Kerala Spices Gallery

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CHILLY is the universal spice of India. Chilly is nature's wonder. Its fruit appears in different sizes, shapes and colour. The fruit size of some varieties is more than hundred times that of others. The shape may be elongated or round and distal pointed, blunt or sucked in. Corrugated, leathery or smooth maybe the touch on outer skin. It may look like a bird's eye or a small orange fruit. Colour varies from blue, green, orange, red, yellow, violet, cream white to near black. Chilly has two important commercial qualities. If some varieties are famous for red colour because of the pigment capsanthin, others are known for biting pungency attributed by capsaicin.



India is the only country rich in many varieties with different quality factors. Chilly is an essential ingredient of Kerala curry. Curry is characterized by tempting colour and titillating pungency. Both are contributed by chilly. In curry, chilly is used as a paste, powder, broken split or whole form. There are Kerala pickles, especially with tender mango in which chilly powder is added lavishly to form a thick paste with biting sensation at the end of curing. In all Kerala homes, chilly is used by the poor and the rich alike.

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KOKAM is an Indian spice specialty, with an agreeable flavor and sweet, acidic taste. By both culinary and medical standards, kokam ranks high. Indian kokam is a versatile spice. Its oils, seeds, fruits, bark and the young leaves are all of extensive culinary and therapeutic value. The kokam fruit is cholagogue, cooling, demulcent, emollient and antiseptic. The bark and young leaves are astringent. The oil is emollient and soothing. Among the major uses of kokam are, as a garnish for curries and in the preparation of cooling syrups.

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cashew fruit

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VANILLA is a climbing orchid cultivated for its pleasant flavour. It is one of the few contributions of the western hemisphere to the world of spices. Over 50 species described, only three are important species as sources of natural vanillin, which are Vanilla planifollia Andrews, Vanilla pompona Shiede and Vanilla tahitensis J.W. Moore. Of these, Vanilla planifollia is the most preferred and commercially cultivated.



Pods (beans) are subjected to curing process to produce the characteristic aroma. The substance chiefly responsible for the unique fragrance and flavour of the vanilla bean is vanillin(C8 H8 03).

Among the food flavors, vanilla has a prime position. Vanilla essence is largely used in foods in the preparation of ice creams, chocolates, bakery products, puddings, pharmaceuticals, liquors and perfumes. Vanilla is the second most expensive spice traded in the world market.

The vanilla flavour industry was based on the processed beans of the vanilla plants. With the advent of chemical
technology to produce vanillin/ ethyl vanillin, these synthetic substitutes have taken over the use of vanilla beans. However, natural vanillin is still the most preferred food flavor.