Journal: The Toddy Shops

Toddy shops were one of the restricted places during my childhood. Looking into a toddy shop were considered to be a matter of national shame in my place. And the people who comes out from that place were considered to be the people with back bones, poets, writers and so on :)

This is from where we are getting the Toddy from.
Photo Courtesy: Hindu

Jokes apart, when you are of the age to judge right and wrong - I would recommend a visit to the nearby toddy shop. While I will not recommend having toddy, do not miss the delicacies, we call it as Shappu Curries.

Because of the large extent of the shame factor, which I mentioned above, the inside affairs of a Toddy Shop was a mystery for me. But I always knew the fact that something good was happening inside, as the people who comes out from there seemed to be the happiest lads in the world :)

It was during my college days, I got a chance to experience the inside out of a Toddy Shop. As our college did not have the lab facility of our own, our department took us to the Allappey Campus. But we hardly saw the lab. The moment we sign up the register, everyone gets vanished and appears in one of the Toddy Shops near by.

None from our group embraced the Toddy (as we were all in uniforms), but loved the Shappu Curry. We tasted everything that we could get there. Fish Curry, Crab Curry, Fish Fries, Chicken, Pork, Beef and the list goes on and on. The best part of all dishes were the spiciness of all the curries due to special mix of spices.