LOCAL FLAVOURS
Take a look at some of the restaurants in the city where you can queue up for a traditional Onam Sadhya
Jayadev Calamur @Not JD Salinger
When one craves good food from Kerala, several Mumbal restaurants come to mind, which offer the traditional beef chilly with Malabar Parathas or the fish stew with appams. But during the festival of Onam, some of the best restaurants in the city have folks queued to have Onam Sadhya, a variety of pure vegetarian dishes traditionally served on a banana leaf in Kerala.
The main food item is plain boiled rice, served along with other dishes collectively called Kootan, which include curries, lentils, mango pickle, papadum, banana, plain yogurt or buttermilk, and banana or tapioca chips. The traditional dessert called payasam (Malayalam for kheer) is served at the end of the meal.
The Sadhya is usually served for lunch. The meal is served on a banana leaf, which is folded and closed once the meal is finished. Closing the leaf away from you signi-fies complete satisfaction with the food and closing it towards you would mean a signal to the cooks that it needs improvement.
Several restaurants in Mumbai that serve traditional Malayali food have their work cut out on Onam as both Malayalis and non-Malayalis line up outside the restaurant to sample some of the best dishes. Unfortunately, you can’t order a parcel because it just isn’t the thing to do. However, you can try your luck at some of these restaurants that offer the traditional Onam Sadhya.
Deluxe is known to be one of the best and most popular restaurants in Mumbai. While we haven’t had the luck of trying out the traditional Sadhya here, we have sampled some of their non-vegetarian dishes with parathas. However, from what fans of Malayali food have told us, Deluxe is a must visit.
Taste of Kerala,fort
Located a few minutes away from Deluxe, this restaurant also offers a traditional Onam Sadhya, which people say rivals the one served at Deluxe. Again, while we haven’t sampled the Sadhya here, the days on which we have ordered food from here to office left us satiated.
Madeena Hotel, Dadar (E)
Where else in the city can you get a crab curry and mutton masala for Rs. 55 and Rs. 75 respectively? Madeena Hotel, which has been serving Malayali food for around 50 years, offers lip-smacking food at these in-sane rates. Their Sadhya is a must-try on Onam.
Sneha, Mahim
Although the restaurant’s Zomato profile claims that it serves north Indian food, we suggest you just stick to their traditional Malayali menu. The beef fry is to die for, as are the banana fry and the fish masala. On Onam, however, the queue is longer because of the Sadhya offered here.
Rice Boat, Bandra, (E)
This is probably the costliest restaurant on-this list, which explains the low rush com-pared to the other restaurants mentioned earlier. However, if you want to enjoy a quiet Malayali meal, do try this out.
jayadev.calamur©dnaindia.net
