KOCHI: It may look bland, but it blends tradition and nourishment in a bowl—a versatile mix that is ready to blow up. The kanji, Kerala’s humble rice gruel, is all set to go international and find a place in stores in bustling cities such as Toronto and Vancouver.
Malabar Kaipad Farmer Producer Company Ltd (MKFPCL), a farmers’ collective in Kannur, has received an order to export the famous Kaipad kanji to Canada. The company will be dispatching 240 packets of ready-to-serve Kaipad kanji, packed using Japanese retort technology, to Canada by the end of this month.
Retort is a method of thermal processing which preserves pre-cooked foods in pouches, by sealing and heating them to 120°C under high pressure. This eliminates microorganisms and contaminants, extending the shelf life of the product for up to two years.
Kaipad is an organic rice variety cultivated in the saline coastal tracts of Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod. The most popular traditional varieties cultivated in these regions are Kuthiru and Orkayama. Improved varieties such as Ezhome-1 and Ezhome-2 are also grown here. The Kaipad rice was granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2014.
“The rice is cultivated without using chemical fertilisers. We had exported Kaipad rice, puttu podi, pathiri podi (rice flour) and aval (rice flakes) to the UAE in 2022 and 2024. Now, we have received an order from Canada to ship 240 packets of ready-to-serve kanji. We hope to get a regular order from Canada,” CEO Nidhina Das said.
Technical support provided by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Kerala Agricultural University helped MKFPCL obtain the GI tag for Kaipad rice and attract exporters. APEDA helped the collective bag the order by hooking it up to a Kerala-based export agency.
MKFPCL, with P Govindan as chairman and Kerala Agricultural University former associate director T Vanaja as chief adviser, has been empowering farmers by branding the nutritional value of Kaipad rice and marketing value-added products.
300g packets with sides
The Kaipad kanji, prepared using rice bran, is rich in nutrients. The collective is planning to export the product in 300g packets, along with traditional side dishes such as boiled cowpea and banana blossom stir-fry with grated coconut.
