Onam is known as the harvest festival of Kerala. It is celebrated with a lot of fervor across different parts of the country.
The celebration goes on for 10 days with the arrival of Mahabali. People adorn their houses with vibrant rangoli and adorn themselves with vibrant clothes known as Onakodi.
People participate in folk dances such as Thumbi Thullal which is a customary dance performed by women folk dancers. A famous drama called Pulikai also takes place that is a representation of hunting activity of a tiger.
Family members gather together for feasting and children play boisterously on the swings. Pookalams are the flowers during Onam that are omnipresent throughout the 10 days.
Onam is especially famous among outsiders for its exciting snake boat race. So if you visit Kerala during Onam, never forget to witness the grand event.
Onam is also a great festival for the farmer as the time is for harvest and they pray for prosperity. Onam is celebrated after monsoon when the sky shines blue in colour and forest are embellished by a lush green
Let us talk about the traditionally prepared onam recipes.
Recipe 1
Paal Payasam
Payasam is a delightful dessert that compliments your meal very well.
Start the process by washing and soaking 50 gm of rice for half an hour. Then cook the rice in 1l of milk until it becomes soft. After this add 5gm of cardamom powder, 100gm of sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Now heat 50 ml of ghee in a pan and add 50gm of cashew nuts. When the cashew nuts are slightly golden, add 25gm of raisins and saute for 1 minute. Pour the rice mixture and serve warm.
Recipe 2
Rasam
A tempting South Indian dish that is not as thick as sambhar but is as easy to make. Start the process by crushing garlic(3 cloves) and chopping tomatoes(100gm). Then soak the tamarind and extract the pulp. After doing roast 10 gm peppercorns, 10 gm cumin seeds,10 gm coriander seeds, 3 gm red chilies and grind until fine. This makes rasam powder.
Boil 100 gm of toor dal with tomatoes till the lentils are mashed. Now keep this aside. For tempering heat 30 ml of oil and add 3gm of mustard seeds and heat this until it crackles. Now add the crushed garlic, 2gm of curry leaves and 10gms of coriander leaves. Mix the dal and 500 ml water to get the required rasam consistency. Mix in 25gms of tamarind pulp. Add the rasam powder and boil for 5 minutes on a low flame. Your rasam is ready to be served.
Recipe 3
Avial
This is a traditional dish from South India. It is a thick mix of healthy vegetables that are cooked in coconut oil and mustard seeds. The recipe is not difficult at all.
Start by preparing the rice first. For Boil 1 cup of red rice in 7 cups of water for an hour.
To prepare Avial Boil 1 potato and 2 carrots separately and keep aside. After this take some water in a saucepan and add chopped raw banana(1), drumsticks(2), beans(5 sticks), onion(1 big) and raw mango(small piece).
Now season with salt to taste and turmeric powder(1Tsp). Stir well and let it steam for 2-3 minutes.Then add green chillies, coconut oil (1Tbsp)and mustard seeds(2Tsps crushed). Once the vegetables are steamed, add the boiled potato and carrot along with some curd(1Tbsp). Finally, add mustard seeds with coconut oil(1Tbsp) and mix it well. Your Avial is ready to be served.
Hope you liked this little list of Onam delicacies. Stay tuned for the next blog post! 🙂
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