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Home » Recipes » Cuisine » Indian » Kerala

Kerala Sadya Recipes

Published: Apr 12, 2016 · Modified: Apr 12, 2019 by Manju · This post may contain affiliate links · 7 Comments

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The Sadya or a feast, that is typical of the state of Kerala in Southern India aptly named God’s own Country, is served to celebrate anything from a birthday to a festival to a wedding, is the single most awe inspiring vegetarian fare you can ever eat! Read along for a collection of 40+ Kerala Sadya Recipes.

Kerala Sadya Recipes. Everything you need to make a ver memorable sadya feast for this Vishu or Onam! An exhaustive list of Sadya Recipes. All are Vegetarian and most are Vegan recipes

There are typically about 16-20 dishes or more and there is a subtle variation in the dishes and the way they are made, depending on which part of Kerala you are eating the sadya at. This feast is served on banana leaves and you have to sit on the floor to eat this feast. Though, people do serve sadya on the leaf on a dining table but the fun of it is to sit on the floor cross legged and enjoy this wonderfully put together feast. Be assured that by the time you get done with the sadya you are most likely to have pins and needles on your legs!

The top half of the leaf is reserved for the vegetable sides where as the bottom half is for the rice and the different curries that go over the rice. There is a certain order in which these various dishes are served on the banana leaf. Again this varies a little from region to region in Kerala. Some folks start out with salt or pickle, others start out with payasam (a sweet pudding). In the end, it doesn’t matter, as you are going to eat it all. Also, there is no order to eating them except for the various courses that are served. But you don’t have to worry about that part, those who are serving will have to.

There are the pickles and condiments that range from Mango pickle, Lime / Lemon pickle to the more exotic Goose Berry pickle etc but the winner in this category is the hot, sweet and sour pickle called Inji Puli that is made with ginger, jaggery and tamarind – it is a half chutney – half pickle type of condiment. The Indian style of pickles are almost always made with fiery red chillies, lots of oil and salt to balance out the heat and sometimes a little bit of fenugreek to help out with the effect of the heat on your stomach. There is always a science behind the various different ingredients that go in such dishes.

Then there are the vegetable sides which are usually the Kichadi – a spicy and sour coconut based thick curry, the Pachadi – a sweet and sour coconut based thick curry, Thorans – sautés of various vegetables or combination of vegetables with coconut, Avial – a culinary genius invention, a mish mash of various different vegetables in a coconut yogurt sauce (believed to have been invented when there was only a lot of left over vegetables that was not enough to make anything substantial by just one vegetable alone), Kalan – again a thicker sauce of coconut and yogurt base, that usually has raw plantain as the hero vegetable in it. Olan – a coconut milk base curry that is on the sweeter side, Erisseri – made with a variety of vegetables but the most common ones are with pumpkin or raw plantain and the beans in it gives it somewhat of a substance to it.

And don’t forget the pappadams, though!!

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Sadya dishes made at home for one Onam – all ready to be served to our guests.

The courses are defined by the saucier curries that are poured over the rice. All courses will still have all those vegetable sides that were initially served and you can have multiple servings of that. Sambar is one of the more common of such curries that is served across South India, not just Kerala. Then there are the Pulissery-ies, that are again a coconut-yogurt sauce base usually with a sweet fruit as the main ingredient in it – ripe mango, pineapple, ripe plantains etc. Rasam is a hot and sour soup of sorts, that, if anything needs to be skipped in this section, most prefer to skip this.

It, of course, ends with a course or sometimes multiple courses of dessert. Dessert is always payasam – how it becomes multiple courses is when there are many types of payasams made. By this time you are so done and done, but you still want to inhale all those deliciously sweet payasams and you do, shamelessly. After all, you don’t make these banquet type meals everyday!

I hope you enjoy this delicious collection of Kerala Sadya recipes I have put together for you. I know, it might seem overwhelming, but trust me, this feast deserves this!

If you have the Instant Pot and are looking for Instant Pot recipes, here is a growing list of Instant Pot Kerala Sadya recipes.

Instant Pot Kerala Sadya Recipes

Pickles and Condiment Sides

Easy 20 minute Unniappam Recipe - Kerala Sadya Recipe
Easy 20 minute Unniappam
Puli Inji - Inji Puli - Inji Curry Recipe for Kerala Sadya
Inji Puli / Puli Inji / Inji Curry
Instant Kerala Mango Pickle - Kadu Manga Achar
Kadumanga Achar - Kerala Mango Pickle
Nellikka Achar
Nellikka Achar - Indian Gooseberry Pickle

Vegetable Sides

Beetroot Kichadi - kerala Sadya Recipe
Beetroot Kichadi | Beets in a Spiced Yogurt Coconut Sauce
Vendakka Kichadi
Vendakka Kichadi | Crispy Fried Okra in a Coconut Yogurt Sauce
Mambazha Pachadi | Ripe Mangoes in a Lightly Spiced Coconut Sauce
Avial ~ Kerala Mixed Vegetable Curry with Coconut and Yogurt. Vegetarian. Kerala Sadya Recipe for Vishu / Onam Sadyas (Feast) www.cookingcurries.com
Avial | Kerala Mixed Vegetable Curry with Coconut and Yogurt
Cheera-Chakkakuru-Avial-Amaranth-Jackfruit-Seeds-in-a-Spiced-Coconut-Sauce-Kerala-Onam-Vishu Sadya
Cheera Chakkakuru Avial | Amaranth and Jackfruit Seeds in a Spiced Coconut Sauce
Mathan Erissery - Pumpkin Erissery- Pumpkin and Red Beans with Coconut and Spices - Kerala Sadya Recipe - Onam, Vishu Sadya - www.cookingcurries.com
Mathan Erissery | Pumpkin and Red Beans with Coconut and Spices
Olan - Winter Melon and Red Beans Curry in Coconut Milk - A Kerala Sadya Recipe - Vegan, Vegetarian - www.cookingcurries.com
Olan | Winter Melon and Red Beans Curry in Coconut Milk
Cabbage Thoran - Cabbage Saute with Coconut and Spices
Beans Thoran - Green Beans Saute with Coconut - Kerala Sadya Recipe - Vegan , Gluten Free - www.cookingcurries.com
Beans Thoran | Green Bean Sauté with Coconut
Beetroot Leaves Thoran - Beet Leaves Saute with Coconut
Cherupayar Thoran | Green Mung Beans Saute
Ulli Theeyal | Pearl Onions in a Roasted Coconut and Spices Sauce
Kaalan - Raw Plantains in a Coconut Yogurt Sauce - A Kerala Sadya Recipe - www.cookingcurries.com
Kaalan | Raw Plantains in a Coconut Yogurt Sauce
Pavakka Kichadi - Crispy Fried Bitter Gourd in a Coconut Yogurt Sauce
Beetroot Thoran
Beetroot Thoran
Avarakka Theeyal - Broad Beans in a Spiced Coconut Tamarind Sauce
Avarakka Theeyal
Ethapazham Pachadi for Kerala Sadya
Ethapazham Pachadi
Pavakka Theeyal - Bitter Melon Curry
Pavakka Theeyal
Achinga Payar Thoran
Achinga Payar Thoran
Kadala Koottu Curry
Kadala Koottu Curry
Pineapple Pachadi
Pineapple Pachadi

Ozhichu Koottan / Saucier Curries (Curries that are poured over the rice which roughly makes up for the different courses)

Parippu Curry | Pigeon Pea Lentils and Coconut
Varuthu Aracha Sambar Recipe
Varutharacha Sambar | Mixed Vegetables and Lentils in a Spiced Tamarind Sauce
Tiffin Sambar - South Indian Lentil and Tamarind Stew with Vegetables - Vegan and Gluten Free - www.cookingcurries.com
Tiffin Sambar | Lentil and Tamarind Stew with Vegetables
Pazham Pulissery | Ripe Plantains in a Spiced Coconut Yogurt Sauce
Mambazha Pulisseri - kerala Sadya Recipe
Mambazha Pulisseri | Sweet and Sour Mango Curry with Coconut
Sambaram | Spiced Buttermilk
Tomato Pepper Rasam
Chembu Moru Curry
Chembu Moru Curry


Payasam ( Dessert Puddings made with Milk and Sugar or Coconut Milk and Jaggery as base)

Ada Pradhaman | Rice Pasta Pudding with Jaggery and Coconut Milk
Slow COoker Pal Ada Pradhaman - Rice Pasta and Milk Pudding
Slow Cooker Pal Ada Pradhaman - Rice Pasta and Milk Pudding
Aval payasam
Aval Payasam | Rice Flakes Pudding with Coconut Milk and Jaggery
Carrot Semiya Payasam
Carrot Semiya Payasam - Carrot Vermicelli Pudding
Paal Payasam
Pal Payasam - Rice and Milk Pudding
Gothambu Payasam
Gothambu Payasam | Broken Wheat Coconut Milk Pudding with Jaggery
Pal Aval Payasam
Pal Aval Payasam
Kadala Pradhaman for Kerala Sadya
Kadala Pradhaman

Eventhough I would like to think that all dishes in a Kerala Sadya are delicious, I have a few favorites. My favorite Kerala Sadya recipes are Mambazha Pulissery, Vendakka Kichadi, Ethapazham Pachadi, Sambar, Avial and Pazham Pulissery. I dont discrimate between the payasams. I love them all!

So, what are your favorite Kerala Sadhya recipes?

Kerala Sadya Recipes. Everything you need to make a ver memorable sadya feast for this Vishu or Onam! An exhaustive list of Sadya Recipes. All are Vegetarian and most are Vegan recipes
« Kerala Mango Pickle ~ Kadumanga Achar
Vegetarian Carbonara with Mushrooms and Asparagus »
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Comments

  1. DecorAlchemy says

    April 12, 2016 at 1:20 pm

    OMG, I love all these sadya dishes, but didn't know how to make it. I am so excited that now I can use these recipes to make my own..whenever I want to! 🙂

    Reply
    • Manju says

      August 29, 2017 at 12:55 pm

      haha!! thank you!! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Nishant says

    April 12, 2016 at 1:28 pm

    darn it.. now I am hungry

    Reply
  3. Vidya Sudarsan says

    April 12, 2016 at 10:37 pm

    Wow! what a lovely spread! Thanks for sharing. I love Kerala style food.

    Reply
    • Manju says

      August 29, 2017 at 12:55 pm

      Thank you Vidya! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Nupur Mehra says

    April 14, 2016 at 5:23 am

    This platter just looks super scrumptious! Awesome variety and photos.. I wish I could ever prepare this much food for just one family, but I guess I would be too busy stuffing myself with all these goodies then...

    Reply
  5. Nisha Shankar says

    April 14, 2016 at 7:44 am

    The food looks mouth-watering and delicious!! Kudos to the author for having prepared such a scrumptious feast and for sharing the recipes with all of us!

    Keep on inspiring us with more of these!

    PS: Your family is truly blessed! 🙂

    Reply

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249 shares