Onashamsakal !! Happy Onam to you all !!
Onam is celebrated by Keralites irrespective of their religion, culture etc; Onam brings very fond memories to all malayalees and it’s same with me.
If you want to experience the spirit of Onam, you should visit the DH (Darbar Hall) Road in Cochin during Onam. The entire road is filled with the sound of street vendors competing with each other, the aroma of freshly fried banana chips, the fragrance of flowers, the laughter of families enjoying their Onam shopping and what not. You just have to stand at the entrance of the road and the crowd will push you to your destination 
My Onam memories would be incomplete if I didn’t mention my visits with friends, to the Onam fair. We had a tuition class at a tutorial just in front of the DH Road and we used to skip it frequently. Come Onam and we were regular students. We’d be just waiting for the class to get over, so that we could go and hang out at the fair and payasam melas. Am sure every Malayali will have their own share of ’sweet’ memories like these.
Now back to our topic, the star attraction of the Onasadaya, payasam. I guess you can divide payasam lovers broadly into two categories - those who love pal payasam (milk and sugar based) and those who love sharkkara payasam (jaggery & coconut milk based). I fall in the latter.
Though I’ve made a full fledged Onasadaya only once after my wedding, I never compromised on payasams. Since my husband and myself fall into two different categories, I make both pal payasam and parippu payasam. Semiya payasam is his favorite and I should say its the simplest of all.
If you don’t have much time to spare in the kitchen and still want to grab the festive mood of Onam, you can go for this easy and delicious treat
Here is the recipe:
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Onam specials
The word “thattukada” brings me a lot of good memories. Am sure that every Malayalee has tried this local fast food version at least once. The thattukada is a road side eatery / fast food outlet / hawker food. If you’ve been to Kerala, you can’t help but notice these thattukadas where porottas are made and I should say that sight itself is kinda appetizing!
My brother is a thattukada fan and he is the one who introduced me to this world of fiery n colorful thattu specials. He used to get parcels for me. His thattu favorites were squid curry, fried rice, kappa n meen curry and beef curry.
He had the habit of checking the dinner menu at home and if he was not happy, he’d immediately take his bike n go n fetch some thattukada specials. I used to wait to see the expression on his face to decide whether I should start having dinner or wait for those fiery thattu specials 
I guess spiciness is the trademark of thattu dishes and this curry is no exception. Please adjust the masala measurements to suite your spice tolerance level.
Here comes the recipe:
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Has it ever happened to you, that you frequently cook a dish you like so much, until somebody forcefully asks you to stop making it? It happens with me at times. If I like something, I keep on making it until I reach my diminishing margin of utility (the only thing I remember after studying economics for 3,4 years ) or until my husband refuses to eat it again
Lemon Drizzle Cake & Lemon Bars are two main items that belong to this category and after trying this dish I fear this will also have the same effect. Again this recipe is from my mom in law
Mappas is a typical kerala dish, with thick and creamy coconut milk. One of the other main ingredients is coriander powder and what makes it distinct from the usual chicken curry is the fact that there is no chili powder in this. It tastes great with appam. I strongly recommend this curry if you like coconut milk based curries.
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