Did you know there’s a traditional way to serve and eat the Onam sadya?

Happy Onam to all of you!

Thiruvonam day is incomplete with a flower carpet and a grand sadya––the traditional Kerala feast served on plantain leaves––for all those celebrating the harvest festivaacl Onam.

Before you serve the sadya and relish it, here is a quick guide to the various dishes, how it should be served on the leaf, and how it should be eaten. Let’s get straight to it.

The leaf

The banana leaves’ tip shouldn’t be cut off. The leaf should be placed in such a way that its tip points to the left side of the person being served to. Do use a wet clean cloth to clean the leaves before using it.

The dishes

A decent Onam sadya will have upwards of a dozen dishes; authentic ones will have at least 26. As per Ayurveda, sadya needs to offer six flavours; there should be dishes that are spicy, salty, sweet, sour, bitter and astringent.

If you are a weight watcher, here’s where you can find the calorie intake of feasting on a sadya.

Here are the main dishes, in no particular order:  

Rice: Kerala Kuthari or Rose Matta rice is the one typically served in Onam sadyas.

Olan: Olan is a flavourful stew prepared using ash gourd, red cow peas and the main ingredients and coconut milk as base.

Rasam: It is essentially a tangy, spiced soup made using many ingredients including tomatoes, spices, lentils and tamarind.

Inji (ginger) curry: Naturally, this is made using ginger along with green chilies, tamarind and jaggery. It is both sweet and sour, and aids digestion.

Pachadi/Kichadi: Made using cucumber, coconut and spices, pachadi is basically Kerala-style raita. It may also have beetroot and pineapple. Pineapple pachadi is quite popular.

Sambar: It is the most important gravy in the sadya  – a lentil and vegetable stew, and a lot of vegetables and spices are used to prepare it.

Avial: Possibly the second-most famous Kerala dish. It is a healthy mix of different vegetables with cumin seeds and green chilli in a thick coconut-yoghurt sauce, and is seasoned with coconut oil and curry leaves.

Parippu curry: It is the simplest, most straightforward dish in the sadya. It is dal cooked with tempered spices and coconut.

Erisserry: It is a thick mix of pumpkin, cowpeas or black eyed beans, ground spices, a coconut paste. It also has curry leaves, mustard seeds and dried red chilies.

Kaalan: It is a sour curry made using yogurt, coconut, and vegetables like yam and raw plantain.

Thoran: Thoran is a dry dish, typically made using cabbage, coconut, and mustard seeds.

Payasam: The famous dessert. Payasam could be of different types, adapradhaman being the most popular. Pazhapradhaman and wheat payasam are also famous. Milk payasam is a favourite. A decent sadya would have at least two varieties of payasam, a grand sadya may have five.

Upperis and sharkara upperi: Deep-fried bananas cut into four quarters are called upperi. Deep-fried taro is also a popular upperi. Banana upperi coated with jaggery is called sharkara upperi.

Pickels: Typically, there will be at least two pickles – mango and lemon.

Pappadam: Everyone knows what this is, but still, it is deep-fried dough of black gram bean flour.

Spiced buttermilk: Salty buttermilk spiced with green chilis and ginger.

Thiruvonam day is incomplete with a flower carpet and a grand sadya (Source: ieMalayalam)

Now, how the items should be served on the leaf

The items should be served starting from the tip of the leaves – the left-top or left centre portion of the upper part of the leaves.

Upperi items––three of them––are served first, followed by some salt, a full banana, and two pappadams, one big and one small.

Next, inji curry and lemon and mango pickles are served.

On the right-top corner of the upper portion of the leaves, avial is served next. Next to it, thoran, kichadi/pachadi are served. Then comes erissery, koottukari, kaalan and olan are served.

On the lower half portion of the leaf, in the centre, rice is served. Then, gravies will come one by one, starting with dal, served with ghee. Sambar comes next. Then comes rasam, followed by pasam and the meal ends with buttermilk.

How to eat the sadya

Start by munching on the upperis. Then, by the time all the items are being served, taste both the pickles and the inji curry. Once all the items are served, it is okay to taste each item once.

After the rice is served, first gravy to be served will be dal along with ghee. Use the salt with the ghee, and the small pappadam. This mixture is what you start the sadya with.

Rice will be served again, and this time, sambar will be served with it. The second pappadam can be used with sambar and rice. While relishing this, all the other items can be used with it.

Once done, payasam varieties will be served, starting with the adapradhaman. A pappadam will be served as well. The banana and the pappadam can be crushed and mixed with the payasam. This is optional, though. You may choose to have the payasam independently. In the south-most regions of Kerala, an item called boli is also served with this. It can be added to the mixture.

After enjoying the payasam varieties, rasam and buttermilk will be served. You may drink directly from your palm, or have it served in a cup. With buttermilk, sadya comes to an end.

The leaf should be folded inward, if you liked the sadya and outward if you were not satisfied.

We hope you have a grand sadya, this Onam!

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