Payasam, chips and pickle: Kochi is shopping for Onam

The annual Onam fair organised by TDM Hall, a much-anticipated affair in the city’s calendar, has returned after a rare gap in 2020

Work starts early in the kitchen of Ernakulam’s Thottekatt Diwans’ Memorial Hall (TDM Hall). It is between 4 am and 5 am that stoves are lit and the cooks start preparations to make paalada payasam and pradhamans, which have to be ready by 10 am. For ten days from Atham to Thiruvonam [the stars of the Malayalam calendar when Onam festivities begin and culminate] two varieties of payasam will be made daily, along with a variety of pickles made of lime, lemon, mango, gooseberry and ginger, all for the annual Onam Mela. This year’s sale began on August 11.