Onam, Kerala's harvest festival, celebrates the homecoming of the benevolent, powerful asura King Mahabali, also known as King Bali. Every Onam, the Great Mahabali returns to visit his beloved people all the way from the underworld, and he is welcomed with great devotion.
Homes are decorated with pookalam or flower rangolis, traditional feasts or sadhyas are arranged, and Malayalees welcome Mahabali with great joy and aplomb during the 10 day festival.
The entire celebration wraps up on Thiruonam, the tenth day, and the best way to enjoy it will be with an Onasadya, a vegetarian meal served for lunch on a banana leaf. Come Thiruonam, and Mumbaikars will make a dash to their favourite Malayalee restaurants to enjoy the feast.
If you are not someone who can tell your kaalan from your pachadi, let's help you break down the dishes that are a part of the traditional sadhya.
A typical Onam spread includes at least 15 -20 dishes |
There are no rules when it comes to the Onam Sadhya, but these are a few dinning rituals that have been followed for ages.
Once seated, the narrow end of the banana leaf always points to your left.
The salt arrives first, followed by the chips, and all items are placed clockwise.
The feast is eaten with your bare hands, and once done, the leaf needs to be folded towards you to indicate that your meal is over.
Planning to head out for a delicious Onam Sadhya? Here's your handy guide to identifying the dishes served on the banana leaf including rice, sambar, avial, olan, thoran, erissery, kaalan, pachadi, pickles, banana chips and pappadam. The meal is typically rounded off with payasam, with varieties such as ada pradhaman and palada adding a sweet finish to the elaborate vegetarian spread.
Banana chips, chakka or jackfruit chips, and Sharkara Varatti |
The first item to be placed on the banana leaf is a pinch of salt. It's placed on the top, left corner of the leaf. Next to it, a few banana chips are placed, followed by Sharkara Varatti or Sharkara Upperi (fried banana chips coated with jaggery), chakka or jackfruit chips, puli inji (tamarind-ginger chutney), mango or lime aachar or pickle and a ripe poovan pazham or Kerala banana.
The best part of the Sadhya has to be the Avial (mixed vegetables cooked with coconut and yogurt), and a variety of thorans (stir-fried vegetables). There's the payar or beans thoran, cabbage thoran, and beetroot thoran, among others.
The special items you'll find in the sadhya are Olan (a coconut milk gravy, prepared with ash gourd and black-eyed peas), Pachadi (Kerala style raita), Pumpkin Erissery or Mathanga Erissery (made of pumpkin and red beans in grated coconut), Kaalan (yam and ground coconut), Mezhukkupuratti (long green beans stir-fried in red chilli powder), and Pulissery (a sour yogurt-based curry).
Choru or boiled rice is the main item. Most meals feature matha or red parboiled rice that's topped with sambar and a spoon of ghee. The other accompaniments include rasam, sambharam (butter milk) and pappadam that's fried in coconut oil.
The feast typically ends on a sweet note with Semiya Payasam (a type of kheer made with vermicelli, milk and sugar. Palada is pretty similar but replaces vermicelli with small, dry flakes of of rice (ada). Parippu Pradhaman features moong dal, coconut milk and jaggery, while Ela Neer Payasam is made with tender coconut. Ada Pradhaman, made with rice ada, coconut milk and jaggery, is also a regular dish on the menu.
