Karavalli has a long standing tradition of training its chefs in the kitchens of traditional homes and still continues to procure ingredients from the original source. As a tribute to household recipes that can be lost in the pages of time, Karavalli makes a conscious effort to bring this back into our memories and taste buds by hosting traditional food festivals. This February it plays host to Mathai Achayan and his Syrian Christian delicacies.  God’s own country has a host of different communities that call it home and each one of them has a special way of treating local spices like red chillies, coconut, pepper, fresh fish and meats to bring out something completely unique. In Kerala, the Syrian Christian food is a little different from the regular Kerala Hindu Sadya, becaue of the addition of non-vegetarian elements to the meal. The most noted contribution of the community to the cuisine of Kerala has been the hoppers, duck roast, meen vevichattu and the istew (stew). Mr. Mathai hails from the Vattukulam, in Kottayam district, which …