Onam Sadhya

Onam is an annual harvest festival celebrated in Kerala, India. A festival centering around the story of the powerful demon king, Mahabali, who was relegated to the netherworld by Lord Vishnu. He was allowed to visit his people on earth one day every year, and that day is the eve of Onam.

It is a 10 day long festival, celebrated in style with music, dance, boat races and elephant processions. Flower patterns are made on the floor in front of the house, using one type of flower on the first day, 2 on the second, and so on upto the 10th and main day of the festival.

The high point of this festival is the Ona Sadhya, which is a lavish 5-course meal served on a fresh, green banana leaf. The number of items served during this meal are typically between 35 to 50. The first course consists of rice and parippu, the second, rice and sambar, the third course is rice and puliserry, the fourth, payasam and banana, and the fifth is curd rice with ginger chutney. The rice traditionally served is brown rice. The first three courses are accompanied by a variety of side dishes like avial, thoran, kootu, pachadi, kichhadi, pickle, chips, chutneys and pappadom.

Here are some recipes for the Ona Sadhya dishes
Main Course
Parippu
Sambar
Pulissery
Coconut Pulissery
Mango Pulissery

Side Dishes
Avial
Thoran (Cabbage, Beans, or Beetroot)
Kootukari
Cabbage Kootu
Kalan
Pineapple Pachadi
Tomato Pachadi
Mango Kichadi
Cucumber Kichadi
Ladies Finger Kichadi

Payasams
Parippu Payasam
Pal Payasam
Semiya Payasam
Ada Prathaman

Categories: Kerala Food Items