THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Like previous year, people are gearing up to celebrate Onam in a low-key manner. However, a Malayali cannot do away with the traditional feast, a rich spread served with more than 20 items on the day of Thiruvonam. Eyeing Malayalis love for all things ‘sadya’, various hotels and caterers in the city have opened bookings for Onasadya kits.
With few takers for dine-in, high-end hotels and restaurants have also announced sadya packages, with both takeaway and home delivery options available. “From last year, we started giving sadya as takeaways. We received an overwhelming response from many customers. This year, our authentic Onasadya will feature 28 dishes, making it a grand culinary experience for the customers.
It will be available for takeaway in all our eight hotels in the city through their delivery programme ‘Dial A Dish’. Reservations have been made mandatory for the takeaway orders,” said Akhil A Vijay, corporate assistant general manager, Rajadhani Group of Hotels. Rajadhani’s signature ‘Ada pradhaman’ is also included in the Onasadya kit. Considering the harmful effects of plastic on the environment, reusable containers are being used to pack the sadya and payasam. “Takeaways are priced from `299 to `525 in different hotel chains and will be available from Friday till August 23. Though the demand is high, we have limited the orders to 1,000,” said Akhil.
Many caterers have introduced coupon systems. “About 250 tokens have been introduced. Each kit can serve up to five persons and is served in reusable, food-grade plastic containers consisting of about 20-28 items, including plantain leaves. Though this year, we had to limit the number of orders, next year we plan to serve 5,000 sadyas,” said Sreedeep R Nair, managing director of 4 Season Catering. Social distancing has to be ensured at the collection points, says Sreedeep.
Some caterers have introduced digital coupons to book and deliver Onasadya. “This is the second time that we are introducing digital coupons. Coupons will be sent to the customers through WhatsApp who can scan them and book their orders. The kit is priced at `2,599 and will be delivered to the customers through Qwqer,” said Nirmal Kumar, managing partner of BIG Kitchen.
For Onasadya bookings
Rajadhani Group of Hotels 7561077773
4 Season Catering 9744968686, 9447697771
Big Kitchen
9895145450, 9946697920
Helen’s Kitchen 9446552690, 8137973145
Hilton Garden Inn 8111886843/45/46