Onam Feast - Kerala Festival Cuisine

Onam feast is an indispensable part of Onam Celebrations. Onasadya is served on naturally available plates- plantain leaves. It is almost impossible to use a spoon or forks to eat onasadya. Onasadya gives an idea about the traditional Kerala cuisine.



On the banana leaves, there will be served at least 15 side dishes with hot rice. There will be vegetarian dishes only. It is so much amusing to see how simple and easy it is to prepare the Kerala cuisine with easily available vegetables.



The main side dishes of onasadya are:



1. Pappadam (the paper thick snacky item swollen in boiling coconut oil)

2. Pickles (lime, mango, ginger, garlic)

3. Banana chips

4. Thoran of various kinds

5. Aviyal (a mixture of vegetables cooked with a little water)

6. Olan

7. Kalan (‘l’ is pronounced the ‘ll’ in call, call+ [a]^n)

8. Pachady (cucumber preparation, almost sweet)

9. Kichady (sour)

10. Parippu (first main curry)

11. Sambar (curry for second serving of rice)

12. Rasam

13. Pulissery

14. Moru (spiced buttermilk)



Before the 12th item in this list comes two or three sweet puddings called payasam or pradhaman.



The last three items are meant for getting a proper digestion of the items of onasadya.