Onam Sadya: A Feast Fit for Kings

Unwritten rules passed down over centuries accompany the sadya and they include the manner in which the leaf is placed, serving each dish and its exact position on the leaf, the way in which the rice is taken with the different dishes and curries, and how to sign off by having some rice with pulissery followed by buttermilk after enjoying the dessert.

- 

Here comes the banana leaf. While placing the leaf, it must be ensured that its edge faces the left. The first item to be placed on the leaf from the left is salt followed by pappadam, ripe banana, sharkkara varatti (jaggery-coated fried banana bits), banana fritters, puliyinji (tamarind chutney), pickle, olan (a preparation of ash gourd, cowpeas in coconut milk), kaalan (a sour curry having plantain/yam prepared with buttermilk or curd), erisseri (a tempered curry made with pumpkin, cowpeas and coconut), pineapple curry, aviyal (a thick mixed vegetable stew), kootukari (spicy curry made with vegetables and legumes), thoran (a dry dish of finely chopped beans, raw jackfruit or beetroot), mezhukkupuratti (thin pieces of yam or Chinese potato boiled with spices and fried in coconut oil), pachadi (a dish made with okra, beetroot or