Onam, my most favourite festival. Ona Sadya, the best meal in the world. I have fond memories of thulping down mountains of red rice with freshly fried pappadums, parippu, avial, erissery and pachadi. The payasams deserve another banana leaf altogether - paal, ada pradhaman and parippu pradhaman.
I've lived away from home for a very long time now. But the happy memories of Onam are still fresh in my mind, like it all happened yesterday. The sadya overdose, the long afternoon nap that followed and visiting close friends and family, all while wearing our brand new Ona Kodis, were an integral part of our celebrations.
With the onset of social media though, the pressure to eat a fantastic Ona Sadya (whichever part of the globe you are in) is intense. Year by year, I see a lot of non-Malayalees, thulping down our traditional sadya. And each year, I attempt to lay my hands on one, to relive my childhood and fail miserably. This year, I had zoned in on a restaurant we had visited four years ago, pre-booked our Ona Sadya and they pulled a Harry Houdini on us.
The husband was fuming, I was heartbroken and we ended up eating a home cooked meal. The restaurant owner got back to me by 6pm, with a sob story of why they couldn't deliver our meal. I gave her a patient hearing and then told her politely about how she had ruined this special day for me and that she had lost me as a customer forever.
The heart wants what it wants though. So, I looked up Swiggy and ordered an Ona Sadya from a reputed luxury hotel in the city. The packaging was impressive, the food however was absolutely dismal. I miss celebrating Onam at home. The week is not over yet though, I will examine Swiggy in detail, like a thesis paper.
(Image Source : https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/food-wine/the-back-burner-how-to-serve-onam-sadhya-6576148/)
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