On Onam, Christy Varghese finds himself craving for some of the sumptuous fare that the occasion calls for and Savya Rasa comes to the rescue
Spending Onam cooped up at home, last year, on account of the pandemic, was not really a pleasant experience. Sure, my mother went to extreme lengths, with the assistance of everyone at home, to set up a lavish Onasadhya (sadhya means banquet in Malayalam), complete with banana leaves, but something felt missing.
This year with my mother unwell, and Onam just around the corner, I have to admit I felt a little lost. Onam is the time of the year when just about everyone in the extended family congregates at one place, and fill ourselves to the brim with sumptuous vegetarian fare. When I was younger, I could not understand why we could not help ourselves to a non-vegetarian dish, or two, with the scores of vegetarian dishes that were served on the occasion. But with time, that thought was pushed to the background, Onam happened to be all about sitting together with people and feasting on some delectable food prepared by loving hands. Onam was all about looking forward to what new dish my relatives would serve. You see, every Onam had an unspoken rule that the host would try to one-up the fare served the previous time. With an extended family like mine, with my father being the second-eldest among nine siblings, and my mother being the second-youngest among five siblings, we haven’t yet congregated for Onam at the same household twice, in the past 10 years or so. I hope this little detail conveys why I would be looking forward to the Onam fare every year. And it should explain why I wasn’t really happy with spending the festival at home, twice in a row.
To someone who is not from Kerala, Onam is regarded as a harvest-time festival. Which it is, but there is more to the occasion than what meets the eye. The festival is centred around the legend of the asura King Mahabali, the most noble and prosperous ruler of Kerala, who transformed his kingdom into a heaven-like place. I am sure you must have seen images of a pot-bellied, mustachioed, macho gentleman wearing a lungi; to make things easier for you, he is always pictured carrying an umbrella, fashioned out of palm leaves. As the story goes, an ardent devotee of Vishnu, Mahabali ruled without discrimination, and his people were honest, healthy and happy under his rule. He also temporarily possessed amrit (nectar for eternal life) obtained by the asuras. The amrita allowed his associates to bring him back to life after his death in one of the wars between suras and asuras. Mahabali was, thus, immune from death. After many wars, the invincible Mahabali had won heaven and earth. The suras (devas) approached Vishnu to save them, but how could Vishnu kill his own devotee? Instead, as is common in such tales, he adopted a tactical approach and incarnated as the dwarf Brahmin avatar, Vamana. While Mahabali was performing Ashvamedha sacrifices to celebrate his victories and giving away gifts to everyone, Vamana approached him and asked for ‘three steps of land’. How could the generous Mahabali refuse such a simple wish? When the great king agreed to grant Vamana’s wish, the dwarf metamorphosed into Vishnu's giant Trivikrama form, taking all of heaven in one step and earth in second. Mahabali realised that Vamana was none other than Vishnu and offered his own head for the third step. Some Hindu texts state that Mahabali was taken to patala (netherworld), some state he was dragged there by Garuda, in others he entered heaven with the touch of Vishnu, while another version states he became Chiranjeevi (immortal). Whatever the case, Vishnu was kind enough to accept Mahabali’s request to visit his people once a year. In a nutshell, the festival of Onam commemorates the appearance of the Vamana avatar of Lord Vishnu and the subsequent home coming of emperor Mahabali. Literature and inscriptions in Hindu temples suggest that this festival, featuring colourful decorations, lighted lamps, gift giving, feasts and community events, has been popular in Kerala for more than a millennium.
But, oh! I digress… I was telling you about how much I was craving to partake of the traditional (or as close to traditional as it could be) Onam sadhya. Food happens to be a big part of any culture, and it is no different for us Malayalis. The quintessential sadhya can boast up to 30 different dishes, on one platter. That’s quite the picture, isn’t it?
While I was reminiscing, scrolling through pictures of past sadhyas, I received a call from the proprietors of Savya Rasa. Well, my desperation must have reached their ears, because they had quite the interesting proposition for me — to sample their Onam menu… There won’t be many occasions in someone’s life, when one feels that everything is as good as it could be; well, that is what I felt — an overwhelming wave of gratitude to the universe for making this happen. Without wasting any time, I took off for the restaurant, which is located in DLF Avenue, Saket.
I am a simpleton, hence I try to stay away from fancy establishments. When I was presented with a banana leaf on a shiny plate at Savya Rasa, I could not help but wonder what may follow. However, I was in for a state of familiar shock of the taste buds. As my platter was loaded with one dish after the other, with incredibly patient and loving, PPE-glove adorned hands, I felt content. As I waited for the initial set of dishes to be aesthetically arranged on the plate in little mounds, I had the time to look around. The terracotta paintings of some iconic temples of Tamil Nadu (Savya Rasa is based in Chennai, and the one in Saket is their first venture in North-India) on the walls of the establishment brought back memories of numerous visits to the South.
Curated by Chef Sheikh, the Onasadhya menu at Savya Rasa features 30 dishes (if you exclude the extremely filling, unpolished brown rice). Talking about each and every one of them might occupy the whole page, so I have been instructed by my editor to talk about the most significant ones. It was extremely unfortunate how she would not entertain my pleas that every dish was significant.
Anyhow, the dish that stood out among the entire lot was the Pineapple pachadi. A traditional South-Indian fresh pickle served as a side dish, Chef Sheikh’s version of the pachadi was mind blowing. I couldn’t get enough of the sweet aftertaste, and had to ask for multiple helpings of the same. Another personal favourite, which doesn’t differ in taste from establishment to establishment, is something called Injipulli— a mashed mixture of ginger and tamarind. It has an indescribably wonderful taste; let’s face it, this is one of those dishes which you have to sample, to know what I am talking about.
No dish is complete without a dessert to round it up, and the Onasadhya at Savya Rasa was no different. We were treated to two different desserts, Paalada pradhaman and Pazham pradhaman. While the former comprised rice flakes in almond milk, the latter (which I was a little more partial to, because of its sickeningly sweet nature) consisted of pieces of ethakka pazham (a sweeter, orange-tinged variant of the banana, which is widely available in Kerala) in paayasam mix.
If you have been reading till now, I am sure your mouth is watering and I would suggest you reserve a table at Savya Rasa at the earliest. Onam menu will be served only during this weekend.