There is something wonderfully joyful about an Onam Sadya.
The banana leaf. The many little servings. Something tangy next to something mild, something crunchy next to something creamy. Rice disappearing under sambar. A second helping of avial. Someone reaching across the table for more chips. And, of course, the most important question at the end: which payasam first?
But here’s the thing about making a Sadya at home: it doesn’t have to be enormous to be special.
You don’t need twenty dishes, three days of preparation and a kitchen full of people chopping vegetables. Your Onam Sadya can be six dishes or sixteen. You can cook your family favourites from scratch, take a few shortcuts, open a packet or two, fry some vathal, pile the banana chips high — and simply enjoy the day.
That, we think, is the best kind of feast — where the person who cooks also gets to sit down and enjoy it with the family, without stress, or where the whole family chips in and cooks together, making the preparation itself part of the celebration.
So put on some music, bring out the banana leaves if you have them, gather whoever is home, and let’s make a happy little Sadya together.
Start with the dishes you really want to cook
A Sadya is a lovely excuse to spend a little time in the kitchen making recipes that may not appear on the everyday lunch table.
And many of Girija Paati’s Onam recipes come from her family kitchen and her memories of Palakkad, with her extended family spanning at least three generations. You can choose a few, build your own menu around them and start a few fun traditions whether with family or friends.
Avial: the colourful heart of the leaf
If there is one dish that immediately makes a meal feel like a Sadya, it may just be Kerala-style Avial. A medley of vegetables, coconut, curd, curry leaves and coconut oil, it somehow manages to be both comforting and festive.
Making the whole thing yourself? Follow Girija Paati’s Avial recipe.
Want the homemade taste with a little less time and effort? Paati’s Avial Podi Mix takes care of the masala, so you can concentrate on chopping your favourite vegetables and getting everyone to the table on time.
Festive cooking is also about ease — so take those shortcuts that make the day feel lighter, calmer, and more enjoyable.
Then, of course, there must be sambar
For Onam, try Girija Paati’s Kerala-style Arachuvitta Sambar.
Unlike an everyday sambar, this version gets its distinctive flavour from a freshly ground coconut-and-spice paste. It is thick, deeply comforting and particularly good ladled generously over hot rice.
You can follow the Arachuvitta Sambar recipe here, which teaches you to make the Sambar masala from scratch.
Or use Girija Paati’s Arachuvitta Sambar Podi, made precisely for days when you want that special flavour without roasting and grinding every ingredient yourself.
Hot rice + arachuvitta sambar + a little ghee = a very good start to Onam lunch.
Add a few vegetable dishes — or make all of them!
This is where a Sadya becomes fun.
You can keep adding little portions around the leaf, each completely different from the one beside it.
There’s Thoran (recipe here) — Girija Paati’s simple, dry, coconut sprinkled curry with a light tadka. It's often made with pumpkin and is easy, colourful, and a lovely choice if this is your first time putting together a Sadya.
Then there is Kootu Curry (recipe here) — vegetables and Bengal gram cooked with coconut and spices. Mild, hearty and wonderfully at home on a festive leaf.
If you have a little more time, make Erissery (recipe here) — another classic Kerala gravy based vegetable curry that deserves its place at the Sadya.
And for something gentler, there is Olan (recipe here) — light, coconutty and subtle, which is exactly what you want between spoonfuls of the more strongly flavoured dishes.
You certainly don’t have to make all four.
But if the cooking mood takes over, we won’t stop you.
Now bring in the tangy ones
Every good Sadya needs those flavours that wake up your palate halfway through the meal.
Kurukku Kalan (recipe here) is a thick, reduced yoghurt-and-coconut preparation associated with Onam celebrations in Kalpathi, Girija Paati’s maternal village.
Or try Pulissery (recipe here), where yoghurt, mango, spice and a little sweetness come together beautifully.
These are the dishes that make you take another little scoop of rice even when you were quite sure you were finished.
And this is where Paati can quietly make your life easier
Not everything on the leaf needs to begin with chopping, roasting and grinding.
Add a spoonful of Puli Inji — that addictive combination of tamarind, ginger and green chilli — and suddenly the whole plate perks up.
Make a quick Thengai Thogayal using Paati’s ready mix (just add water) and serve with hot rice and gingelly oil or ghee.
And please, do not underestimate the importance of crunch.
A generous handful of Nendrankai Chips (salted banana), Vazhaikkai Chips (spicy raw banana), Jackfruit Chips or the Sweet Sarkara Upperi chips (jaggery banana) around the edge of the leaf has a mysterious habit of disappearing before the actual meal begins.
That is perfectly acceptable Onam behaviour.
Save room. Payasam is coming.
Now we reach the part of the Sadya nobody wants to skip.
If you love the deep flavour of jaggery and coconut milk, make Paati’s Vella Payasam (recipe here). It is an old Palakkad favourite and beautifully festive.
If your family belongs firmly in the milk-payasam camp, there is Paal Payasam (recipe here) — rice slowly cooked with milk into the simplest kind of celebration food.
And then there is one of our favourites for this time of year:
Chakka Payasam or Jackfruit Kheer (recipe here) made with coconut milk.
Paati makes hers using Chakka Varatti, our jackfruit preserve (jam) made with jaggery. Keeping Chakka Varatti ready means a festive jackfruit payasam becomes much easier to put together — and if you don’t get around to making the payasam, a spoonful of Chakka Varatti is rather delicious on its own too.
We speak from experience.
Your Sadya, your rules
Perhaps your Onam table looks like this: Hot rice, arachuvitta sambar, avial, thoran, kootu curry, puli inji, thogayal, a mountain of banana chips and paal payasam.
Or perhaps you are feeling ambitious and add kalan, pulissery, olan and erissery too.
Or perhaps you make three dishes using Girija Paati’s ready-to-cook mixes, with a spoon of Puli Inji for the tang and Chakka Varatti for the sweet (or whip up a quick Chakka Payasam), put out the chips and call everyone for lunch.
That is a Sadya too.
Festivals are supposed to be enjoyed — including by the person doing the cooking.
So this Onam, cook the dishes you love. Try one of Paati’s family recipes you’ve never made before. Take a shortcut where you need one. Get everyone involved. Serve it all on a banana leaf if you can.
Then sit down, while the food is still hot.
That last part is important.
Paati’s Onam recipe box
Planning your menu? Browse all of Girija Paati’s Onam recipes here.
Make your Onam Sadya a little easier with Paati
From Avial Mix, Arachuvitta Sambar Podi and Thengai Thogayal Mix for the dishes you want to cook, to Puli Inji, Chakka Varatti and crunchy Kerala-style chips that can go straight onto your festive table, Paati has made a few things ready so you don’t have to make everything yourself.
Cook some. Open some. Share everything.
Shop Girija Paati’s Thiru Onam Specials
Wishing you a table full of good food, plenty of second helpings, and a very happy Onam from Girija Paati’s kitchen to yours.
