Onam Sadhya at Kolkata 2019

This year Onam, the harvest festival from Kerala, is from the 1st of September till the 13th of September. Like most harvest festivals, it is celebrated with a lot in every Malayalee household. On the 10th day of the festival, a lavish food spread is prepared and served to family and friends. This is called Onam Sadhya. Typically, an Onam Sadhya contains more than eight to nine courses, sometimes the number of dishes going upto 32. They are served on a plantain leaf and is quite a spectacle. With each passing year, regional cuisine is no longer contained within their communities. Today, they have become a part of the mainstream restaurant space across the metros.

Kolkata, known for accepting other cultures with open arms, has several restaurants and home chefs doing Onam Sadhya. And the number increases each year, which speaks volumes of the cosmopolitan nature of the city. Here are the top 5 places serving the best Onam Sadhya of 2019 in Kolkata.

Banana chips

Banana Chips

 

 

The Coastal Macha

Address: P411/23B, Near Gariahat Fire Station, Hindustan Park

This restaurant has made a name for itself for serving authentic coastal dishes, especially from the Western belt. The chef owner Piyush Menon, who himself is a Malayalee, is doing a special Onam Sadhya, with his family recipes, for 3 days. Using authentic spices and pastes, he is serving an Onam Sadhya consisting of 16 dishes. Sharkara Upperi, Mangai oorugan rasam, sambhar, avial, cabbage thoran, kootu curry, pineapple pachadi, paruppu pradhaman and many more dishes are there in this specially curated menu.

Price- INR 300 per person plus gst

Date- 11th September till 13th September

Avial

Avial

Onam Sadhya at Ruth's house

Onam Sadhya at Ruth’s Home

Surfire The Coastal Café

Location:24 Rajani Sen Road, Near Mudiali Club, Southern Avenue, Kolkata

This café is fairly new in the city but along with their catchy name, it’s their food which has been well accepted in Kolkata. Again from a Malayalee background, the chef owner, Ishani Priyadarshi, is herself cooking a full vegetarian Onam Sadhya for three days. This consists of several specialities including shakkara varatty, manga kari, naranga kari, inji thairu, pachadi, kitchadi, avvial, sambar, kootu curry, erisheri and many more. There will be a few varieties of payasams on the offer with two kinds on each day.

Price- INR 500 plus gst per person

Date- 11th September till 13th September

Onam Sadhya at Surfire

Onam Sadhya at Surfire

Onam Sadhya at Sayantani’s

Address: 372, Hossaipur, Jeet Nova, Flat 3b, Kolkata 107

Sayantani Mahapatra is a home chef and a blogger and she is doing a special Onam Sadhya only for a day on the 15th of September. She will be offering 20 dishes on plantain leaf with a traditional style of sitting on the floor and eating. Her menu will consist of red rice, buttermilk, banana chips, manga achar, pineapple pachadi, beans thoran, avvial, sambar, rasam, spicy ivy gourd thoran with chana, beetroot pachadi, ada pradaman and so on. Pre booking at 9007055399 is absolutely necessary to enjoy this Onam Sadhya.

Price: INR 599 per person

Date- 15th September lunch only

Beetroot Pachadi

Beetroot pachadi

Swagath Hotel

Location: 37 Hazra Road, Near Ritchie Road Corssing, Hazra, Kolkata

Hotel Swagath is an old name in the business. It has been there for two decades and every year, they do Onam Sadhya. This year too, they are offering 21 dishes which include beans poriyal, red rose potato, avial, sambar, rasakiya, ural parippu, masala vada, rice payasam, coconut ice cream as a part of their platter.

Price: INR 425 plus gst per person

Date- till the 12th of September

Olan

Olan

Tamarind

Location: 177 Sarat Bose Road

A well known name in the city for its South Indian food spread across all the Southern states, Tamarind is doing a special Onam Sadhya which consists of 18 special dishes from Kerala. They are offering both vegetarian and non-vegetarian traditional dishes as per the choice of the diner. The non-vegetarian course will consist of all kinds of proteins ranging from prawns, fish to chicken and mutton. The usual suspects like sambar, rasam, avial, banana chips, etc are there plus there are more like kalam, erisheri, banana thoran, thiyal and so on.

Price: INR 525 plus gst plus person for veg and INR 650 plus gst per person for non veg

Date- till the 11th of September

A big thanks to Ruth Dsouza Prabhu, a renowned journalist and a dear friend from Bangalore, for providing the images of the food cooked at her home. The cover image is also provided by her.