Sadya is a traditional
Kerala feast served on a clean green banana leaf. It is a sumptuous spread of rice and more than 14 delicious vegetable dishes, followed by different varieties of payasams. The dishes include
parippu curry,
sambar,
rasam,
olan,
kalan, pachadi, kichadi, aviyal, and thoran.
Sadya is served in a very unique way. The banana leaf is placed before a person so that its narrow part always points to the left side. Sadya is served from the top left corner of the leaf, on which is placed in order, a small yellow banana, sarkara upperi, Upperi and papad. Then the mango pickle, injipuli (a thick ginger tamarind curry), lime pickle, thoran, olan, avial, pachadi, and kichadi are placed in order on the rest of the upper half of the leaf.
Once all these items are placed, the rice is served at the bottom center of the leaf. First parippu is served. Then sambar and kalan are served in that order. On completion of the meals, a variety of payasams, including pal payasam, are served. Palada Pradhaman is famous in north Kerala. Rasam is served after the sweet payasams. A small amount of curd is served at the end of the meal to aid digestion.
