Sadya, the banana-leaf feast

What it is

A sadya has rice at its heart and a long list of side dishes around it. A normal feast has about two dozen items. Grand ones have more than sixty. There are banana chips and jaggery-coated chips, pickles of mango and lime, a ginger and tamarind relish, yoghurt dishes, dry stir-fried vegetables with coconut, a mixed vegetable dish in coconut and curd, and a mild stew of ash gourd and beans. Dessert is payasam, a sweet pudding, often in two or three kinds.

The order of service

Guests sit in long rows, traditionally on the floor. The leaf is laid with its narrow tip to the left of the diner. Salt, chips, pickles and the side dishes go on the top half. Rice goes on the bottom half, nearest you. The rice is eaten in rounds. First with dal and ghee, then with sambar, then often with a tamarind or pepper broth. Payasam follows, sometimes eaten with a mashed ripe banana. The meal closes with rice and buttermilk.

Where and when

The best known sadya is the Onasadya, eaten on Thiruvonam day during Onam in August or September. Families cook it at home, and restaurants across Kerala sell it for the season. Temples serve large sadyas too. The Vallasadya at the Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple, offered to the crews of the snake boats, is famous for its length. Sadya is served at midday. The food is cooked without onion or garlic in many traditional homes and temples.

How to do it

1. Sprinkle a little water on the leaf and wipe it before food is served.
2. Wait until rice is served before starting.
3. Mix rice with one curry at a time, using your right hand.
4. Take small tastes of the side dishes between mouthfuls.
5. Finish with payasam, then rice with buttermilk.
6. Fold the leaf closed when you are done.

Good manners

• Eat with the right hand only.
• Do not get up before the row has finished, unless your hosts do.
• Folding the leaf signals you are finished. The direction of the fold has meaning and varies by occasion.

What is eaten

AvialA thick vegetable stew with coconut and curry leaves from KeralaSambarA South Indian lentil and vegetable stew soured with tamarindRasamA spiced, tangy South Indian soup served hot with riceErisseryKerala curry of vegetables and coconut, a staple at festival feastsKheerA sweet pudding of rice, milk and sugar, flavoured with cardamom and nutsPapadamThin, crisp flatbread made from lentil or other flours, served as a snack or side

Also part of it, and being written: Thoran, Olan, Kaalan.

Sources and further reading

• Sadya on Wikipedia
• Kerala Tourism: Sadya, the traditional vegetarian feast