Home is where the sadya is!

Onam, the word brings back wonderful memories in every Malayali's heart. As if transported straight out of some coffee table book or a picture postcard, this ten-day festival is that one time when you can see this God's own country at its true best.

A time when every mallu woman eagerly bid adieu to her ill-fitting Salwar kameez to embrace the traditional mundu-naryathu. A time when even the most stubborn of kids willingly give up watching their favorite cartoons on tv to have a turn at the wooden swing specially put up for the occasion and cheerfully run around in the mangroves clad in their fancy silk pavadas ( long skirts). A time when the most modern facebook era teenagers who can hardly bare to stand the smell of jasmine flowers are all game to adorn layers and layers of it on their heads. A time when even the quintessential malayali men who would rather die of thirst than enter his own kitchen to get a glass of water, develops this special interest in helping out their women prepare the feast in all its grandeur- the Onam sadya.

Growing up, I never understood what the hype was all about. If we really did want to deck ourselves in silk saris and adorn our heads with garlands of flowers, couldn't we have done it any day? And as far as the feasting was concerned, wasn't sambar, parippu, thoran, avial and kichdi, anway an integral part of our daily Malayali diet?

For me, Onam was always about seeing my usually health conscious dad, having to eat sadya twice, first at his maternal house and then with us to avoid upsetting either of the two most important women in his life. It was always about seeing my mother and my grandma, slogging for hours and hours in the kitchen to prepare a meal comprising over twenty different types of dishes only to have it all disappear in just a matter of minutes. Or seeing my couch-potato brother suddenly take up this role of the 'karyasthan' (in-charge) of our little household, making sure that the sadya was served at the right time and in the right manner. In short a completely overrated festival!

But then...I moved to Nairobi and I still remember that very first Onam away from home. I had my own family now. My daughter roamed around in her pajamas as usual and my husband sat glued to the tv, lazily skipping through the endless channels. No new clothes were laid out and there was no sound of my mom, telling us that we were going to be late for the morning aarti at our family temple. There was no smell of fried poppadams and curry leaves coming from my kitchen and even with the loud noise of the tv and my toddler's pitter-patter everywhere, my house felt awfully quiet. I stood in my empty kitchen in my jammies, eating cold cereal at my kitchen counter top, going through the end number of Facebook pictures my friends had uploaded on Onam day. It showed them, all clad in their traditional mundu-naryathu, posing for the camera as they licked the payasam off their hands or crunching on the crispy banana chips, served on the side. It was only then I understood what it was that I was truly missing. And all of a sudden, everything seemed to make sense. 

Onam was special to me, like it was to every single Malayali. It brought back fond memories and a strange nostalgia that I rarely felt in my otherwise busy life. After all, it was that one day my otherwise health conscious dad eagerly agreed to eat two sadyas. It was that one day my mom and grandma  didn't mind working for hours and hours to put together a sadya, like no other, just to see the happiness on our faces as we devoured each and every morsel till nothing was left. It was that one day when their was no sound of television in my house, but the sound of my amma telling us to get ready to go to the temple as she laid out our brand new Onam kodis (new clothes), my grandma calling out to the crows (she believed to be our ancestors) to come have the first bite and my brother trying to teach me how exactly to lay out a sadya, educating me about its particular placement on the plantain leaf and its significance.

I was miles and miles away from Kerala but it was Onam and I still had my home right here in front of me...One sat watching some Bruce WIllis movie for the umpteenth time and the other one was walking around with my scarf pinned to her curls, pretending to be Rapunzel. 'Veda,' I said. 'We have to get ready to go to the temple dear and while you get ready, I am going to tell you a special story of a great king called Mahabali.' 'And honey...,' I turned to my husband, 'I think u should iron that mundu.'

The Sadya

Though I could never manage to do a sadya as grand like my mom and grandma's. Here's my mini version...enough to bring the festive flavors straight to your home, no matter where you are.

Parrippu

Ingredients

1 cup moong dal (husked green beans or yellow lentils according to me)

3 cups water

Grated coconut-1 cup

Cumin seeds -1/2 tsp

Green chillies -2

Garlic- 3-4 

Turmeric powder- a pinch

Salt

Curry leaves

Ghee

Mustard Seeds -1/4 tsp

In a pressure cooker, add 1 tbsp ghee and add the washed lentils. Roast them for a few minutes.

Now add water and add salt. Cook for 5 mts after the first whistle. Remove from fire.

In a blender, finely grind coconut, cumin, turmeric, green chillies and garlic

Once the lentils have completely cooled down...and the pressure completely gone (no explosions please), add the coconut mixture.

In another pan, add 1 tsp ghee and splutter some mustard seeds and curry leaves...add to the lentil and coconut mixture.

Sambar (I like my sambar without veggies...but if you like it please feel free to add)

1/2 cup Split red gram or Tuvar dal (Red lentils according to me...)

3 cups water

1-2 tbsp of Sambar Powder ( You can make Sambar powder by heating gingelly oil (1 tsp), roasting 1/2 tsp asafoetida, 1tsp fenugreek seeds, 10 dry red chillies and 1tbsp coriander powder and grinding all of them in a blender.) 

Tamarind paste- 2 tbsp

Dry red chillies, curry leaves and mustard seeds

Asafoetida - a pinch

Tomatoes- 2 chopped into big pieces

Onions-  1 sliced

In a pressure cooker, add oil and splutter some mustard seed, curry leaves and dry red chillies

Add sliced Oniones and sauté 

Now add the washed lentils, water, tomatoes and salt, cover with the lid let it cook for 5 mts after the first whistle

Once the lentils are cooked, add Sambar powder, Tamarind paste and Asafoetida

Garnish with coriander leaves and Drizzle with some ghee before serving.

Thoran

3 cups of any chopped vegetable (Beans, cabbage, Spinach, or even a mix of beans and carrots,...)

1 cup coconut

2 garlic cloves

A pinch of turmeric powder

Salt

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

2-3 green chillies

Curry leaves, dry red chillies, mustard seeds

Coconut oil- 1 tbsp

In a pan, add coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds, dry red chillies and curry leaves.

Add the chopped vegetables, cover and cook on a low flame, sprinkle salt

In the mixer, coarsely grind coconut, turmeric, cumin, green chillies 

Add the mixture to the cooked veggies.

Avial

2 carrots

1/2 brinjal

1- yam

1 drumstick

1 raw banana

1/2 cup cononut

Green chillies -3-4

Curry leaves

A pinch of turmeric powder

Tamarind Paste 1/2 tbsp

Yogurt- 1 tbsp

4 button onions

Cumin seeds 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves

Mustard seeds

In a pan, splutter mustard seeds, curry leaves and add the veggies. Add salt, turmeric powder, slit green chillies  cover and cook on slow flame ( the veggies should not over cook)

In the blender, coarsely grind coconut, cumin and button onions

Add to the veggies along with the tamarind paste

remove from heat and once the vegetables have cooled down add the yogurt

Drizzle 1 tbsp coconut oil and curry leaves before serving

Kichdi

Okra 

Chilli powder 1/2 tsp

A pinch of turmeric powder

1 cup of yogurt

Salt

Curry leaves and mustard seeds

Add 1 tbsp oil and splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves

Add the Okra, salt and cook till crisp

Let it cool

Whip the yogurt along with salt and turmeric and a few tbsp of water to get a flowey consistency

Once the Okra is completely cooled down add the yogurt mixture

Olan

1/2 cup black eyed beans

4-5 green chillies

1 cup thick cononut milk

Pressure cook the black eyed beans with green chillies and salt. 

Once the beans are cooked, add coconut milk and let it simmer for 10 minutes

Drizzle cononut oil and curry leaves before serving

Vermicilli Payasam

1 cup Vermicilli

1 cup water

6 cups milk

1 cup of condensed milk

Cashew nuts -1/4 cup

Raisins- a few

2 tbsp Ghee

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp Cardomom Powder

Heat ghee and fry the cashews and raisins and keep it aside

In the remaining ghee, add the Vermicilli and fry till light brown

Add water and let the Vermicilli cook till soft.

Add milk, sugar and let it cook on slow flame

Add condensed milk and Cardomom powder.

Garnish with fried cashews and raisins before serving

Make sure you add banana chips, pappadoms, mango pickle and a baby banana on the side of the plantain leaf...they are all an integral part of the sadya.

(Will host my Onam sadya on the 30th....stay tuned for the latest pics...xx)