Producer: Nibandh Vinod
In Kerala, Onam is a festival to commemorate the homecoming of the mythical King Mahabali.
The highlight of the 10-day harvest festival is the Onam Sadhya, an elaborate meal.
A multi course vegetarian meal featuring 24 dishes on a banana leaf forms the Onam Sadya.
It is a thick mixture of vegetables and coconut, seasoned with coconut oil and curry leaves.
The dish has boiled vermicelli and rice in milk and flavoured with cardamom, sugar and butter. You may also add dry fruits like cashew nuts and raisins.
This is slightly different from the others as this one requires the coconut to be roasted till brown.
Puttu is a traditional breakfast dish of Kerala prepared with rice flour and coconut. It is served with 'kadala' curry or 'pazham' (yellow banana) and sugar.
It is a small round snack made from rice, jaggery, banana, roasted coconut pieces, roasted sesame seeds, ghee and cardamom powder fried in oil.
Another essential part of the Onam Sadya, this is made using a mixture of daals and coconut oil.
The difference between pachadi and khichdi is that pachadi is always sweet. Usually served as a side dish for meals, pachadi is made using fruits.
Chakka Varuthathu/Deep fried jack fruit chips is prepared by deep frying the Chakka Chulas (the edible yellow part of jackfruit).
Rasam or Chaaru or Saaru or Kabir is a soup, prepared using tamarind juice as a base, with the addition of tomato, chilli pepper, pepper, cumin and other spices as seasonings.
A popular sweet dish of Kerala is made of Rava and dry fruits as the primary items.
This are deep-fried and/or dried slices of bananas. They can be covered with sugar or honey and have a sweet taste, or they can be fried in oil and spices and have a salty and/or spicy taste.