Anyone who’s sat down to a full Onam Sadhya knows the slight panic of looking at a banana leaf covered in more than twenty separate dishes and wondering where to start. The good news is there’s a logic to it, nothing on that leaf is random, and once you know what each dish is meant to do, both the eating and the cooking make a lot more sense. Here’s a proper rundown of the traditional Onam Sadhya menu, the Onam Sadhya ingredients behind each dish, and what you’ll need to shop for before you start.

The Core Curries

1. Avial - mixed vegetables in a thick coconut and yoghurt gravy, finished with coconut oil and curry leaves.
   

2. Thoran - a dry stir-fry, usually cabbage or beans, tossed with grated coconut and mustard seeds.
   

3. Olan - ash gourd and red cowpeas simmered gently in coconut milk, deliberately mild.
   

4. Kootu Curry - black chickpeas and vegetables in a roasted coconut paste, one of the heavier dishes on the leaf.
   

5. Sambar - the lentil and vegetable curry familiar across South India, though the Kerala version leans on drumstick and pumpkin.
   

6. Erissery - pumpkin and black-eyed peas cooked with coconut, often finished with a coconut-and-chilli garnish.
   

7. Pulissery - a yoghurt-based curry, sometimes with vegetables, sometimes on its own, offering a sour counterpoint to the richer dishes.
   

The Sides and Accompaniments

8. Puli Inji - a sweet, sour and spicy ginger-tamarind pickle that ties the whole meal together.
   

9. Kaalan - yoghurt and yam curry with a distinct tang, close cousin to Pulissery.
   

10. Naranga Achar - lime pickle, sharp and salty, usually served in a small portion.
    

11. Pachadi - a lighter, sweeter yoghurt-based dish, often made with pineapple or beetroot.
    

12. Injipuli - similar to Puli Inji but often thicker, sometimes treated as a separate dish depending on the household.
    

13. Pappadam - the crisp lentil wafer that’s less a side and more a texture requirement.
    

14. Banana Chips - fried plantain chips, salty and thin, eaten as a savoury contrast.
    

15. Sharkara Varatti - jaggery-coated banana chips, sweet where the regular ones are savoury.
    

Rice and Rasam

16. Kerala Matta Rice - the reddish, parboiled rice that anchors the entire meal.
    

17. Rasam - a thin, peppery, tamarind-based soup, traditionally eaten near the end with a little rice.
    

The Desserts

18. Palada Payasam - a milk-based payasam made with thin rice flakes (ada), slow-cooked until rich and pale gold.
    

19. Parippu Payasam - moong dal simmered with jaggery and coconut milk, denser and earthier than Palada.
    

20. Ada Pradhaman - the richest of the payasams, made with jaggery, coconut milk and ada, usually saved for the most special occasions.
    
    

What You’ll Need to Buy

Between all twenty dishes, the ingredient list overlaps more than it first appears. Matta rice, grated coconut, coconut oil and coconut milk turn up constantly. Curry leaves, mustard seeds, dried red chillies and turmeric form the backbone of nearly every tempering. Fresh vegetables,ash gourd, drumstick, raw banana, yam, pumpkin and beans,need to be genuinely fresh rather than frozen, since texture matters more in this style of Onam food than in most other regional cuisines. Jaggery, cardamom and ada cover the payasams, and a stock of banana chips and pappadams rounds off the rest. If you’re new to Kerala cooking, most of these Onam recipes are more forgiving than they look,the technique repeats across several dishes once you’ve got the tempering down.

A Simple Shopping Timeline

Spreading the shopping out over a few days makes the whole thing far less chaotic than doing it all in one go.

Two or three days before, sort the store-cupboard items,rice, spices, jaggery, dried chillies, ada. These keep, so there’s no rush. The day before, pick up anything fresh: coconuts, curry leaves, vegetables for Avial and Thoran, yoghurt for Kaalan and Pulissery. On the morning itself, it’s really just banana leaves and any last-minute garnishes,coconut oil for tempering, a final check that nothing’s been forgotten.

If you’d rather skip the running around altogether, Lakshmi Stores UK groups the Sambar and Aviyal ingredients into ready kits, which cuts a fair chunk of this timeline down to one order.

A Couple of Quick Questions

Do I need to make all twenty dishes? No - most home cooks manage eight to twelve and it’s still a proper Sadhya. The full twenty is more common for larger family gatherings or community events.

Which dishes can I prepare a day ahead? Sambar, Avial and the pickles generally hold up well overnight. Thoran and the payasams are best made closer to serving time.

What’s the one dish people always underestimate? Rasam. It looks simple but getting the tamarind and pepper balance right takes a bit of practice,worth a trial run before the day itself.

Twenty dishes sounds like a lot until you realise most of them share the same handful of core ingredients. Get the shopping sorted in one go, and the cooking itself is far more manageable than the leaf makes it look.