Special Onam Recipes, Ona Sadhya Dishes

Onam without Sadhya is like Diwali without lights

The usual dishes on the menu are:1. Kaaya varuthatha-Sliced bananas deep fried into chips.2. Chena varuthatha- yam chips3. Sarkara upperi - banana chips coated in Jaggery4. Puli Inji- Chutney made with ginger and tamarind.5. Kichadi- Gourd in spiced yogurt6. Pachadi- yogurt and pineapple relish7. Olan- Ash gourd with black beans in a coconut milk gravy8. Theeyal-Mixed vegetable gravy9. Kootu curry -curried black chickpeas10. Erissery- Mashed beans and pumpkin with coconut gravy.

The Sadhya would have a variety of dishes including Pulishery, Erishery, Sambar, Avial, Pappadam, Pickles and more.

Kerala Sambar is said to be different from that of the other Southern Indian states. As far as I know, in other states the recipe consist of only one common vegetable while the Kerala sambar would be having a number of vegetables including potato, tomato, drum sticks, cucumber, and many other. The method of preparation can be read here :


Rasam can be used as a soup or a curry which would help the digestion after a heavy meal. Mode of preparation :


Pulishery, one of the traditional dishes in Kerala made using yogurt and grated coconut. The recipe -


Avial is an important dish in the Onam sadhya. It is made using vegetables and coconut paste. Potato, carrots, raw banana, drumstick, beans are used for the preparation. Mode of preparation : Aviyal


Olan is made with red pumpkin, long green chowli, red dried chowli with coconut milk. The recipe is Olan


Upperi is a side snack that is served along with other main and side dishes. There are two types of upperi that would be served. One is Banana chips and the other is Sarkaravaratti. Banana chips, as the name indicates, is the fried pieces of raw banana - Plantain Chips .


While the recipe for Sarkaravaratti is Sarkaravaratti .


There would be different types of Payasam, and it would be the choice of the family. Ada Pradhaman - Ada Payasam, Parippu Pradhaman, Nenthrapazha Pradhaman, Chena Kilangu Payasam, Mampazha Pradhaman are a few among them.


There are around 24 dishes in the Onam sadhya and these few would be the foremost among them.