Onam Sadya (Sadhya)

Posted on | September 7, 2011 | 30 Comments |

Onam is Kerala’s largest festival celebrating the harvest season. There are many traditions associated with Onam, but the only one I am interested in is the one that involves food – the feast we call “Onam Sadya”. This scrumptious feast is an all vegetarian spread consisting of a spectrum of dishes meant to tickle all your taste buds – salty, spicy, sour and sweet.

An Onam Sadya is served on banana leaves with rice in the center (You have to have Rosematta rice for a proper sadya – ironically the picture above has white rice), a bunch of accompaniments served on the side and a few gravies served in courses over the rice. The meal ends with a generous serving of sweet payasamas. I don’t have all the dishes for a complete Onam Sadya in this blog, but I have enough to make up a pretty lavish spread. Here are the typical Onam dishes, I have linked the ones I have a recipe for and left the rest in Italics. I will try to post those sometime this year, just so that I have a complete sadya here. Let me know if I missed any dishes from this list.

Sides

There is an order in which these are supposed to be served on the banana leaf, but I have no idea what it is!

Thoran (Cabbage Thoran, Carrot Thoran)
Aviyal
Pachadi
Erisseri
Olan
Pavakka Theeyal
Inji Curry
Kaalan
Pickles (Mango Pickle, Nellikka Pickle)
Koottu Curry
Pappadam
Banana Chips
Sarkkara Varatti

Mains

The mains are gravies served over the rice in courses, so there is an art of portion control here. Make sure to have small portions of rice with each gravy so that you won’t get full before you finish the whole round. You can always go back for seconds after getting through the round once. The mains are served in this order:

Parippu (Dal)
Sambar
Pulisseri
Moru

Dessert

I normally get too full by the time I get to this stage. I think one payasam is all you need for a sadya, but the sweetaholics will probably disagree.

Semiya Payasam
Ada Prathaman
Parippu Payasam

Here is a visual guide, of the same dishes listed above with links to the recipes.

And here is a picture of the mini-onam sadya I made last year.

OnamSadya3

Wishing you all a joyous, prosperous and delicious Onam!

Category: India - Kerala

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« « Sambar – Spicy Lentils and Vegetable Stew| Mutton Varutharacha Curry (Goat meat in a fried Coconut Gravy) » »

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Comments

30 Responses to “Onam Sadya (Sadhya)”

Arch
September 7th, 2011 @ 8:51 pm
Reply

Beautiful, I love that Inji curry, looks so spicy…yum !!
- Meghna
  September 8th, 2011 @ 6:40 pm
  Reply
  
  mango pickle is yummy!!
Leena Komaraaju
September 7th, 2011 @ 10:07 pm
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Hi,

Thanks for these truly irresistible pictures on onam food. I came across an equally marvelous write up on the occasion and the significance of the foods served for it which will complement these beautiful pictures of yours. Please do check out. http://www.ifood.tv/network/onam
- Hot choco fudge
  September 8th, 2011 @ 3:06 am
  Reply
  
  Thanks Leena…it is interesting…can u please share some videos for cooking Onam foods as well?
- Shakun
  September 8th, 2011 @ 3:20 am
  Reply
  
  Food! So much food! Nothing makes Onam better
- angel krsna
  September 8th, 2011 @ 6:05 am
  Reply
  
  First such an amazing blog to come across filled with the most vivid images of onam delicacies and then, a wonderful….wonderful page full of the most delightful information on the festival and its wealth of wonderful dishes! loved ‘em both!
Happy Cook / Finla
September 8th, 2011 @ 1:00 am
Reply

What a feast for the eye and tummy. Me too am only intrested in the food side of onam
Shakun
September 8th, 2011 @ 3:20 am
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Wow! Such appetizing pictures…my mouth is already watering . Food is definitely the best part of festivals.
Sumer
September 8th, 2011 @ 3:34 am
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Hey Leena, this is interesting………….the article is packed with lots of info……
Sumer
September 8th, 2011 @ 3:36 am
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Hey Leena, the article is packed with lots of info……I wud also love to see some pics if u cud share…….
Meghna
September 8th, 2011 @ 4:06 am
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Hi Leena, happy Onam to u and everyone else here. the article you shared has lots of info on Onam. Onam feast is really grand Even the significance of onam dishes is quite amusing. Thanks for sharing this.
Laavanya
September 8th, 2011 @ 5:47 am
Reply

Awesome Awesome post!
M Vincent
September 9th, 2011 @ 1:12 am
Reply

Great….But sambar is not a part of traditional Ona-sadhya……..
BongMom
September 9th, 2011 @ 5:39 am
Reply

Happy Onam Sig, that is an amazing spread and you really celebrate it that gorgeous even here ?
- sig
  September 11th, 2011 @ 4:02 pm
  Reply
  
  I ignore Onam most years, it took me four years to finish all the dishes required for this round up . I think last year was the only time I ever made an entire Onam sadya on my own. We do a pot luck sadya once in a while.
Seema
September 9th, 2011 @ 8:10 am
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Happy Onam to you and your family too.
jasmine joseph
September 10th, 2011 @ 1:12 pm
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This is an amazing blog. I’ve posted it on my facebook page so all my Mallu friends can take a look at it as well. I really like and appreciate the pictures and the tips that you’ve added to the recipes. This is definitely wayy easier to follow than my mom directions (b/c she really doesn’t have any lol of making mallu food. So thank you so much!
Miri
September 10th, 2011 @ 9:50 pm
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Happy Onam Sig! That’s a lovely spread with some of my favourite dishes!
crishna
September 11th, 2011 @ 5:57 am
Reply

pics ‘n words that tickle the palate
thanks ‘n a happy yappy onam..
Reena John
September 13th, 2011 @ 5:49 am
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Very nicely done. Where did you find the banana leaf plate?
- sig
  September 13th, 2011 @ 5:13 pm
  Reply
  
  I think I got it from Joann, not sure though, it is really old.
  - Hema
    October 13th, 2011 @ 2:21 pm
    Reply
    
    I am planning to buy banana leaf plate, could you please give me information about that store.
    Thanks a lot,
    Hema
Shri
September 14th, 2011 @ 6:06 am
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It is interesting to see regional variations in the Onam recipes; the feast looks delicious. Have a melamine[?] banana-leaf plate too!
vandana rajesh
September 14th, 2011 @ 10:23 pm
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The Onam sadya on the traditional banana leaf ..what a spread Sig…a happy Onam to you and family.
Hema
October 13th, 2011 @ 2:15 pm
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Where did get those Banana leaf plate?
Thanks,
Hema
sapthanaa
November 23rd, 2011 @ 2:14 am
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Looks just yummy and wow..
Jyothis John
August 22nd, 2012 @ 11:58 pm
Reply

The beauty of this festival is that it is celebrated across all religions, gender and age — be it Pookalam-making competition or cooking festive delights. Festivals like Onam serve as an occasion for get-togethers and great merriment.
Baby
August 30th, 2012 @ 2:10 am
Reply

Thanks for the pictures.

Hey Vincent,

Sambhar is the part of traditional Onam sadhya.
listas barcelona
November 22nd, 2012 @ 11:50 am
Reply

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