ഓണം

സന്തോസ്ത്തിണ്ടീയും, സംബല്സംരിതിയുദീയും, നിറകുടമായ ഏഎ നാളില്‍, നിങ്ങള്‍ക്കെല്ലാവര്‍ക്കും എന്റെ പോന്നൂഒനാശംസകള്‍.....

The above phrase means...

On this overflowing day of happiness and prosperity, I wish u all a wonderful ഓണം(ONAM).

For me Onam is a festival close to my heart.. Every Onam I become a bit more malayalee than what I am!! Let it be the ഓണപൂക്കളം (Flower Rangoli), ഓണക്കോടി (New Clothes worn during Onam) or My Favourite ഓണം സദ്യ (Onam Sadya or Feast)...

I miss all the above a lot.. But what I miss the most is of course the feast, സദ്യ (Sadya)

So tomorrow my whole family in Kerala would be enjoying this fantastic feast, I will be here in Finland trying to eat something in order to survive!! :( (Food in finland is not that bad as I make it sound here.. Its just that I miss having Sadya a lot!!!)

Let me then take you all through the fantastic and mouth watering description of സദ്യ (Sadya)!!

A സദ്യ is a traditional Kerala Vegetarian meal served on a banana or a plantain leaf; people eat sitting cross legged on the floor. Well if I remember correctly there are "n" number of tasty dishes that are served with it.. To be mathematically correct here n = 24 :)

A typical Onam Sadya

Some of my favorite dishes are, 

പരിപ്പ് (Parippu) - It is an amazing dal (lentil) preparation with an amazing ghee and jeera tadka..

സാംബാര്‍ (Sambar) - This is something that my mom and grand mother are experts in!! I love it... Its also a dal (lentil preparation). It has all sorts of wonderful vegetables, like for example tomato, okra, brinjal, drumstick, pumpkin, beans and many others. Tamarind & Sambar Masala (all the spices ground to a powder) make it taste yummy. In the end mustard seed tadka s given and then served hot!! :)

രസം (Rasam) This is one really healthy dish. It is a bit more watery than sambar made of tamarind, tomatoes, pepper, coconut and lentils. Rasam is really very good for digestion.

അവിയല്‍ (Aviyal) Thick mixture of various vegetables, yogurt, and coconut. It is seasoned with coconut oil and curry leaves. This is what wiki says about Aviyal. I would just like to add that it is one dish that is extremely tough to cook, but amazing to eat. There is a possibility to add all the vegetable available to aviyal and make more delicious.

കാളന്‍ (Kaalan) is made of yogurt, coconut, and any one vegetable like "നെന്ദ്രന്‍ (nendran)" plantain or a tuber-like yam. It is a very sour curry and very thick one as well. It is a curry which you should not attempt to cook if you are not in India (actually South of India to be more precise!! ). I wasnt aware about kaalan before this July vacation. Believe me when you taste it you would surely give it Rank 1 amongst all the other dishes (Well the other dishes are also so delicious that probably you would have some 20 rank 1's)

ഓലന്‍ (olan) It is a curry made out of pumpkin, coconut milk, ginger and seasoned with coconut oil. This is one curry that goes very well with rice either in sadya or even just like that.

കൂട്ടുകാരി (Koottukari ) is a nice and yummy yellow colored curry made of banana, coconut and one or two more typical kerala vegetables.

കിച്ചടി (Kichadi) This dish is has main ingredients as cucumber, curd and a tadka of red chillies in coconut oil.

പച്ചടി (Pachadi) This dish is very similar to Raita in other parts of India. Pachadi is eaten fresh and typically made of finely chopped and boiled vegetables with coconut,  green or red chillies and tempered in oil with mustard seeds, ginger and curry leaves.

ഇന്ജിപുളി (Injipuli) This is a very very very very very tasty dark brown curry made of green chillies, ginger and jaggery. This is also a side dish which given in a spoon's quantity because it acts like a taste changer. But I should tell you it is a mouth watering delicacy which will make u eat it in a vessel's quantity!! :)

തോരന്‍ (Thoran) This is probably the only dry serving that you might find in Sadya. It is made of vegetables such as peas, unripe jackfruit, carrot, cabbage and grated coconut. In Sadya usually garlic is not used and hence Thoran would not have any garlic or onion. But when cooked in coconut oil and tempered with mustard seeds, Curry leaves and Red chillies would make it sumptuous enough!!

Now I would share with you about two more amazing side dishes, Pickles & പപടും (papadum). Pickles are usually lemon slices or mango slices pickle. Papadum doesnt need any description. It is simply the most amazing side dish ever!!!

Finally something sweet!!!

പ്രഥമന്‍ (Pradhaman) is a sweet dish in the form of a thick liquid, something like payasam, but the ingredients differ. There are many varieties of Pradhaman... For eg പാലട (Palada), പഴ (Pazha),ഗോതമ്പ് (Gothambu), പരിപ്പ് (Parippu), ചക്ക (Chakka), കടല (Kadala) പ്രഥമന്‍ (Pradhaman).

So this was a small description of my most favorite meal SADYA!! 

I really miss it a lot!! I am sure that while reading it even you had water in your mouth. People in India specially south of India go to some restaurant in the afternoon and have meals or arrange a sadya lunch for the whole family this sunday!! 

For all those who are away from India please be happy just reading it!! :) and of course looking at the images!! 

India is a wonder no doubt but food in India for eg Sadya is something that is not available anywhere else in any other civilization!! 

Have a great Onam week!!

-Karan 

Sometimes even sensible ones need a reality check!!

One Reality Check for all...

Having a genius' brain is not the only thing!! Have a tender heart tooo... :)

Given to me by my darling DAD..

-Karan

What a July it WAS!!.

They say that, "Vacations are usually very short!!"... Well I am not going to oppose this statement AT ALL!! I had a holiday of around 5 weeks.. (When I told this to my fellow researchers here they said "WOW, LUCKY YOU!!"). But when I came back and realised that holiday time is over, I was not that happy!!! But Finland, Finland..What should I say!! It as usual welcomed me with all the warmth (in the literal sense as it was sunny.. :) ) and love. People at work were happy to see me back and were eager to know how did I spend my time in India. So this is what I told all of them........

It all began with one of my best friends marriage!! Yeah, in case u have read my earlier post you would have realised that Sarang, was gonna get married on June 30th.... Ohhh no no wait..thats tooo far.. Let me take you back to Narayan & Anusha's on 24th evening. It was an amazing day. Reason? Well of course I had a flight to India! It was some sort of tradition, we had to go to their house and have dinner and then leave for India from there.. :) Really very sweet of them. Well we had a wonderful dinner and then went to Kaukajarvi, pulled Deepa's leg (thats like breathing for me n Narayan now..) and then late night I left for my journey to India. It is really surprising, although I have been in India for more than 20 yrs, but still whenever I am boarding a plane to India, that SWADES song plays in my mind and I am all nostalgic and emotional.. But honestly speaking India is like that. It makes you feel special!

After reaching Mumbai, Chatrapati Sivaji International Airport, I was like yaayyyyy I am home!! After sometime got a flight to my own BARODA. I was sooooooo happy to see my MOM (I should say I no longer look like her son!! Its like she is my younger sister!!). The biggest surprise for me was my sweeeeet house.. It was renovated and looked like a palace!! Amazing work DAD & MOM.

Well, now we can get back to Sarang's marriage!! Yup, now I have one more bhabhi after Anusha, i.e. Pooja. It was amazing to meet her and have a talk with her. She is indeed Sarang's better half. Pune was amazing and Sarang's family was really like my own family. They gave me so much love and importance that I felt as if I was the main person there and not Sarang!! Anyway, the marriage went smoothly and rains didnt trouble us. I also met two of my verrrrrrry close friends there. Rahul and Subha. It was a pleasure to meet them and we relived some of our old memories.

After destination PUNE it was back to Baroda for a while and then once dad joined the party, we left for GOD's OWN COUNTRY.. First stop was Taj Resort, Kovalam.. It is simple amazing. I should say The Taj Group of Hotels is really place to be if you wanna enjoy the luxury!!

We had a real amazing time there.. Kerala has something in its air that makes you be there forever. Its just after this holiday that I decided in my mind, "Future is in Kerala!! ". The back waters, the coconut trees, the "FOOD", the sea....hmmm describing it makes me so nostalgic that I might book my ticket right away!! Anyway, work comes first..So here I am in Tampere, describing about my favourite destination!! So the next stop in Kerala was Irinjalkuda.. Thats the place where my grandparents live, my dad's house.. Family system in India is really one unique thing that I dont find it anywhere else!! When amongst family, although I donno malayalam (which s a pity) I was so much in them that while leaving it was terrible!!! I miss all my cousins, aunts, uncles and my achamma and achacha maximum...

After those wonderful moments with the whole MENON family we were back home and the vacation was nearing an end.. When I realised about it, I was boarding the flight back to Finland.. It was a month full of fun, love, enjoyment, FOOD & family...

Now, I am here with my 2nd family.. Yeah, my Finland.. But still when I think about July 2009, I smile and wish that next July comes sooon!!

Mom and Dad were the most special parts of this vacation.. I really miss them a lot this time around but its for my good that I am away from them.

Miss u and love u lots ma n pa..

Remembering the good times

Is like watching water flow down

A swift-flowing river

Without being able to stop it.

Remembering the good times

Takes us out of ourselves

Back to a place and time

That no longer exist.

Remembering the good times

Demands a price

That we have to pay

For remembering the good times.

- Karan