This is a sampling o f the traditional vegetarian cuisine of Kerala, done so elaborately on the Onam days. Onam, has its moorings in Hindu mythology, but with no attention to that Hindu hue all the households in Kerala celebrate these. The heart of the celebration is the Thiruvonam day. The caste differences in Kerala, once dictated that all the days of this celebration shall not be permitted to all. As you move up the echelon, more the days you can relish celebrating Onam and the lower classes had just one day marked for them. A popular adage in malayalam says that “Onam pirannaalum unni pirannaalum Koranu kumpilil thanne kanji” (Even when its onam or the birth of the landlord’s new born, the underdogs (typified in the proper name Koran) could only expect the old ways of their dinner; the gruel which is served in a cone of jackfruit leaf kept in place by a small pit. I personally do not know whether one sides Mahabali,the demon king who was stamped down to the netherworld by Vamana,the incarnation of Lord Vishnu or the latter himself. It is a problem of narratives and interpretations and subaltern views.
Octavio Paz commented that the Indian cuisine is synchronous, as the very many stuff served on the platter bound to be gulped almost together whereas the European cuisine is diachronous, that is why we speak of course dinners. Delicacies comes in a train.
The day before thiruvonam is called Uthradam. An idiom associated with this day is uthradapaachil(the rush in uthrada day) to mark the final rush people makes to the market to procure the goods for celebration. This hints at a day when wages were scanty and irregular, so the common lot had to wait till the eleventh hour to garner the resources.
As I was sent to Arunachal Pradesh to spent few months there, it was only a week ahead of Onam. It was going to be the first time Im going to miss Onam, so I thought. Surprisingly, I attended three Onam celebrations with the Malayali(Keralite) community in Seppa. I could never believe that there were so many of us in such a far flung place. At that time I had not come over the travel fatigue and the starangeness of the new environ. Somebody commented that even this considerable number of Malayali I am met with is far below than what it once used to be. My foot!
ps: the photograph is a sanpshot of what my sis evelyn prepared for her onam celebrations in sussex,london. The original meal had many more dishes(legend hooks it at 108) and is a delicate balance of the humours and flavours and rituals. All tastes except umami, of course.
JAYANTICAL 