Kochi Tourism and Travel Guide
History: Before the arrival of the Portuguese, the history of Kochi is somewhat obscure. Kochi rose as an independent kingdom from the ruins of theKochi Kulasekhara Empire. The advent of the Portuguese in Kochi proved to be the turning point in its history. The Kochi Rajas readily welcomed the Portuguese, seeing in them a valuable ally against the common enemy, the Zamorin of Calicut.
The Jews received royal patronage during the reign of Kesava Rama Varma (1565-1601). These Jews had fled from Kodangalur, which was their original settlement. They participated in trade and commerce as go-betweens for foreigners seeking trading rights.
By 17th century, the Dutch had managed to capture the Kochi port. The subsequent Kochi rulers turned out to be incompetent, till Saktan Tampuran or Rama Varma ascended the throne in 1790. He proved to be an able administrator, and Kochi flourished under him. However, in 1795, Kochi passed into the hands of the British who ruled the territory till India gained independence.
How To Reach?
Air: Cochin is connected by excellent air network to all major cities in India. Cochin also has an international
terminal.
Rail: Cochin is also well connected with all the major places in Kerala and India by Rail network. Cochin has three main railway stations, namely, Ernakulam Junction, Ernakulam Town and Harbor Terminus on Willingdon Island.
Road: Cochin, being an important commercial center of Kerala is very well connected and serviced by a network of National and state highways, connecting it to all major centers of the area.
Kochi cuisine: possesses some truly salivating delicacies in its bag, majority of which are very mildly flavored and very scrumptious. Most of the dishes categorized under Kochi cuisine are quite light and do not pose any health related problems. The culinary delicacies of Kochi offer a great diversity in vegetarian dishes also. This is quite evident from the fact that during the time of the jovial festivals like ‘Onam’, the season lunch contains many mouth-watering varieties of vegetarian delights.
Some of the most revered and acclaimed vegetarian delicacies include ‘Thoran’, ‘Paachadi’, ‘Kaalan’ and more.
Kochi The bananas form an integral wing of the cuisine of Kochi. The main reason behind this is the fact that bananas are grown in sumptuous quantities there. Thus, this amazingly tasty fruit has made its way into a good number of the dishes. One of the very famous dishes in Kochi is crispy bananas made from frying finely sliced bananas. Kaalan is another culinary delight prepared from the bananas. In this, the bananas are blended with yogurt. Bananas are also plunged into a thick sauce of melted sugar to make some of the tastiest sweet delights.
Bananas in the grated and mashed form, blended uniformly with the plumpy dough prepared from rice flour are utilized in the manufacture of ‘Pootu’ which is a popular choice of breakfast. Coconut is also generously utilized in many of the exotic dishes of Kochi.
Some of the most renowned dishes from Kochi ate mentioned enlisted below:-
‘Meen Vevichathu’ is a highly famed dish that contains fish cooked in a tangy sauce.
