God’s Own Country!! SOUTH INDIAN SEAFOOD on Houseboat | Backwaters - Kerala, India!

hey everyone hope you're having an amazing day it's mark Wiens I'm in the back waters of Kerala India and today we have a special opportunity we're gonna go onto a houseboat we're gonna sail around and on the boat they're gonna prepare for us a huge local Kerala Indian food meal and we're actually gonna spend the whole night we're gonna cruise around we're gonna see the natural beauty of these amazing lagoons and waterways with the nature we're gonna learn about the culture we're gonna eat amazing food and I'm gonna share this entire of adventure on the backwaters of Kerala with you in this video so we're walking down through the neighborhood already you can see water these little waterways and the nature the plant life but we're walking to one of the bigger waterways where we're gonna get into our houseboat [Music] cross over a small bridge we've arrived to the main opens up to a bigger waterway you've seen the houseboats now yes [Music] [Applause] today we're gonna be sailing around we're gonna be spending the night on this houseboat it's beautiful we are going to sleep we are going to fish we're gonna fish yeah you're gonna many things here you're gonna enjoy yes okay I have to say like most looking forward to the food but also the nature yeah I'm looking forward to everything thank you step inside you can really see all the just filling this room this is kind of like the entranceway there is a sea as well thank you thank you thank you very much we're immediately greeted with a Jasmine garland which you can smell it smells so good and that's a sign I mean that's a sign of welcome yeah this yeah okay to the house board even if you're going to some of the houses even sometimes this is the formal workers all nice set outcome thank you very much nothing I would rather drink on a kerala houseboat than a fresh coconut and we're gonna get started immediately they're starting to cook so we're gonna go back to the kitchen let's go so we're just back in the kitchen now a chef he's showing us some of the dishes that he's already prepared but he's all he's also saved a few dishes to prepare for us that we're gonna watch him cook but he just opened the lid to some calorie I think it's an epic aqua she's been in so many ways that's what we call it here grunts my bus it's wrong sorry lots and lots of coconut taste that was just a quick intro to the kitchen and chef showing us some of the dishes we're gonna come back to start eating but before or to start cooking more dishes but before we're just coming upstairs is we're about - we're about to push off into the backwaters amazing upstairs dining space HC this place is it's a luxurious houseboat and I'm just gonna come out to the front deck it's just so stunningly beautiful with the little islands with the palm trees with the the waterways this is pristine and we are officially off you can just immediately upon setting foot in this houseboat and entering the backwaters you can feel the pace of life just goes down a couple notches like relaxation the pace of life everything slows down on the backwaters brandy now chef has already started cooking he's stir frying up sautéing some onions some green chilies and some hot Camryn hot emirate come and then in this pot he's got the squid going with some masala attorney already some chili powder and he's gonna mix the two together spot is better spots first five first but rapidly emerging okay so they've already there just like first fried the fish and it's pearl the pearl spot fish which is a delicacy in this region of Kerala especially the back waters known for the fact in the backwaters I'm not sure exactly the whole recipe how he's going to do it but they're slicing banana leaves that leaf is already just like we've cried and he's now stopped hanging onions green chillies and ginger garlic and that's all gonna come together in a banana leaf yeah you know harmony cuts and if you could only smell the aromas coming out of this kitchen probably the entire backwaters can smell it he's just Siri off those banana leaves to make them more bendable so they don't crack oh that one is the pucks hot camera yeah okay yeah and then he added in some pops tamarind rice pot tamarind and tomatoes whenever somebody goes for a house boat trip this is must the first port mean politie that is the right name for this physique are at the bezel okay local animal ya mean pollution mean for exactly another beautiful taste with this one's like fully made of onions and the ginger garlic the curry leaves he added in coriander powder yet and in turmeric he added a pepper and chili powder sliced up some finely sliced tomatoes put them into the banana leaf and then spreads out a layer of the masala piece that he made then he took the Pearl spot fish and added that to the banana leaf and of course then they add more masala to the top more Tomatoes and then wrap it up into a banana leaf packet a pearl spot fish banana leaf packet masala [Applause] so in order to cook those little packets now he heated up some coconut oil and waited for that me heat and then just slip them in those are gonna roast and fry and mingle all together your rumors are just there almost unbelievable they just splashed in some water as well though a steam as well and now looking out from the window the kitchen window the water has really opened up we've come to a bigger waterway and then final step for lunch is seed has two plates he just brought him out of the fridge two plates of one plate of sardines one plate of anchovies you've been marinating in masala that he's gonna fry and coconut oil like [Music] they are dishing everything out the crab the squid the fish that cockles the fish packets everything else it's time to go upstairs and we're gonna eat lunch oh no oh wait the spicy aroma is filling the backwaters are irresistible I cannot even believe it [Music] all of the food is on the table this is like everything you could possibly want and dream of South Indian food on one single table in the middle of a houseboat in the middle of the rice paddy fields overlooking the backwaters in the backwaters it is beautiful there's like a dozen different dishes mostly seafood the curry leaves the spices the aromas the coconut and now Evan is dishing it out thank you thank you Evan he's dishing it out serious weight dishing plate styling plate styling skills bye Evan thank you oh man thank you thank you so much awesome managed to get everything not on one plate on two points that is all the dishes ready to be devoured thank you again to Evan for this spectacular plate and all of this all things on two plates it this is an unbelievable spread of food the spices the aromas the coconut the shrimp and fish it is it's almost almost in disbelief the only reason I know it's true is because I can smell the aromas and I'm about to taste them all the assortment of different dishes the fried anchovies the fried sardines this is a shrimp chutney a fish pickle there's squid there's crab there's other fish curry this is with coconut milk there's the of VL which is with the vegetables and coconut cockles I don't even know where to begin so I think I'm just gonna go right into that fish curry right in the center of the rice there mix all the coconut milk and looks like ginger in there alright next I'll try some of that squid and that Bryce is just like so light and fluffy mmm-hmm to go with everything yeah well I'm gonna pick up the the fried anchovy no sorry this one is the fried sardine hmm you can eat the entire thing you get was full yeah but the creepy size just caramelized crisp if I die on to even severe cattle bones are just completely stop the fish pickle that is incredible fish pickle you maybe with some of the gobby-o with that you can see that's the the pot tamarind in there - I think there's pieces of coconut in there too and then also like it has a celery mango taste to it but then fishy at the same time okay next I'm gonna move over to the this is one of the main dishes that we saw them make sort of the pearl spot fish all of that masala the whole fine it's just like the oily juices are flowing the coconut oil and then again they put tomatoes on it then they put the men a plate masala then they put the fish and then they put more muscle up wrapped it up in a minute leek and then fried it in coconut oil and this is just like a packet of joy and now you do have to be careful of the bones a bit I'll kind of navigate my way around that look at that the chunkiness of the onions and the curry leaves Wow Wow well the tomato weenus of it the onions and then just how it's been steamed and roasted and baked and fried all same time and then you get the essence of the banana to it because it's wooden just embedded into it Wow it's just one dish heaven after another of different flavor different composition different seafood such powerful delicious flavors yet all you know Harmy together on one single plate this one is the prawns with you can even see are those fennel fennel seeds I think I think they're fennel seeds in there there's peppers there's tons of onions there's clove this one looks I love how it's chunky to like just the entire spice is just chunky the peppers in there oh yeah go grab that might be the best oh boy we're coming up the disintegrating onions to the coconuts he tastes too close in there in the fennel I freaked I think oh that prawns is incredible the green peppers just hanging hanging green peppers and the clove in that the clove the pepper coconut no and you do some of the some of the cockles the curry leaves the green chilies the clove I have managed to eat myself into just a smiling stupor that was a overly delicious mule an incredible setting and we're just sailing continuing to sail through the backwaters and I thought this might be a perfect opportunity to just quickly tell you a few things about the backwaters and the houseboats number one is that the backwaters the kerala backwaters are a series of lagoons a lot of brackish water that feeds in from the arabian sea so you have a mix of saltwater and freshwater there's canals and then that also leads into lakes and so you have lagoons you have lakes you have canals and even rivers some of the waterways are man-made but I think most of them are natural maybe a mix but that's what the kerala backwaters is and for the houseboats as the history goes this area has been massive for trade people have come here for trade and so product has moved around this area by boat these are all like transporting goods boats where they used to live on the boat they used to cook on the boat they used to do everything on the boat and go from place to place delivering goods and transporting goods around and now continuing on to present-day where many of the boats which used to transport goods have now turned into complete houseboats where you can stay where you can cruise around the backwaters where you can eat and where you can sleep and just enjoy the gorgeous beauty of this amazing place in Kerala otherworldly beautiful and fantastic and I've never been so satisfied on a boat [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's like 5:00 p.m. or so and we have docked the boat this is where we're gonna dock for the night but we're also gonna walk around this village and there these I thought they were tying the boat I thought they were anchoring the boat with those ropes but those are actually power cords that come from here to this little house across the it's just like a pathway between the rice fields and the river this is our resting spot for the night and what a beautiful spot we're getting ready to have our afternoon bananas and tea and then we're gonna walk around the village a little bit thank you so much please be be in banana oh yeah I love to sourness of it sour banana and that's like a sticky kind of crispy rapper or do you dip No off the boat we're on our way walking in the village now to go harvest toddy which comes from the coconut tree yeah okay now we are going to take coconut toddy but it's also available from the pump it's so peaceful water on one side village and rice paddies on the other side there's meaning in the evening I don't begin to know the whole infrastructure of these villages but they rely on the lagoons the rivers the waterways for the rice paddy fields and a lot of the rice paddy fields are below sea level and so they feed you can see back there or they're feeding the water and from the river that were docked on into the paddy field and so they it's it's a lifeline and it's something there they live next to here so these are the coconut trees that they're gonna cap for the toddy for the juice nut it's not coconut water and it's not from coconuts but I believe it's from the flowers and the flowers of it and he actually like it's like a nest he just hangs out in the nest and that's where he taps we're just reading I believe that it is the actual flowers that they they drain to get the sugar juices the water it's the juice of the coconut palm in the morning is actually when they get the fresh one so maybe tomorrow morning possibly but we're gonna taste a little bit down the road here we took a little walk down through the field through the paddy fields through the the walkway and we came there's a toddy shop here and a toddy shop serves toddy the usually the fermented version with food we came here just to try a little bit and immediately you smell the coconut in that white color yeah so this is just like it's it's fermented yeah like for how many days do you think maybe six to six hours so it's like one day no no this one is one day morning yeah same day yeah the same day yeah oh yeah not even 24 hours this one is just fermented for the day yeah cheers guys yes this smells great too that cooking smells like sour coconut oh oh that's wonderful so good and fizzy and salad yeah and salty that's just straight it's actually coconut nectar it is nectar fermented into a beautiful natural maybe healthy beverage you know what it tastes like um like kombucha like if he does yeah I mean it does really get into kombucha that's because it's that just that the slight carbonation yeah it's that sourness that but carbonation like within a tree this is just harvested yeah just how is this right now yeah like fresh there's still ants and it just came around with a fresh vessel of a bamboo pole full of this is the fresh toddy harvested yeah it's very milky Wow that is incredible yeah and there's ants floating around it's like right off the tree a little bit of fizziness a little bit of it's sweet its sour it's so milky it's so good Wow and come back and they're making dinner but dinner is gonna be more simple than lunch it's gonna be less dishes it's gonna be a very local style common meal so I believe that it's called kung yi which is like like congee actually like a rice porridge but he's pounding fish it's gonna be with dry fish and they're peeling some shallots over here and then there's also boiling cassava and some green lentils with coconut I believe this is green chilies with shallots and coconut oil oh nice in a simple dinner for local Thai people especially in this area in the villages in the especially especially in the zone I love the simplicity of it but again just the fresh local ingredients the cassava the Chuck needs to go with it and we're gonna begin with this first before we then dig into the rice so break a little piece of the cassava it's kind of like half mashed and you can feel the starchiness and then dip it begin with that green chili chutney with the shallots oh wow that is simple perfection yeah because Allah is great it is like like it's very starchy of texture to it that chutney though the vibrancy of the green Chili's the shallot and that coconut oil and salt but you taste the sourness of those green chillies do chutney by the bucketful okay get around to to with the rice soup with the green lentils the green drum with coconut with more sambar and with especially with the hot pot can call it kind of mix everything and I left a little bit of the cassava there also he makes it match everything great debt mix it into the rice I love that I never before coming here I never knew you took the Popeye food and mix it with the rice to mix it with everything mmm well the green drama yeah what's that coconut in there [Music] ready yes let's go yeah we're lucky standing on the back of the houseboat we're gonna try a little bit of fishing hey well haha get him so no luck with the fishing but we did have good luck with making teeth and that's gonna wrap up tonight I think from here we're just gonna hang out a bit and go to sleep but if we do catch a fish I will definitely turn the camera back on but I'm gonna say goodnight for the time being and I will see you tomorrow morning when we wake up and start another day well just just a morning on the houseboat I love it here and good morning from the backwaters of Caroline is a beautiful morning the Sun came up like so softly over the rice paddy fields and the river that were sleeping on and the birds chirping and learning the flocks of birds flying overhead today is a beautiful day I had an amazing sleep we're gonna have breakfast here we're gonna have some coffee we're gonna then sail back to the pier where we left yesterday and that's the plan so comfortable okay so in the kitchen now they're making hoppers which are pancakes made from Asian rice batter and then you drink it in a rounded pan so it's thicker on the bottom a little trench here on the top and so most making like a star for making just your Roma's of Kerala food the mustard seed the coconut oil the onions the green chillies and the curry leaves they and this is one of the reasons I love Kerala selection curry for breakfast lunch and dinner not having me without a hurry it is so good and immediately again was familiar or almost just excite the taste buds from first smell that's like putting the eggs back in the nest the curry nest well that's beautiful the genius thing is that you took the hard but the eggs are already hard-boiled you took a knife and made some little cuts in the egg and that's just so the curry sauce so everything like goes down to the yolk penetrates the yolk oh that's genius well I'm gonna use that technique as we wait for the egg curry to finish quick cup of coffee it's not the strongest coffee but it's soothing [Music] yes and actually I've been just mentioned this is not an egg curry this is an egg roast and the most genius move that chef made is that you can see those cuts in the egg so that the the masala spices reached the yolk it's a genius move at the chunkiness chunkiness of that egg roast the onions sweated down the Curry's and you take it with some of the hoppers and you can see the hoppers yeah it's thinner on the outside and then more thick on the in the middle more spongy get it with as much of that onion mixture spice mixture as possible in one single bite mmm sweetness of the Ennead shooing just of the onions yeah and this place is that there how that will turn nut oil yeah I can I can tell you from first bite playing the hard-boiled eggs will never do again Wow again that just magnifies them the spice yes the hot liquid bumps up that spice level bumps up the chili heat oh how is it Evan extremely good I want to simplify it the spiciness so I am 40m haven't even added a banana and his remix going on a banana and sugar this which is another method if it's too spicy we can have a bit of banana and the near Halleck take this we get the sweetness of sugar and bless banana that juiciness of banana and a hard-boiled egg of wonders it just tasted ginger in that last bite combination of the sweet banana and the spicy onions whoa that was a perfect record yeah one of the best breakfasts I can think of [Music] [Music] and we are back to where we started I am NOT ready at all to leave this place I could stay on this houseboat eating delicious food for another week and be very happy but we got a move on captain chef and an amazing team they've been fantastic the hospitality is also just impressive great guys thank you so much thank you so that's gonna wrap it up that's gonna complete this adventure in the backwaters of Kerala and again just as truly as God's own country the beauty the people the food this has been an incredible experience our hosts our staff thank you very much - vineeth for arranging this for us for setting it up and to have been for also arranging for setting it up and I'll have his link his channel in the description box below and from here actually this is going to be the next part of the you're gonna want to continue watching the next video because we are on our way actually we're heading across the boats to another boat where we're gonna take a boat to a couple of toddy shops for food and that's gonna be in the next video so keep on watching but that's it for this house boat tour and food in Kerala I see big thank you for watching please remember to give it a thumbs up and leave a comment below and subscribe if you're not already subscribed I'll see you on the next video

Channel: Mark Wiens

Views: 4,830,896

Rating: 4.8795638 out of 5

Keywords: Kerala, Backwaters, kerala backwaters, things to do in Kerala, Alleppey, Alappuzha, backwaters houseboat, Kerala houseboat, Indian food, Kerala food, Indian seafood, seafood, Mark Wiens, best Indian food, South Indian Food, food travel, travel guide, India travel guide, best south indian food

Id: N-DN34Zdvo8

Length: 33min 42sec (2022 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 12 2020