Onam Feast

Recipes for the side dishes and main courses of the traditional Ona Sadhya, as recorded in my mother's recipe book. She used to do this entire meal, which was then served and eaten on banana leaves - a full day or more of effort.

As I am short on time and won't be able to add in all my mother's recipes before Onam, I'm going to provide links alongside each sadya item to other great recipes online.

Grilled Snapper in green chutney

Tried this out today - fresh red snapper fillets marinated with coriander chutney and cooked on a charcoal grill. Fresh flavor and juicy, good with rice or with a light tangy salad.

Chettinad Mutton

This recipe is inspired by the Chettinad chicken recipe. It's a variation for grilling mutton - I've added lime and raw papaya for the marinade to tenderize the mutton.

Kozhakotta (Steamed rice balls)

Kozhakotta is a kerala sweet made of steamed rice dumplings or balls stuffed with a sweet mix of jaggery, grated coconut and spices. Very similar to the 'modak' of Maharashtra.

Theeyal (Burnt dish)

Theeyal is a typical kerala curry - a little similar to sambhar (without the dal). It uses roasted/burnt coconut and tamarind, and becomes a dark rich colored curry which is eaten with rice. Sometimes served as as a curry in the Ona Sadhya.

Pakki Chicken Biryani (mummy's recipe)

This is my mother-in-law's recipe for pakki biryani. Here the chicken is cooked separately and then added to the rice and cooked together. This takes about an hour and a half from start to finish.