Most courses teach food and mean lunch. But in Kerala the meal that defines the day — and the one a visitor is most likely to get wrong — is പ്രാതൽ (praathal), breakfast. Hot, cooked fresh, eaten early, and one of the great breakfast traditions of the world. പുട്ട് (puttu) steamed cylinders of ground rice layered with grated coconut. The signature Kerala breakfast. പുട്ടും കടലയും (puttum kadalayum), puttu with black chickpea curry, is a fixed expression, not just a pairing. ഇഡ്ഡലി (iddali) the steamed rice-and-lentil cake, softly sour from overnight fermentation ദോശ (dosha) the fermented crepe — മസാല ദോശ spiced-potato filled, നെയ്‌റോസ്റ്റ് made with ghee അപ്പം (appam) a fermented rice pancake, spongy centre, lacy crisp edge. അപ്പവും സ്റ്റ്യൂവും is a Kerala Christian classic at Christmas and Easter. ഇടിയപ്പം (idiyappam) string hoppers — fine rice noodles steamed in nests പത്തിരി (patthiri) the thin soft rice flatbread of Malabar Muslim cuisine ഉപ്പുമാവ് (uppumaavu) semolina with mustard seed and curry leaf — the subject of endless affectionate complaint by schoolchildren കപ്പ പുഴുങ്ങിയത് (kappa puzhungiyathu) boiled tapioca, with a fiery chutney or fish curry In this class: • Twelve breakfast items, what each is eaten with, and which community it belongs to • The words for hungry, full, one more, and enough • Tea and coffee — and how ordering actually works • What to say when you are fed more than you can eat Quizzes below. Dr. Reshmi R Nair — SpeakMalayalam.