Delhi NCR Onam sadhyas: Kerala House meal and community plans

Jehan Nozer Taraporewalla will sit down for an Onam supper with friends from a foodie group this weekend, dressed in a lungi while others plan to wear kasavu saris. It will be his second Onam in Delhi; his first, at IIT Delhi, introduced him to avial and pachadi.

The Onam sadhya is a traditional Kerala meal served on a banana leaf, with curries, accompaniments, crisp savouries and sweet payasams. The meal is central to the harvest festival and its tradition of sharing food.

Joel Johny plans to attend a sadhya at Kerala House on Sunday. He remembers neighbours inviting his family over for Onam as a child. “As a Malayali, for me, Onam is incomplete without sadhya and the game of tug of war,” he says.

Dikshant, a PGDM student, plans to try a traditional sadhya at a Delhi restaurant. Shreya Chaturvedi’s A Little Love Alter Ego Community is also using food, art, music and stories to introduce participants to Kerala through its ‘India, Meet India’ series.

For other events this weekend, see GTK’s Aug 22-23 weekend diary.