Special thanks to @ocd and @foodiesbeehive for this great opportunity to share about our traditional kerala sadhya.
Am from Kerala,India , also known as the God's own country. The people of kerala also known as malayalies consider food as something that is much above of other aspects of life.
Traditional kerala sadhya having boiled rice, kootan and 2 types of payasam on glasss
When it comes to traditional foods, there is nothing more traditional than sadhya for malayalies.
Sadhya is considered as a divine meal in the southern part of Kerala. Sadhyas are mainly made on special occasions such as traditional marriages or on certain feativals like Onam and Vishu. For us its a dish but for people who see sadhya for the first time its actually a feast.
A sadhya consist of a minimum of 11 dishes and can go up to 25 dishes. All these dishes are served in a single course and it may sound funny but we consider all these dishes as a whole single dish.
All the ingredients required for the sadhya are carefully picked so that there is no compramise in quality. The actual preparations of the sadhya will begin from a day before the festival or celebration because it will take a lot of time to prepare more than 10 dishes before 11 am.
All the family members will together prepare these dishes. And its so much fun and joy while the whole family is in the kitchen and cooking together. Sometimes neighbors will also help preparing dishes during night. So a sadhya is not only a dish but also a social event creating more bond among the neighbors.
The specialty of sadhya is that the dishes prepared are served on banana leaves. Sadhyas are mostly vegetarian but in some areas non veg is also included in the dishes. People used to sit on the floor , cross legged while having sadhyas but now most people are having it at tables with chairs. Every people in Kerala celebrates the festival onam and there is no onam without sadhya. In my house during onam sadhya, me and my family will sit on the floor, cross legged while having sadhya. It is always nice to follow some traditions right.....
cuties having sadhya in the traditional way
The main item of the sadhya is plain boiled rice . We can make different flavors by mixing these boiled rice with the accompanying dishes. All these dishes other than the boiled rice are collectively called kootan in malayalam ( keralas local language). These kootan includes traditional kerala dishes like sambar, pulisheri, paripukary,theeyal, olan, aveel, thoran etc.. Banana chips and other sweets are served first before serving the dishes.
Adaprathaman (a type of payasam in sadya)
After this main portion of sadya is eaten which includes pappadams, pickles and butter other than the kootan , the traditional dessert called payasam is served. In some sadhyas there are more than 6types of payasams are served.
Sadhyas are so special for me. Its not a dish but an event for me where the whole family cooks together and eat together and will have a lot of quality time together. Sadhya is a dish that brings joy and happiness to me.
All these pics are taken by me during different festive occasions like Onam and Vishu.
Those are cuties indeed @farmlife! This was a fascinating post! A sadhya does sound like a very festive occasion for the community. I was amazed to read that it is up to 25 dishes. I love foreign flavours. Indian cooking is truly a unique food on it's own. Maybe you should do a #MarketFriday post for @dswigle? Or join #traveldigest or the #haveyoubeenhere community? Your Indian markets are spectacular. I have a friend who used to take tours to India and I always loved her photos and the spices she would return with to make a traditional dish
Thank you so much... due to these unforeseen circumstances of covid i cannot travel like i used to be, but it will be my pleasure to share with you all about the different traditions and ofcourse the markets of this proud nation.
All great choices! Any one of those tags!!
Thanks for mentioning #MarketFriday @buckaroobaby!
Of course! Spread the love .... of the fabulous #MarketFriday
This meal look awesome, I am very interested in foreign food, so cool
One day you should visit kerala. It realy is God's own country.
I really love Karela food, especially vegan. There are a lot of varieties in Karela cuisine but I know only a few to prepare like idli and dosa sambar. Thanks for sharing such amazing food!
My pleasure... there are many famous kerala vegan dishes like appam,puttu, uppumavu
A great, varied dish and a beautiful way to serve it on these banana leaves! Wonderful! :)
Thank you so much