Authentic Harvest Flavors: Traditional Kerala Sweets To Make For Onam At Home
Written by jheelum basu | October 1, 2024
Kerala’s vibrant annual harvest festival of Onam is a celebration of agricultural abundance and prosperity. Based on the regional almanac, it marks the
Malayalam New Year. However, the festival also has a mythological narrative. Many believe that Onam is the festival celebrating the homecoming of the benevolent demon King Mahabali. Legend has it that before being sent to the netherworld, Vishnu granted him a boon that allows him to visit home annually.
Celebrated over a span of ten days in the month of Chingam (between August and September), the festival includes elaborate feasts, traditional folk dances, and snake boat races. As regional sweets are an integral part of the festival, here’s a look at Kerala sweets for Onam at home.
Onam And Sweets: Know The Connection
Besides adding sweetness to the auspicious festival, Onam sweets also carry cultural significance in Kerala. Adding a great symbolic value, sweets are shared to celebrate the harvest of the year. Made with natural ingredients like coconut, jaggery, milk, and more, the sweets like Palada Pradhaman, Parippu payasam, and Unniyappam represent health, wealth, and prosperity. Making these Kerala sweets for Onam at home brings the family closer while writing a sweet ending to the elaborate Onam Sadhya.
7 Traditional Kerala Sweets To Make For Onam At Home
Palada Pradhaman
Served at the end of the Onam Sadhya, this rich and creamy payasam is an integral part of the harvest festival celebration in the southern state. Made with rice flakes (ada), milk, and sugar, this is cherished for its caramel-like flavor paired with the deep golden-pink hue. Here, the rice flakes are steam-cooked on banana leaves, while the full-fat milk is simmered with sugar for hours to develop the color and flavor.
Parippu Payasam
Parippu Payasam is another popular traditional Onam dessert that is served in banana leaf at the end of the meal. All it takes is some yellow moong dal, jaggery, and rich coconut milk. Often considered an ultimate comfort food in Kerala culture, Parippu Payasam is believed to symbolize prosperity and togetherness.
Unniyappam
Unniyappam is a classic deep-fried sweet frequently made during Onam. In the Malayalam language, unni means ‘small’ and appam means ‘rice cake’.To make this, a batter is prepared with rice flour, jaggery, ripe bananas, coconut, and cardamom. The result is always a slightly crispy, caramelized crust and a soft and sweet interior. While it is popularly served as a tea-time snack during the festival, it is also offered as prasadam or offerings in temples.
Ela Ada
This traditional Onam delicacy features a sweet coconut and jaggery filling within a steamed rice flour dough. The whole sweet is wrapped in banana leaves so that their natural oils and aroma get infused easily into the rice cake. While it is often prepared as an offering, Ela Alda is also popular as a breakfast and an evening snack.
Sharkara Upperi
This traditional Onam sweet is often made in Kerala households. It features thick, deep-fried raw Nendran plantain cubes coated in a sticky jaggery syrup. Some warm spices are dusted on them for a flavor twist. While serving the Onam Sadhya, it is often placed in the top-right corner of the banana leaf.
Neyyappam
In simple words, Neyyappam is a ghee-rich, deep-fried sweet rice fritter. In the Malayali language, the word ‘neyy’ means ‘ghee’, while ‘appam’ means ‘pancake’.Made with ground rice flour, melted jaggery, fried coconut pieces, and black sesame seeds, Neyyappam features a perfect blend of sweet taste with a crispy exterior and a soft interior.
Chakka Pradhaman
Made with ripe jackfruit, jaggery, and coconut milk, Chakka Pradhaman is another Onam staple variety of payasam in Kerala. Here, the base is made with thick coconut milk and jaggery. Chakka or jackfruit, being the best seasonal fruit, adds a classic seasonal flavor to the dessert.
Conclusion: This Onam, add a sweeter ending to the festive feast like never before by making these Kerala sweets for Onam at home. Made with natural ingredients and served on banana leaves, these Onam sweets perfectly align with the spirit of the harvest festival.