Kerala Vishu Festival and Vishu Sadya Recipes

Vishu heralds the beginning of the New Year and almost all Hindu homes wake up to the sight of ‘Vishukani’, an auspicious occasion to welcome new beginnings. Vishu falls typically in the middle of April that is the first day of the Malayalam month ‘Medam’. Vishu is a popular and significant festival among Hindu Malayalees. It is also an occasion to pay homage to Lord Krishna for all the blessings. In every household the elderly ladies arrange the Vishukani on the night before the festival. Kani literally means ‘first sight’ and the lady of the house blindfolds the members of the family and leads them to witness the Vishukani and pray to God that the coming year be full of blessedness, wealth and prosperity. The Vishukani setting consists of auspicious things like golden cucumber, rice, golden lemon, metal mirror, religious texts, yellow konna flowers, coconut cut open, betel leaves, coins or currency notes, oil lamp and an image of Lord Vishnu. Another tradition followed is ‘Vishukaineetam’ where older family members gift younger members with money along with their blessings.

Now it’s time for the main agenda of the day, the traditional vegetarian ‘Sadya’ served on banana leaves. The Vishu Sadya is almost similar to a wedding sadya and the meals portray the splendour of cookery skills. The sequence of service is from left to right of the leaf. The feast starts off with a ‘raw mango pickle’ and the delicious ‘Puli Inji’ a sweet and hot ginger chutney. Banana chips hold an integral place and you will find a thoran dish usually beans or cabbage with generous quantity of coconut. The ‘kalan’ and ‘olan’ dish follows close behind. No Sadya is ever complete without ‘avial’, a combo of vegetables and kerala ‘papadam’. Many Sadyas also feature ‘Erisseri’ and ‘kootu curry’ also. Rice is first served with dal and ghee followed by sambar, rasam and thick buttermilk towards the end of the meal. The Sadya ends on a sweet note with one or two payasams.

Looking for Vishu Sadya Recipes? Now, here are a few that we hope would get you started for your Vishu celebration. If there is something that you are looking specifically for, reach out to us and we will definitely share those Vishu recipes in another post.

You can explore a few Vishu Sadya Recipes here that will help you celebrate the occasion:

1. Sharkara Varatti for Vishu:

Sharkara Varatti is an indispensable and most popular item in Sadya and almost all festive occasions. The traditional and tasty snack dish is unique with thick plantain chips, deep fried in oil and coated in jaggery mixture.

Try the link here: https://www.pachakam.com/recipes/sharkara-varatti

2. Banana Chips for Vishu:

Banana Chips are a favorite crunchy and crispy snack, one of the indispensable dishes in Sadya. These traditional Banana wafers are undoubtedly the most popular snack all over India, especially in regions of Kerala, where these yellow bananas grow throughout the year. Sliced raw plantains are fried in hot boiling oil to a golden yellow color.

Try the link here : https://www.pachakam.com/recipes/banana-chips-kerala-special?swcfpc=1

3. Beans Thoran for Vishu:

Beans Thoran is another popular dish of Kerala also known as Beans Upperi. The taste and flavor of beans blends very well with the flavor of grated coconut and other spices. Kerala Beans Thoran is a very tasty stir fry which is very popular in Sadhya dishes.

Try the dish: https://www.pachakam.com/recipes/beans-thoran-kerala-special?swcfpc=1

4. Cabbage Thoran for Vishu:

Cabbage Thoran is a tasty, indispensable stir fry dish in all Sadhyas as well as regular meals. While making the Thoran dish, you can go in for a lot of flavorful combinations but the unavoidable ingredient is coconut. Cabbage thoran is one such dish that has stolen the heart of Keralites. Chopped cabbage mixture is mixed well with hands before cooking. It is sautéed well with open lid in low flame until done.

5. Puli Inji for Vishu:

Puli Inji is a traditional Kerala dish usually served for Sadya. The dish is a mixture of ginger, jaggery, tamarind and red chillies. The combination of these different ingredients grants the dish a sweet, sour and hot flavor.

Try the link here : https://www.pachakam.com/recipes/puli-inji?swcfpc=1

6. Avial for Vishu:

Avial is a scrumptious dish having its origin from the state of Kerala. This is a traditional dish with a mixture of vegetables, curd, coconut and seasoned with curry leaves and coconut oil. Avial is included in every Kerala feast and occasions like Onam and Vishu.

Try this link here: https://pachakam.com/recipes/avial-real-kerala-curry

7. Mambazha Pulissery for Vishu:

Mambazha Pulissery is a sweet and sour Kerala curry dish cooked with ripe mangoes, yogurt and grated coconut. The combination of these three ingredients grants a lip smacking tangy flavor to the traditional dish. This is a delight for Kerala Sadya.

Try the link here : https://www.pachakam.com/recipes/mambazha-pulissery-sadhya-special?swcfpc=1

8. Mathanga Erissery for Vishu:

Mathanga Erissery is an integral dish in all Sadhya meals, especially during Onam and Vishu festive occasions. Yellow Pumpkin Erissery is tasty and nutritious, a combo of Black eyed peas and pumpkin. This is a traditional dish with pressure cooked Black eyed peas blended with pumpkin cubes and spicy ingredients. 

Try the link here: https://pachakam.com/recipes/yellow-pumpkin-erissery

9. Olan for Vishu:

Olan is a wonderful dish and you would have noticed people finishing off sadya with just an Olan dish. This is an authentic and traditional Sadya dish that is very tasty and very nutritious. The simple and homely Olan curry dish is one of the essential dishes in Kerala Sadya. The flavors are so delicate and just perfect that suits the Malayalee palate. The creamy curry base is rich with the fragrance of coconut oil.

Try the dish: https://www.pachakam.com/recipes/olan-simple-and-easy

10. Sambar for Vishu:

Sambar is a popular dish included in every Vishu Sadya. The delectable dish vary from region to region. Sambar is a mixed vegetable curry that uses the lentil dal as base.

Try the link here : https://www.pachakam.com/recipes/sambar?swcfpc=1

11. Rasam for Vishu:

Rasam is one of the most popular traditional dishes served for Sadya. Rasam is healthy and helps to digest food fast. You can reserve Rasam to finish off the last part of rice in a Sadya.

Try the link here : https://www.pachakam.com/recipes/thakkali-tomato-rasam?swcfpc=1

12. Kalan for Vishu:

Kerala Style Kalan is a traditional styled ethnic dish very popular in Kerala Cuisine. Kalan is a simple and well favored vegetarian dish. It is a sour tasting semi thick curry dish prepared from buttermilk and vegetables like raw banana and elephant. Adding ground coconut in the end, balances the sour taste of curd.

Visit the link here : https://www.pachakam.com/recipes/kerala-style-kaalan?swcfpc=1

13. Parippu Curry for Vishu:

Parippu Curry is one of the indispensable items in a grand Vishu Sadya. Usually Parippu Curry is served with little ghee on top. That serves as a tremendous combination.

14. Mango Pickle for Vishu:

Kadumanga Achar is a traditional styled pickle dish prepared in Kerala. You will find the dish very popular during the festival of Onam and Sadyas. The spicy and tangy flavored achar dish is prepared from unripe and tender mangoes. If you are craving for something that will stimulate your taste buds, then Kadumanga Achar is for you.

Try the link here : https://www.pachakam.com/recipes/kadumanga-achar-traditional-pickle?swcfpc=1

15. Beetroot Pachadi for Vishu:

Beetroot Pachadi is a traditional styled Kerala Sadya recipe that’s made with grated beetroots, yogurt, coconut and spices. This is a lip smacking dish that tastes almost like raita.

Try the dish: https://www.pachakam.com/recipes/beetroot-raita-kerala-style-beetroot-pachadi?swcfpc=1

16. Paal Payasam for Vishu:

Paal Payasam is a mouth watering dessert usually served after a grand Vishu Sadya. Payasam comes in many different variations and Paal Payasam is one such variation prepared from rice, milk and sugar.

Try the link here: https://www.pachakam.com/recipes/paal-payasam?swcfpc=1

17. Ada Pradhaman With Home Made Ada for Vishu:

Ada pradhaman is a delicious kheer dish usually served after a Sadya. Ada is prepared at home for prepared the dessert.

Try the link here: https://pachakam.com/recipes/ada-pradaman-with-home-made-ada

18. Vishu Kanji for Vishu:

Here is another traditional dish prepared for Vishu Sadya. Vishu Kanji is a tasty porridge prepared from rice, white beans, coconut milk and garnished with grated coconut on top.

Visit the link here : https://www.pachakam.com/recipes/vishu-kanji-vishu-special

Happy Vishu !