Kochi man taps Kerala nostalgia, opens first ‘kallu shapp’ in UK

Kochi: When John Xavier landed in the UK two decades ago as a student from Kerala’s Kochi, what he really missed was the tastes of his home town. The large scale student migration from Kerala was unheard of then. Most of the Indian restaurants there served mostly north Indian dishes. Even the very few south Indian restaurants offered only common items – a dosa here or two idlis there. No wonder, the foodie in Xavier nurtured within him the passion to open an authentic Kerala restaurant with the south Indian states’ own delicacies. His dreams did not stop there. He even wanted to open a toddy shop in the British land. Memories of travelling all the way from Kochi to Kumarakom to have some ‘kallu’ always kept fizzing inside him. The dreams indeed came true.

Xavier, who hails from Chilavannoor, opened his restaurant in Northampton in 2021, and six months ago he also started a ‘kallu shaap’, which he says is the first toddy parlour in the UK. Now, the restaurant named ‘Thattukada’ (a common name for wayside eateries in Kerala). The ‘kallu shaap’ – Malayalam for toddy shop – has come up as a part of the food joint. The name boards in Malayalam lure the fast growing Malayali population in the country. Malayalis from even Scotland and Ireland have been coming in search of Xavier’s ‘kallu shaap’ as some vlogs on it became instantly viral.

Xavier started the toddy parlour after getting all necessary licences and clearance from the government. He imports toddy from Sri Lanka and Africa as per availability.

“The biggest challenge before starting the toddy parlour was to ensure regular availability of the drink. Toddy is occasionally available in Sri Lankan stores here. But we are the only outlet selling it regularly and in such large scale,” Xavier told Onmanorama over phone from Northampton.

He said 60 per cent of his customers are Malayalis and 20 per cent from other south Indian states. Native people make the remaining 20 per cent.

“UK natives who have visited Kerala and tasted toddy already come to our shop in search of the drink. Those who taste it for the first time also like it because it’s a sweet drink with only 3.5 per cent of alcohol in it,” Xavier said.

Apart from Xavier, who works in education sector, the rest of the employees are all students from Kerala. Those who have completed hotel management look after cooking. The menu include porotta, beef, squid, prawns, crab and muscles. The special among the dishes is frog legs, once a popular item in the toddy parlours of Kerala.

Toddy is imported on a monthly basis as per requirement and 30-40 litres are sold a day. Xavier said he has tried to import the drink from Kerala but lack of facilities for proper packing has been a challenge. He is still exploring the options as it would give a shot to the industry in his home state. At his ‘kallu shap’ Xavier also sells other liquor brand including ‘Mandakini’, an arrack brand launched by Keralites in Canada, and ‘Malayali’, a beer from Poland, again made by a Keralite.

Xavier is planning to expand his business to London soon.