Palada Pradhamam in Onam Sadhya

Palada Pradhamam is a rich and sweet delicious porridge made during the festival of Onam. It is a fitting finale to the Onam Sadhya meal, Made with rice flakes, milk and jaggery, the taste will linger much after the bowl is empty.

What is Onam?

Onam is an annual holiday and an official festival celebrated in Kerala, a southern state in India. It is also a harvest festival, and falls on the 22nd nakshatra Thiruvonam in the Malayalam calendar month of Chingam, which in Gregorian calendar overlaps with August–September.

This year, it falls on August 31st, 2020.

The 10-day harvest festival began on 22nd August, and ends on 2nd September, 2020. 

What is the significance of the festival of Onam?

During this period, people in Kerala commemorate the homecoming of the mythical King Mahabali,who was considered a great ruler from the underworld, to which he was banished to.

It is said that the great king was sent to the underworld by Maha Vishnu (or Vamana), but was given an allowance to visit his people once a year, hence Onam.

Legend has it that when Mahabali ruled, there was no discrimination based on caste, and there was no corruption or crime. Hence the people of Kerala celebrate it with much joy and enthusiasm.

How do the people of Kerala celebrate Onam?

Onam is celebrated by the people of Kerala with….

Traditional performances

Tradtional performances like Kummati Kali (a colorful mask-dance) and Theyyam performers (ritual dance)

or by Pulikali performers (a colorful recreational folk art, where artists are painted like tigers and hunters) are part of Onam Celebrations.

Food,People and Culture

Apart from gorgeous fresh flower decorations and traditional Kasavu saree that women wear on this special occasion….

…..and power-packed snake boats lined up on the shores for the boat races,

……the highlight of the festival is an elaborate meal called the Onam Sadhya.

What is Onam Sadhya?

Onam Sadhya, which in the South Indian language of Malayalam means ‘banquet’ . It is a sensational multi-course vegetarian meal that features over 24 dishes on a plantain leaf.  

Onam Sadhya is enjoyed without any cutlery and is usually eaten while sitting on the floor, where food is served on plantain leaves.

What does the traditional Onam Sadhya include?

The usual items in a traditional Onam Sadhya include:

• Kaaya varuthatha (banana chips) 
• Chena varuthatha (yam chips) 
• Sarkara upperi (Jaggery coated banana chips)
• Mango pickle
• Lime pickle 
• Puli inji (tamarind & ginger chutney) 
• Kichadi (Gourd in mildly spiced yoghurt) 
• Pachadi (Pineapple in yoghurt)
• Olan ( ash gourd with black beans in a coconut milk gravy)
• stir-fried vegetables with grated coconut
• Theeyal (mixed vegetable gravy) 
• Erissery (mashed beans and pumpkin with coconut gravy) 
• Avial 
• Puliserry (yogurt based curry) 
• kootu curry (chick peas curry) 
• Sambar 
• Rasam
• Spicy buttermilk
• Bananas 
• Papad 
• boiled rice
• Palada Pradhamam, a sweet dish made of milk
• Jeera Vellam ( cumin water)

The Back story

Student days are full of happy memories.Along with pursuing professional education, I also made life long friends during this phase of my life.Many of my friends traveled from this state of Kerala, to seek education in the same school I went to.

Our dormitory life soon became our second home. We celebrated every festival that happened around us with vigor and zeal.Laughter echoed along the corridors of our dormitories, little did we know then that those were precious life long memories we were making to hold and cherish for years to come.

So when this festival rolls around each year, I am teleported to a time in life, where I hear laughter and smell jasmine flowers along the corridor of our dormitories. Our friends from Kerala were traditionally dressed in kasavu sarees and Chandana kuri/sandal wood paste on their forehead and greeted us with elaborate ‘pookolams’/fresh flower decorations.

Years later we traveled together to their homes in Kerala, during breaks only to taste all the wonderful food that was served to us in the Onam Sadhya . To me, they will always remain among my fondest memories of growing up together, happy, joyful and young with so much dreams and hope for the future.

It was during one such trips, that I tasted this dish called the Palada Pradhamam at my friends and fell in love with the deliciousness of this sweet dish.We did not stop with just one helping (days when the weighing scale did not exist in our minds).

Years later, when I moved to this country, during one such festive times, I was stuck with nostalgia. I searched high and low for the ada/rice flakes ( that specifically go into this dish) in the Indian stores around and finally found it in a store, which was run by a Malayali. Needless to say, I came home with ada/rice flakes and fish pickles and a heart full of joy that day.

Now all I had to do was stir in the palada pradhamam to make the delicious sweet memories come back to life all over again.I could hear the laughter in the corridors, smell the jasmines once again, feel the rustling of the kasavu sarees .Festivals in India, is all about celebrating life and celebrate we did.

Palada Pradhamam in Onam Sadhya

Recipe by Maya Shetty

Course: FESTIVALS & HOLIDAYS, FOOD, SWEET DISHES

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Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Calories

1073

kcal

Total time

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 packet 1 Rice flakes/Ada

• 3/4 cup 3/4 Powdered Jaggery

• 1 1 tin Coconut Milk

• 1/2 cup 1/2 Sweetened Condensed Milk

• 4 tbsp 4 Ghee

• 2 2 -3 Cardamom

• 3 3 -4 Cashew nuts

• 3 3 -4 Almonds

• 2 cups 2 Water

Directions

• Boil water in a pan .To this add the ada/rice flakes. Allow it to cook, Keep stirring occasionally to prevent the rice flakes from sticking to each other and forming lumps.
• Next, switch off the heat and keep covered for 20minutes.
• Next, drain the hot water and rinse with cold water. This helps prevent the rice flakes from sticking to each other .Set aside.
• Now, in a thick bottomed vessel/pan, add the jaggery with a few tablespoons of water, and stir it till it melts completely,
• To this, then add the coconut milk and condensed milk and keep stirring. Next add the cooled ada to the milk and jaggery mix . Gently bring it to a boil after stirring occasionally.
• Switch off the heat and add the powdered cardamom to it. Keep covered and set aside.
• Now fry the almonds & the cashew nuts in a little ghee and garnish the Pradhamam.
• Allow it to sit, it will thicken gradually. Serve it hot or cold.

Notes

• Once you add the coconut milk, do not let it boil for too long.
• Savor the palada pradhamam one sip at a time, and do complete justice to the ‘King of the feast’ 🙂

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List of some of my festive food from India

Check out some of my other sweet dishes, prepared during festivals or during celebrations.Click on any of the sweet dishes below to be taken to my blog post directly.

• Mango Halwa
• Banana Halwa/Fudge
• Palada Pradhamam
• Nectarine Sheera
• Doodh peda
• Date Fig Laddoos
• Strawberry coconut rava laddoos
• Sweet Modaks
• Nan-Katai/Indian Biskoot
• Sakkarai Pongal
• Beetroot Halwa

The Bottom Line

Now that you know all about the festival of Onam, are you going to try making some palada pradhamam in celebration?

Onam Ashamshakal!

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