Karthiyayini@Kovai
Onam special meals include thoran, pachadi, and pineapple madhura curry
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Special Arrangement
On Vishakam, the fourth day of Onam, one of the most dynamic days of the 10-day Onam festival where quiet households bustle with energy, and some serious culinary groundwork for a grand Onam feast kicks in, I am enjoying a special sadya at Karthiyayini Kovai. There is pavakka thoran, vendakka pachadi, pineapple madhura curry, payaru curry, and the prerequisites including pappadam, payasam, sarkaravaratti and the tangy and lingering injipuli.“Every day, we will add two new dishes to the sadya experience. Our pookalam at the entrance will keep growing bigger too with a variety of flowers as the days progress. For example, for the fourth day, it is four colours of flowers. Onam is for 10 days, starting from August 18 to 27 with Thriuonam on August 26. From Uthradam (August 25) a grand flower carpet will take over,” says Jerin Rajan, who leads the Coimbatore operations of Karthiyayini, run by the Kochi-based couple, Jajina and Vinoo Vijayan. While it offers a Kerala-style lunch complete with fish fry, fish curry and an impressive range including crispy tiger prawns and squid roast marinated with kanthari or birds’ eye chillies, special Onam dishes have been added to the lunch menu till August 27. “We wanted to celebrate Onam with Kovai as it will be a new experience for people here,” explains Jerin as he fondly recalls memories back home in North Kerala.
