Vishu is the first day of the Malayalam calendar and is the call of a New Year in Kerala and the adjoining areas of Southern India. This day of Vishu is the most important day in a Keralite’s life. It marks the beginning of new hopes and aspirations and is celebrated widely all across the state. Food plays a very important role in Vishu. celebration. Just like the other Indian communities people of Kerala are proud of their legacy of exciting cuisine and Vishu is the time for them to prepare traditional meal and enjoying them with family. The feasts organized during Vishu are famously called ‘Sadhya’. To mark the onset of spring and the beginning of a new year Zambar is now celebrating the Vishu festival with a special menu for the day and it comprises of various lip smacking dishes.
Food Talks
We started off with some delectable starters such as Sarkara Varrati (banana chips coated with jaggery) and Banana Upperi (kerala style banana chips). Following it was Unniappam which is a delicious small round snack made up of rice, jaggery, banana and coconut. This crispy and soft snack had a great balance of flavours in it. Thoran is a delightful dry dish made up of jackfruit, bitter gourd and beans. The chopped veggies are mixed with coconut milk, curry leaves and mustard seeds to create this masterpiece. Next on our plate was Olan which was made up of coconut milk, ginger and white gourd and it reflected the true flavours of the coast. Papadum, banana and buttermilk also plays a vital role as items that constitute 24-28 dishes in a single course of sadhya.
Main highlight for our meal was Theeyal which had an explosion of spices. Kaalan which was made up of coconut milk, mustard and curry leaves is a thick gravy which can paired well with the brown rice and inji which is a tangy gravy used as a side dish. We ended our meal on a sweet note with Pal Payasam which was not too sweet and had an earthy flavour in it. The special menu is available at all Zambar outlets on 14th April, 2016. Salt and Sandals recommends you to visit your nearest Zambar outlet and try out the authentic flavour of Kerala on this auspicious day.
