Think seafood and think South Indian cuisine, what comes to your mind are myriad images of food but say the two together and sometimes it doesn’t really gel. Even though this part of the country boasts of a picturesque stretch of the coastline, the cuisine that originates from the areas across the shore hasn’t gained too much popularity, what with being compared to and competing with the ever-popular idli and dosa which has become some sort of a mascot for South Indian cuisine.

However, the beauty of South Indian food, especially with seafood, is that the dishes boast of fresh, pungent flavours that stay very true to their origins. We all know of the usual fish kozhambu or the prawn fry but scratch a little underneath the surface and you will see treasures like Kundapur crab curry from Karnataka and Vizhuppuram vavvaal kuzhambu that come to the forefront.

One of the unique qualities about south Indian seafood is that these dishes use minimal spices that ensure that the flavours are honest. We recently decided to host a seafood festival at our restaurant and we wanted to give our guests something more than the regular fish fry and crab curry, so off we went to several lesser-known coastal towns, visited people’s homes, unearthed recipes and learnt how to master them in local kitchens. Here are two dishes, which are simple to rustle up and great to taste.