The Kerala ‘Sadya’: Veggie stuff that’ll keep you hankering for more!
Most cultures have a recognizable cuisine of their own; a definite set of cooking customs using various spices or combinations of flavours unique to that culture, and which has evolved over time. The means of preparation, cooking methods, ingredients, and the manner in which the dishes are savoured are diversified across cultures. Kerala is no different. And while there are umpteen numbers of dishes unique to the state, Kerala Sadya deserves special mention.
Kerala Sadya is an elaborate traditional vegetarian meal served usually as lunch during wedding receptions and during festivals like Onam. There can be as many as two dozen dishes served during a sadya, and obviously you need something as big as a plantain leaf to serve it on. How else could you accommodate so many items!
The menu usually consists of plain boiled rice, several types of gravies, vegetable curries of varied flavours, pickles, chutneys, papad, banana chips, and bananas. Each of these items has its own specified space on the plantain leaf, and there is clearly defined order in which they are served. Since the coconut palm is the most ubiquitous plant in the state, most dishes will have coconut used in one form or the other – as coconut milk for taste and as a neutraliser, coconut oil used as the cooking medium, or grated coconut as a key ingredient in the dry items on the menu.
The highlight of a sadya of course is payasam, a sweet porridge-like preparation served as a dessert. Payasams are made using a variety of key ingredients such as dried red rice and milk (paal ada payasam), vermicelli (semiya payasam), broken wheat (gothambu payasam) and green gram (parippu payasam). Other ingredients include cashew nuts, raisins, coconut, sugar, molasses, ghee, cardamom etc.
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Guests are welcome to have as many helpings of each item as they can accommodate. Needless to say, Kerala Sadya will leave you satiated. If you are a foodie, you certainly ought to try it out. Call Kerala Travel Centre at 0808 178 9799 and book yourself a Kerala Holiday. And go, gormandize!
