Fasting and feasting are two major components of festivities in India, and Onam Sadhya is one of the popular festive meals in the country. This elaborate vegetarian meal is served as lunch on the last day of the 10-day harvest festival called Onam. The word “sadhya” translates to “banquet” in Malayalam. An Onam Sadhya meal is composed of 20+ vegetarian dishes that include a range of savouries, rice dishes, and desserts.
It is traditionally served on a banana leaf. Recently, a fine dining restaurant in Dubai attempted a dish inspired by Oman Sadhya. However, despite its elaborate preparation and high price point, the internet was not impressed.
A popular food account on Instagram shared a video that showed the preparation of this fancy Onam Sadhya dish by Tresind Studio, a two-Michelin-star restaurant. The dish is prepared by the kitchen staff, who take turns adding an ingredient to the dish. The contested “Onam Sadhya” preparation starts by placing a grilled pineapple which is marinated in Indian spices.
Over this, a delicate layer of cream of rice, payasam, banana pickle, cuddapah almonds, coconut ice cream, mela blossom flower, and a piece of papadam is arranged. This bite-sized preparation is served with a side of tomato broth tempered in spices. After the preparation is done, one of the restaurant staff explains each ingredient and the ideation behind the dish.
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Even as this post got over 50,000 likes, in the comments people roasted the dish. Many argued that the restaurant needlessly complicated the traditional meal. One of the most liked comments on the post poked fun at the server’s lengthy explanation of the dish and wrote, “While listening to this winded explanation, I most certainly would scoop it up and pop it into my mouth. Then while chewing make direct eye contact and gulp the broth down. Then the cracker I’d slowly eat while not averting eye contact.”
Another person wrote, “The absolute atrocity and insult that this is to Onam Sadhya cannot be articulated politely. On top of all that, “Cuddapah almonds” or any almonds for that matter has never made an appearance in the history of sadhya.”
An Instagram user noted, “The fact that in the “description” of the sadhya, they thought that all the items are consumed together, itself shows a lack of research or understanding of the sadhya concept. Sure, everything is served together on the same banana leaf, but there is an order in which they are consumed. This condensing everything into 1 item, is not a representation of a true Onam sadhya, it seems almost blasphemous.”
Poking fun at the size of the dish, an Instagram user wrote, “Onam sadhya for ants?” Another person remarked, “The amount they served is what will come out as a waste in original sadhya like curry leaves, bay leaves, cinnamon, etc.”
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