The ruling came after a Kerala man, Mr. Anil Palissery, presumably armed with the Constitution and a burning hunger for justice, dragged a local eatery to court. His grievance? The restaurant had the audacity to serve him two crisp porottas and a bowl of beef fry—without the customary, comforting, and entirely unbilled ladle of gravy. Instead of issuing a refund or, heaven forbid, bringing him an emergency helping of brown liquid solace, the staff reportedly suggested he “try chewing slower.”
Unfazed by their gastronomic gaslighting, Mr. Palissery approached the consumer court in Kochi, asserting that he had suffered “emotional damage” and “digestive imbalance” due to the dry carbohydrate consumption. He argued that serving beef fry without accompanying gravy was a violation of “South Indian culinary norms, Article 372 of ancestral food customs, and general human decency.”
But the court, after examining the evidence—including CCTV footage of him angrily poking dry porotta, screenshots of menu cards, and a confusing expert testimony from a retired chef of the Railways Canteen—ruled that restaurants are under no constitutional, legal, or moral obligation to offer free gravy.
“It is not a fundamental right,” declared the judgment, which has now been laminated and framed in at least three restaurant kitchens and one barber shop. The court added, “If the consumer expects gravy, he may order gravy. This is a commercial transaction, not a family wedding.”
FD Staff reached out to Mr. Palissery outside the courthouse, where he was spotted holding a hand-painted sign reading “No Gravy, No Justice, No Peace”. Between bites of a dry vada, he declared, “This is a betrayal of Kerala culture. If porotta is the boat, gravy is the sea it sails on. What’s next—biriyani without raita? Sambar with identity crisis? This court is out of order!”
Meanwhile, the restaurant in question, Hotel Kaattile Curry, has declared victory, going so far as to install a neon sign at the entrance that reads: “Gravy sold separately. Emotions not included.”
“We’re not a charity,” said the owner, Mr. Shaji M, who now claims to sleep better at night after the verdict. “We were being emotionally blackmailed by customers who’d order a single porotta, expect two litres of gravy, and then ask for a parcel pack of just curry. This court order is our independence day.”
Following the court’s decision, other restaurants in the region have also begun what industry insiders are calling a “gravy exodus,” charging ₹10 to ₹25 for even a spoon of curry and issuing “dry food advisories” for budget-conscious diners.
“The era of gravy socialism is over,” said the President of the Kerala Restaurant Owners Association. “No more Robin Hood nonsense. We will not rob from chicken curry to feed the dry porotta masses.”
Still, the ruling has ignited a fierce ideological split across Kerala’s foodies. On social media, pro-gravy and anti-gravy factions are now in open conflict. On X , the hashtag #PorottaLivesMatter was trending for 37 minutes before being replaced by pictures of a cat that looked vaguely like an idiyappam.
Meanwhile, food influencers are milking the moment for content. One Kochi-based Instagrammer, who calls herself “The Spicy Feminist,” posted a slow-motion reel of herself weeping into a plate of porotta while reading the court’s judgment aloud. It’s already received over 4,000 likes and a sponsorship deal from a sachet-based curry powder company.
Local astrologers, never ones to miss a commercial opportunity, have warned that the absence of free gravy could unleash long-term karmic consequences. “Mars is in retrograde and so is the gravy culture,” said Pandit Vijayan Vaypinte. “Expect delays in digestion and planetary indigestion.”
The cultural impact has been most severe on bachelors and hostel residents, who now face the terrifying reality of paying extra for wet food. A WhatsApp message from a Kochi bachelor group went viral, stating: “If gravy isn't free, who are we? Just a plate of carbs and trauma. We didn’t sign up for this adulthood.”
Even porotta itself has not escaped controversy. A change.org petition titled “Recognise Porotta as a Dry State Victim” has already garnered over 3,000 signatures. Some culinary activists argue that porotta should now be served with emergency sauce kits—similar to airplane oxygen masks—to prevent psychological distress during solo consumption.
To gauge the full social fallout, FD Staff also contacted a sociology professor at the University of Kochi, Dr. Anupama Chettanad. “Gravy symbolises togetherness. The act of tearing porotta and dipping it into communal curry creates a sense of cultural unity,” she said, flipping through a copy of *Food and Fury: The Semiotics of Spices*. “Removing free gravy disrupts this delicate balance. It turns dinner into data entry.”
The central government has so far refused to intervene, stating through a press release: “This is a state issue. Let the courts decide whether food should be served with love or legal tender.”
Opposition leaders, however, have capitalised on the moment. A regional party in Kerala has promised “Free Gravy For All” as part of its election manifesto, while a rival group has countered with “Unlimited Chammanthi With Every Meal,” sparking debates over the fiscal feasibility of such condiment subsidies.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India has categorically denied any plans to issue gravy-backed securities or curry-based inflation indices, even as porotta futures showed mild volatility on food prediction platforms. One satirical analyst on a Malayalam business podcast quipped, “Beef fry is the Bitcoin of Kerala cuisine. Gravy is its liquidity.”
The final twist came when a group of lawyers in Ernakulam filed a public interest litigation asking the court to define what constitutes “gravy” in legal terms. “Is it liquid curry? Is it side dish runoff? Is it essence of onions and despair?” asked Advocate P. Gopalakrishnan, looking visibly disturbed. “We need clarity. Otherwise this whole thing is headed to the Supreme Court.”
At the time of filing this report, Mr. Palissery was allegedly drafting an appeal, this time armed with testimonials from porotta-loving citizens, historical menus, and a specially curated playlist of Malayalam movie scenes where gravy clearly plays a central role in romance, conflict, and character development.