Where to find the perfect Onam sadhya in UAE

Dubai - Here are the restaurants you can head to in UAE on Onam day to have your fill

The most awaited part of the Onam festival is the traditional sadhya - or the lavish vegetarian feast served on a fresh plantain leaf. The sumptuous meal centres around rice and over 21 vegetarian dishes, which may even go up to over 60 if you're lucky to have some expert chefs are around! But the following are the must-serves on the plantain leaf:

Parippu curry

Moong dal/lentils cooked with grated coconut and spices with drizzled ghee

Sambar

Dal-based curry with vegetables, spices, tamarind

Sadhya - dos and don'ts

*Narrow part of the plantain leaf has to be placed pointing to the eater's left side

* The dishes are served starting from the top-left corner of the leaf

* Order of the items served: small yellow banana, sharkara upperi, upperi, pappadam, mango pickle, injipuli, lime pickle, thoran, olan, avial, pachadi, kichadi, erissery/koottu curry and salt are placed in order on the upper half of the leaf

* Rice: bottom centre of the leaf

* Main items: parippu, sambar, kaalan, rasam, paayasams. in that order

* The items are served in that order to primarily aid easy digestion of the heavy meal

Pulissery

Spiced, aromatic cooked buttermilk with turmeric, vegetables and sometimes, fruits

Rasam

Spiced, seasoned, tamarind, pepper and chilli-based broth

Olan

Curry with white gourds, yellow pumpkin, coconut milk and coconut oil

Kaalan

Plantain, tuber or yam-based spicy-sour curry with yoghurt and coconut

Pachadi

Mildly spiced, yoghurt-based dish made with vegetables or fruits for a cooling effort

Kichadi

Curd and cucumber dish served raw or cooked

Avial

Mixed vegetables in thick, seasoned coconut paste

Thoran

Sauteed vegetables with grated coconut

Paapad

Thin, fried crisps made of dough

Injipuli

Tradition pickle paste with hot, sour and sweet elements to aid digestion

Erissery or Koottukari

Vegetables, black chenna and coconut

Sarkara varati

Banana chips coated with jaggery, ginger and cardamom powder

Achaar

Spicy pickles of mango or lime

Paal Payasam

Kheer made of rice and milk

Semiya Payasam

Kheer of vermicelli and flavoured with cardamom, raisins, cashwenuts

Parippu payasam

Thick kheer of fried dal and jaggery and flavoured with cardamom, raisins, cashwenuts, and fried coconut bits

Where to get sadhya in Dubai?

Back home Onam might be a huge leveller with the rich and the not-so-rich alike feasting from a plantain leaf. But trust Dubai to take it a notch higher. So you're craving for a delicious sadhya spread, but where can you get one? Here are the restaurants you can head to in UAE on Onam day to have your fill:

Mazina, Address Dubai Marina

At Mazina, Address Dubai Marina, you can partake of 105 dishes from starters to dessert, buffet style including traditional dishes like Kalan (Raw banana cubes cooked with curd, coconut paste tempered with curry leaves and south Indian spices), Erissery (Raw Banana/ Yam cooked with coconut jeera paste and Dal), and Ela Ada (Rice flour cake spread on banana leaf steamed with banana, jaggery and grated coconut stuffing). The feast is on till September 6, from 7pm to 11pm for Dhs175 per person including soft beverages.

Mami's Ilam, Discovery Gardens

For booking: 04 328 4664