How to eat an Onam sadhya: a guide to the banana-leaf feast
Onam is Kerala's harvest festival, celebrated in late August or September, and its centrepiece is the sadhya: a feast of many small dishes served together on a banana leaf. Every dish has its own place on the leaf, and there is an order to eating it.
If you have never had one, the leaf can look like a lot. It is easier than it looks.
What is on the leaf
A sadhya is vegetarian. The dishes fall into four groups:
Crunch and tang (the small things at the top of the leaf)
- Banana chips (kaya varuthathu) and jaggery-coated banana chips (sarkaravaraty)
- Pappadam, crisp wafers
- Achar, spicy pickle, and pulinji, a sweet-sour chutney of tamarind, ginger and jaggery
Curries and vegetables
- Thoran: stir-fried vegetables with grated coconut
- Avial: vegetables in a coconut and yogurt sauce with curry leaves
- Olan: ash gourd and cowpeas in coconut milk
- Erisseri: pumpkin and coconut curry
- Kootukary: vegetables and lentils with coconut
- Pachadi and kichadi: sweet-sour yogurt dishes
Rice and what you pour over it
- Matta rice: Kerala's red, nutty rice, in the middle of the leaf
- Sambar: a lentil and vegetable stew with tamarind
- Pulissery: a mild yogurt curry
- Rasam: tangy, peppery tomato soup
- Moru: spiced buttermilk
The sweet finish
- Payasam: a milk-based dessert with jaggery and vermicelli or rice ada
Our own sadhya has eighteen dishes, listed on the Onam sadhya page.
How to eat it, step by step
- Use your hands. A sadhya is traditionally eaten with your right hand, and it tastes different that way.
- Start dry, go wet. Begin with rice and the dry dishes: a little of each, such as thoran, avial and olan.
- Move to the pours. Mix sambar into the rice, then rasam, then pulissery. Mix with your fingertips and eat in small handfuls.
- Sweet, then cool. Payasam comes next, then moru and the last of the rice to close the meal.
- Fold the leaf toward you. When you are done, fold the leaf toward you. It is the polite way to say thank you.
A few things worth knowing
- The leaf is placed with its narrow tip to your left.
- You do not mix everything at once. The pleasure is in tasting each dish on its own, then in combinations.
- Ask for refills: seconds of rice and curries are part of the generosity of a sadhya.
- Every dish is vegetarian, but several contain dairy (yogurt, buttermilk, the milk in payasam). Tell us about any allergies when you order.
Have a sadhya in Berlin
We cook the sadhya around Onam on a few set days, and the dates sell out. Pre-orders are announced ahead of the festival; see the Onam sadhya page for details and past seasons. Not Onam season? Follow us for the next date, or ask about catering for a family celebration.
Frequently asked questions
When is Onam? Onam is Kerala's harvest festival, in late summer. The date follows the Malayalam calendar and changes every year, usually falling in August or September.
Is a sadhya vegetarian? Traditionally yes. It is a vegetarian feast served on a banana leaf, with many dishes, a sweet payasam and plain rice at the centre.
Do you eat it with your hands? Yes. That is the traditional way, and it is part of the experience.
Do you serve a sadhya in Berlin? We offer an Onam sadhya around the festival. See our Onam sadhya page for dates and how to book.
Read next
For vegetarian dishes beyond the feast, read vegetarian and vegan in Kerala cuisine. For everything else, see today's menu.
