Is that so? I don't think so. Malayalees are spread out all over India and all over the world, in fact. I live in the Middle east. Here, every Arab knows 'Kiraala' (Kerala). Trust me, they do. One of my colleagues once asked me, "So many beoble from yoor Kirala...Kirala anozer kanthry maybe? More beeg zan India?" I had a good giggle before I explained briefly the demographics of one of the smallest states of India. She wouldn't believe me until I showed her a map :P Besides that, some of them have heard of 'Bumbay' (Mumbai) and 'Bingalur' (Bangalore). End of story.
See the figures from Wikipedia...
There is an equally impressive number of Malayalees who work outside Kerala in other states. Owing to the high levels of education, the state is not able to provide enough suitable jobs for the tens of thousands of job seekers that graduate every year, thus forcing them to move to other states in search of jobs. We even have an apex umbrella organization for all Malayalee Associations of Malayalees who live and work outside Kerala - Federation of All India Marunadan Malayalee Associations :D
Watch this!
Nope, we're not obscure alright.
Edit:
So apparently a lot of people have chosen to completely ignore the write-up and concentrate on the fact that I had posted actress Vidya Balan's photograph. After a lot of arguments regarding her ethnicity (which is in no way relevant to the answer) and after my repeated attempts at trying to make people understand the reason why I posted that image, I feel the need to add a disclaimer...just to stop the tirade.
I don't know Vidya Balan personally. We are not related for me to throw strong claims on her family and background. Whatever I said was based on what I have read in film magazines, on the internet and on what she has stated in her interviews. If the truth is the exact opposite of all that as everyone else is claiming, then I have nothing to say.
I am from Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, and since various areas of the state have pretty diverse cusines, I will tell you what is unique to the Bhojpuri Cuisine and must definitely be tried. Bhojpuri people are mostly vegetarian so there isn’t any signature dish in my list that’s non-veg. Here goes…
1. Start off with Dalmoth, U.P.’s version of namkeen, i.e., a crispy, dry, salty and spicy snack, best served with ginger flavoured milk tea or a cold drink. Its made of gram-flour, roasted gram seeds, moong seeds and other legumes and spices.
2. If you happen to be there in summers, you just shouldn’t miss Sattu ki Lassi. It’s a chilled drink that’s spicy in taste, with roasted gram flour (Sattu) as the prime ingredient. Excellent coolant for the heat wave in U.P. Summers.
3. If you like sweet snacking, Pua could be your thing, a light-sweet, poori-like thing made of flour and semolina (not to be confused with Malpua, this one is deep fried like Pooris and not dipped in sugar syrup)
4. Thekua is our version of cookies. Though mostly made seasonally for the festival of Chatth in autumn, most housewives will be happy to make them for you at a different time as well. It is mostly not available in shops though.
5. Banarasi Kachori, a little different from the idea of Kachoris you might have. They are more like typical pooris stuffed with a mix made of coarsely ground legumes and spices. Mostly served with a potato curry.
6. Litti, or rather the star of my list, something every bhojpuri will identify with. They are wheat flour balls stuffed with a mix of Sattu and spices and are roasted or fried as you like. Best served with chokha.
7. Chokha, a mix of mashed vegetables, mostly made in combos where either potatoes, brinjals or tomatoes are the prime ingredient. The vegetables are cooked with their skin on, in an open fire and peeled when cooked and mixed with spices, green chilli and raw mustard oil. Apart from being a great accompaniment of Litti, it tastes great with flame cooked rotis.
8. Now we come to dessert with Kheer Mohan. Made with beancurd on lines similar to rasgulla, though with a thicker sugar syrup.
9. Kulfi-Falooda is next, this one has a version in every state, and U.P. has it’s own unique one.
10. Imarti, which is the well-known Jalebi’s close relative, same yet different
11. Anarsa, made of rice flour, jaggery and poppy seeds. My personal favourite
12. Tilkut, made of sesame seeds and jaggery.
13. Gujiya, made out of flour and stuffed with coconut, jaggery and dry fruits, flavoured preferably with cardamon.
14. And finally Tissi ke Laddu and Methi ke Laddu. They are made of flax and fenugreek seeds respectively and are made mostly in winter. Though everyone doesn’t have a taste for them, they have amazing health benefits
Image Sources: Google
EDIT:
15. Lavang latika, a sugar syrup dipped flour based sweet stuffed with dryfruit. As its name suggests, it has clove flavour added to it. If you have liked gingerbread, you can try this too, might like it as well (Suggested by Santosh Mishra)
I am from Karnataka. Here are some signature/main dishes you should try when you are here:
2. Chitranna: is a favourite dish of Karnataka especially Bangalore, Mysore, Tumkur regions. One of the easy recipe yet liked by many people!
3. Puliogare: The tamarind rice or puliogare tastes sour, spicy hot and salty all at the same time.
4. Khara Pongal: or Huggi is a special dish prepared during the Dhanur Maasa in Sri Krishna Matt in Udupi. All the religious ceremonies held during this period will have the Khara Pongal (Huggi) prepared in the feast. This dish is excellent semi-solid rice lentil gruel and often served with a tangy and spicy tamarind
5. Akki Rotti: is a classic breakfast dish among Kodava food recipes. Rice roti is served with roasted sesame seeds chutney.
6. Mysore Pak: is a sweet dish from the south Indian cuisine, usually served as dessert. It is made of generous amounts of ghee (clarified butter), sugar and gram flour.
7. Neer Dose:
8. Mangalore Buns:
9. Jolada Rotti:
10. Badnekai Yennagai:
11. Goli Baje:
12. Maddur Vada:
13. Pathrode: A Konkani dish, the leaves of the colocasia plant are smeared with a paste and then steamed
14. Patholi: What makes these sweet rice dumplings special is not just that they are stuffed with jaggery-sweetened coconut, but that they are cooked in turmeric leaves, and this itself lends a special flavour to it.
P.S — There are many dishes which are made in each region of Karnataka and I have listed only a few.
P.P.S — Here are a few I have missed:
As mentioned by Prabhuraj Swamy
As pointed out by Atif Mohan
