Fairs and Festivals

Legend | Rituals | Onasadya | Onakalikal

ONASADYA

The feasting on Onam day is in a grand scale. The sumptuous meal is known as Onasadhya. Rice is the main item. With the rice, various kinds of preparation are served. There are a variety of curries, upperies (things fried in oil), pappadams (round crisp flour paste cakes of peculiar make), uppilittathu (pickles of various kinds), chammanthi (chutney), payasams and prathamans or puddings of various descriptions.

There are various kinds of curries. Click for Ona sadya recipes

Erissery

It is made of raw plantains and Yams sliced and boiled in water with salt and chilies added. The pulp of the coconut is ground with a little cumin seed added to it. When the whole thing is properly boiled, a few mustard seeds along with scraped coconut pulp fried in coconut oil, is added in to it to give it flavour. Click for recipe of Erissery.

Kalan or Pulisser

It is a preparation of buttermilk. Sliced plantains known as nenthra-kaya and yams (chena) are boiled in water with salt and chilies. Buttermilk mixed with ground coconut pulp is poured in proper time and the preparation is flavored by the addition of mustard, fried in coconut oil. Click for recipe of Kalan or Pulisseri

Olan

Slice cucumber and brinjal. Sometimes pulse is also added. They are boiled in water with salt, but no chillies; when properly boiled some fresh coconut oil is poured and for flavour kariveppila (curry leaves) is added. Click for recipe of Olan

Aviyal 

This is a preparation into which all sorts of vegetables are added. These are boiled in water with salt and chillies. Some tamarind and well ground pulp are added in proper time. Some coconut oil and Kariveppila is added for flavour. Click for recipe of Aviyal 

Thoran

Beetroot and other vegetables are sliced into very small pieces, boiled in water with salt and chillies till all the water dries up. Otherwise, the water is strained away. Then ground coconut pulp and mustard fried in coconut oil is added. Click for recipe of Thoran

Mulakoshyam

This is somewhat like olan. These are all purely Onam specialities of Kerala. Other dishes have later been added to "Onasadhya". 

Koottukari

In this curry, a miscellaneous variety of vegetables and some Bengal gram are used. The difference between this and Aviyal is that no tamarind is added and instead of pouring oil, various things such as mustard, beans and other like things are fried in coconut oil with little pieces of sliced coconut and poured into it. Click for recipe of Koottukari

Sambar

 The chief ingredients are dhal and vegetables, such as, brinjal, drum-sticks, pavakkai etc. It is boiled in water with salt and chilies. Tamarind is added. Certain other things such as coriander, cumin seed etc. are fried in oil and powdered. Mustard fried in oil is an invariable element and the whole preparation is flavored with a little asafoetida. This is the same as the 'Malabar pulinkari' with a slight variation. Click for recipe of Sambar

Pachchadi, Kichchadi

These are different forms of the same curry in which cucumber, mustard and sour butter milk or curds form the principal elements. In Kichchati the cucumber will not be of the ripe sort but young and tender and cut into small slices. Click for recipe of Pachchadi, Kichchadi

Payasam

This is a sort of pudding made of boiled rice to which is added molasses and coconut milk. It is then flavoured with spices. There is another variety in which rice is boiled with milk and sweetened with sugar. It goes by the name of 'pal payasam'. Payasam is also made with Dal or Semiya. Click for recipe of different Payasam's.

Prathaman

There are various kinds of Prathamans such as Ata, pazham, parippu and palata prathamans. Click for recipe of Prathaman

In Ata prathaman rice flour mixed with molasses is formed  into a paste, cut into small pieces and boiled in water. To these, coconut milk and molasses are added in proportion. It is then flavored with ghee.

In pazham prathaman, plantain fruits of a special kind known as Nentra Pazham are well boiled in water till the whole water is dried and the whole thing is reduced to a pulp by constant pressing. Then it is tempered with ghee. Coconut milk is added and the thing sweet in itself, is further sweetened with molasses. The kernel of a dried coconut, cut into small slices is boiled in ghee, and added to it. 

Palada is just like the above with the pieces of flour paste boiled in milk and sweetened with sugar. No ghee or spices are added except some cardamoms.

The main ingredient used in parippu prathaman is pulse. Many more kinds of prathamans are made of other articles as with Bengal gram, pumpkins etc.

Fruits are also served, mainly plantain fruits of various kinds. These are served along with other articles of food at meals.