Ginger, Salt & Pepper

A very beloved festival celebrated across the state of Kerala, India and by Malayalees across the globe. It’s a harvest festival steeped in mythology and spread over days.

Read more here:

– Wikipedia

– Mythology

– 10 days of Onam

Just like any other Indian harvest festival, Onam is also known for its delectable food.

Called the Onam sadhya, which literally translates to a feast, it is served on a long banana leaf with a plethora of dishes. The picture below has 11 dishes excluding the rice, chips and pappadam. And that is still very little! We mean business when we call it a feast. At the end of the meal, you are served with different types of payasams (delectable desserts) to cap it off.

Below is my usual menu with links to recipes for the Onam sadhya. In the spirit of harvest, I will try to include more home grown vegetables too!

There are a few items like chips and pappadam that I use store bought.

A limited Onam sadhya looks like this at my place–

– Banana chips (bought)

– Sharakara varatti- another version of banana chips coated with jaggery and spiced with dry ginger powder. Recipe here

– Pappadam – the Kerala variety of pappad is different from the north Indian and that of other South Indian states (bought and fried in oil)

– Rice- a certain type of variety called ‘Matta’ rice is cooked in Kerala and is used for Onam too

– Sambhar – recipe here (made from home grown veggies)

– Olan – recipe here

– Kaalan – recipe here (made from home grown veggies)

– Erissery – recipe here

– Aviyal – recipe here

– Achinga olathu – recipe here

– Koottu curry – recipe here

– Cabbage thoran – recipe here

– Beetroot upperi – recipe here

– Vanpayaru upperi – recipe here

– Pineapple madhura curry – recipe here

– Beetroot pachadi – recipe here

– Cut Mango pickle – recipe here

– Vellarikka pachadi – recipe here

– Inji puli – recipe here

– Semiya Payasam – recipe here

– Gothambu Payasam – recipe here

Have a great Onam and sadhya!