Oottupura Onam Sadya

1. Salt
this is used to balance individual flavors.

2. Lemon Pickle
pickle is added as an accompaniment to rice. Often after having the payasam in the end, a dot of pickle on the tongue balances the sweet flavour of the payasams.

3. Sadya Manga Achar (Mango Pickle)
a homemade raw mango pickle used as an accompaniment.

4. Inji Puli
The perfect balance of sweet, spicy, sharp and sour. Puli Inji is considered as a digestive item in an Onam sadya.

5. Kaya Varatha (banana chips)
Raw banana chips that add crunch and munch to the sadya.

6. Sarkkara Varatiyatu (plantains coated in jaggery)
raw banana and jaggery chips which add sweetness, crunch and munch to a sadya.

7. Kalan – (contains dairy- yoghurt)
yoghurt and coconut based gravy that helps in enhancing the taste of a sadya.

8. Kuttu Curry
a unique dish in which coconut is used as oil, freshly grated paste and roasted coconut. Made with Bengal gram, yam and raw banana this is an integral part of a sadya.

9. Matanga Payar Erisherry (Pumpkin and cowpea)
made with pumpkin and cowpea, this dish has a delicious after taste of pumpkin and coconut.

10. Olan
a light and mild curry with flavors of coconut milk, curry leaves and cowpeas. Olan is said to be the humblest of dishes and a palate cleanser.

11. Avial – (contains dairy-yoghurt)
No sadya is complete without this medley of vegetables and grated coconut mix.

12. Cabbage Thoran (cabbage stir fry)
crunchy and cooked with no spices except the light seasoning and the sweetness of freshly grated coconut.

13. Beans Mezhukupuratiyatu (beans stir fry)
a light stir fry of beans with minimal spices and oil to cook.

14. Vendakka Kichadi – (contains dairy- yoghurt)
yoghurt based dishes are popular in a sadya. Fresh cow milk yoghurt, grated coconut and mustard garnished with deep-fried crunchy okras.

15. Pineapple Pullisherry – (contains dairy- yoghurt)
Again a yoghurt based dish made with coconut and yoghurt with the goodness of sweet pineapples.

16. Beetroot Pacchadi – (contains dairy- yoghurt)
he sweetness of beetroot and coconut with the warmth of mustard and the sourness of homemade yoghurt is a brilliant combination.

17. Vellerika Pacchadi- (contains dairy- yoghurt)
orange Madras cucumber and coconut in a mustard spiked yoghurt gravy. More like a raita.

18. Pazham (Banana)
Banana is often a part of the sadya and eaten at the end of a meal.

19. Pappadam
Traditional rice pappadams sourced from Guruvayur. No sadya is complete without pappadam.

20. Red Rice
Served hot in the centre of a sadya.

21. Parippu (Dal)
thick dal cooked with minimal spices.

22. Ghee
a spoonful in the dal is the best combination.

23. Sambar
Freshly ground sambar powder and roasted coconut are used in this distinctive Kerala-style sambar.

24. Pepper Rasam
Comforting and homey Rasam, perfect for season changes.

25. Ada Pradaman- (contains dairy- ghee)
The Ada is a rice flour batter rolled out on banana leaf like pasta, steamed and then cut into squares. The Ada used to make this payasam has been specially made by my mother in Thalaserry for the sadya.

26. Pal Payasam –  (contains dairy- milk, ghee)
Inspired by the famous pal payasam from the Ambalapuzha temple in the Alapuzha district of Kerala, this payasam is slow-cooked in organic cow milk for over two hours in a uruli to get a rose hue and the desired creaminess.

27. Sambaram – (contains dairy- yoghurt)
Buttermilk spiced with spices that aid digestion.