Class 234 — Kerala’s sweets, snacks and the space between meals: the fried things in the glass case at the tea shop, the sweets at a festival, the thing somebody hands you at four in the afternoon. The category word is പലഹാരം (palahaaram) — snack, savoury or sweet, eaten between meals or with tea. Ask ഇവിടെ എന്ത് പലഹാരമുണ്ട്? (ivide enthu palahaaramundu?) in any tea shop and you will get a list. കടി (kadi) literally means a bite: a small savoury accompaniment to tea. FROM THE GLASS CASE. പഴംപൊരി (pazhampori) — a ripe plantain sliced lengthways, battered, deep fried in coconut oil; sweet and soft inside, crisp outside, served hot at four. If you eat one thing from a Kerala tea shop, eat this. പരിപ്പുവട (parippuvada) lentil fritter · ഉഴുന്നുവട (uzhunnuvada) black gram, doughnut-shaped · സുഖിയൻ (sukhiyan) · ഉള്ളിവട (ullivada) onion fritter · ബോണ്ട (bonda) potato ball · കൊഴുക്കട്ട (kozhukkatta) steamed rice dumpling · ഉണ്ണിയപ്പം (unniyappam), the small dark sweet rice-flour cake cooked in a pan of round depressions · ഏത്തയ്ക്ക ഉപ്പേരി (ethaykka upperi) banana chips · ശർക്കര വരട്ടി (sharkkara varatti), the sticky jaggery-coated ones. THE SWEETS. പായസം (paayasam) is a category, not a dish. And here is the distinction that will impress a Malayali: പ്രഥമൻ (prathaman) is the jaggery-and-coconut-milk family (അട പ്രഥമൻ (ada prathaman), പരിപ്പ് പ്രഥമൻ (parippu prathaman), പഴം പ്രഥമൻ (pazham prathaman)); പായസം with milk and sugar is the other (പാൽപ്പായസം (paalppaayasam), സേമിയ പായസം (semiya paayasam)). Then കോഴിക്കോടൻ ഹൽവ (kozhikkodan halva) — dense, glossy, translucent, sold on Kozhikode’s Mittai Theruvu, Sweet Street, which is named after it. The word halwa is Arabic in origin and the sweet arrived with the trade. It is one of the clearest edible traces of Kerala’s Arab connection. THE DRINKS. സംഭാരം (sambhaaram) spiced buttermilk, often given away free at temples in summer · മോര് (moru) plain buttermilk · കരിക്ക് (karikku) tender coconut water · നാരങ്ങ വെള്ളം (naaranga vellam) lime water · കട്ടൻ ചായ (kattan chaaya) black tea · കട്ടൻ കാപ്പി (kattan kaappi) black coffee. And the four o’clock tea, which is a real institution rather than a pause. Order it: ഒരു ചായയും ഒരു പഴംപൊരിയും (oru chaayayum oru pazhamporiyum). Then ask ഇത് ചൂടാണോ? (ithu choodaano?) — is this hot, meaning fresh from the fryer. It is the right question. Quizzes below. Dr. Reshmi R Nair — SpeakMalayalam.