Sadhya

Yummy, is what i feel whenever i see this picture. It was taken for onam when i was in kerala. What can i say abt the kerala sadhya ? Be it Onam,Vishu or a marriage, sadhya is an inseperable part and for most its the favourite part on these occasions. Many people attend a wedding for the sadhya, esp if its not your wedding, because thats one wedding in which you wont be able to enjoy the sadhya. Believe me i'm married.
And if you r not from kerala you might be wondering a lot of things to start with what is the green stuff on which u have all the food on. Its a banana leaf, that serves as a plate for the sadhya. I dont know technically what makes the sadhya taste more when its served on a banana leaf. But the sadhya wont be complete if you serve the sadhya on you costly dinnerware. You gotta have the banana leaf. And its tip has to face left, i guess i am not wrong. If i'm pls point it out. People are very particular on how to serve the items for the sadhya. Theres an order in which the items are served. I am not a genious in this , but they say the sadhya is not complete if its not served right.

How to serve:

They start filling the leaf from the left, start with banana chips & sharkara upperi (its a sweet of plantain and jaggery). Then u have the small banana and a papad. Then comes the variety of achars/pickles . You may have mango,lime,mix veg, but mostly it'll be mango and lime. Then you have a set of pachadi's /raithas(not exactly but close). The pachadis add a colour twist to the leaf. You can have pineapple(yellow),beetroot(purple),cucumber(white) pachadis. Then comes the kuttu(made with raw plantains and black peas) and avial(all veggies n coconut milk). If you have ever been to kerala , you know what an avial is. You its a traditional dish.Ya ya heard that a lot. Ok back to sadhya. Then you have a thoran(which is a vegetable fried in oil with onion and coconut). The typical vegetable chosen for sadhya is cabbage. Oh i forgot to mention sadhay is completely vegetarian. That completes the side dish. The main dish is rice. Rice will be served thrice during a sadhya with three different curries to go with it. And finally the sweet dish which will be a payasam. Some sadhyas have up to three payasam. You might be wondering how a person can eat all these. Keralites do and the next thing they do after a sadhya is have a lime tea and take a long nap.

Now theres an art to have a sadhya. I am not an expert in it, but will let you know what i know. Of course i cant let u know what i dont know. Make sense. Anyway leave it. First you have rice, add a little ghee, put a little dal(a typical yellow indian curry) and have it with kuttu and pickle. Once done take more rice, now have sambhar, avial , thoran and pachadi. Next mostly have the payasam. Have the banana and papad with the payasam. Then again take some rice, with buttermilk and rasam. Finish off with chips and sarkaraupperi. I guess i covered it all. This is my knowledge of sadhya. I have never made a sadhya on my own. Main reason you know is that i dont have access to banana leaf. Grt excuse rite. Anyway next time i'm in kerala i'll try to make a sadhya on my own. Keep up the grt hope.Ok guys its such a long post. Hey if you guys ever get a chance do have a sadhya, esp from kerala, do have it. Dont think twice.(like i had to whether or not to try sushi, i did and i regret it,uhh..)
You will know what you have been missing all you life, not exactly...but its a grt experience.