century old. They were filled with stories of old joint families with 50 and 60 members. Even today, most of these beautiful structures are home to joint families who take great pride in their ancestral home (Tharavadu).

The first mosque we saw, the Jama’ath mosque, is, according to Ali Ikka 1100 years old. The oldest, Muchumdi mosque, is over 1300 years of age. While smaller than the more well-known Mishkal mosque, these mosques are certainly more intricately decorated and personable. The Portuguese did not touch these mosques. Except for some renovation work, they are pretty much in the state they were, nearly a dozen centuries ago. Having been constructed by the traditional masons of the Samoothiri period, they look a lot more like temples than traditional mosques.

Another area with marked Portuguese influence is perhaps the city’s culinary scene. There is this heavenly dish called the “Chattipathiri”. This dish consists of layers of maida and eggs, soaked in coconut milk, with generous helpings of resins and cashew nuts in between. Eating it, it is difficult not to remember the Bebinka, the Goan equivalent.

Speaking of chattipathiri, we can easily spend a week here, eating the many famous dishes this place has to offer. Bombay Hotel, a local institution, is arguably the best place to start. This hotel alone had over a dozen dishes we hadn’t even heard of. Consider the ‘unnakaya’, deep fried mashed banana, filled with coconut and cashew nuts, or ‘mutta pola’, best described as an egg based cake infused with spices. Each of these dishes are heavenly, any one of them worth the trip. “This is a very small sample”, says Mr. Samad, an owner of Bombay Hotel. He inherited this hotel from his father, who started it in 1949. Mr. Samad went on to name another couple of dozen dishes that they have seasonally. We tried our best to wrap our heads around this amazing cornucopia of dishes, our hands and mouths gainfully employed all the while.

Do remember that I haven’t even mentioned the non-vegetarian dishes ranging from Kozhikodan biriyani to fried mollusks to a goat stuffed with chicken stuffed with eggs. Sadly, we have but one stomach each and one day. So we had to be content with the biriyani from Rahmath hotel and a few more snacks from Zains. We also had the chance to meet its legendry propereirtor, Zainatha.