Tuesday, August 28, 2018

The Onam Sadhya 2018

Onam 2018 spanned 15-27 August. Celebrated in the first month of Malayalam calendar, Onam is solemn this year for many with family and friends in Kerala who face devastating floods and its aftermath. Cochin International Airport is still closed due to extensive damage in the area.

While the festival doesn't hold religious or cultural significance to us, it holds meaning for the friends. Through them, we've learnt to appreciate the festival and its customs. For the man and I, it's really about the wonderful food served at the Onam sadhya. Heh. The restaurants always do it in the form of a buffet table, and rescind their a la carte menu for two weekends. The man was traveling and wasn't able to join in at the earlier sadhya. Luckily for him, he got back to town in time for one lunch at the Onam buffet. Otherwise he would have been really sad to miss out on the fabulous spreads.

We went to Spice Junction to have our fix of the Onam sadhya. All the vegetarian dishes I love. Dessert saw two kinds of payasam for those with a sweet tooth at our table. Apparently there're ten kinds of payasam that will pop up at Onam. But generally, restaurants here trot out two types only. Back to the savory dishes. There's no way I can produce these dishes in my kitchen. Either I turn up at the friends' parents dining tables, or I pop in to the restaurants. The latter option is always easier, and I'd feel less guilty. Hahahah. I especially look forward to olan, the creamy Kerala curry of ash gourd, black eyed peas, green chillies, ginger and coconut milk. Spice Junction did it beautifully.

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