Two people, two hours: How to serve a full Onasadya without stress

Most homemakers feel a sense of panic when they hear the words 'Onam sadya' – the quintessential Kerala feast. For, the thought of preparing a grand spread of dishes including payasam and that too all before noon, can feel overwhelming. But according to celebrity chef Suresh Pillai, with proper planning and teamwork, a family of two can easily put together a grand Onam feast in just two hours.

These days, many families in Kerala, especially in urban areas, turn to instant Onasadya or store-brought dishes, mainly because of the effort involved in preparing the traditional feast. But chef Pillai insists that making an authentic spread is not as daunting as it seems. The key, he says, is for couples to work together with the same spirit. “Cooking can be fun when you prepare and share tasks while talking and joking with each other,” he adds.

However, the secret in preparing Onam feast in a couple of hours lies in meticulous planning.

A few simple preparations made the previous day can save hours of stress.

1. Banana chips and jaggery-coated banana chips (either homemade or bought from store)
2. Grated coconut – in sufficient quantity for both the payasam and side dishes
3. Tamarind extract
4. Pickles (mango and lime)
5. Inji curry (ginger curry)
6. Pre-cut vegetables as required

On the Thiruvonam day, it’s ideal to begin cooking by 10am.

Time can be saved if the couple divide tasks equally and works in parallel. In fact, chef Pillai and his wife demonstrate this in a video, where the division of tasks looks something like this;

Husband: Cutting vegetables, for preparing dishes like sambar, theeyal, pulissery, erissery, aviyal, thoran, olan, pachadi and kichadi etc.

Wife: Boiling green gram, and lentils (such as toor dal and cowpeas for olan), making the arappu (coconut and spice paste) for lentil curry and other accompaniments like pachadi, erissery, thoran, pulissery and sambar.

This phase takes about an hour and 15 minutes. Once the prep work is complete, the dishes can all be cooked simultaneously. While the video demonstrates the preparation of just one variety of payasam, chef Pillai notes that a couple more can easily be added with a little extra effort.