And you thought Onam cuisine was only about tradition. Think again. There’s a fresh contemporary range of Onam flavours packed as baked confections.
Artisanal sweets
Payasam cupcake, shakaravaratty (jaggery confection) bottled dessert, vilayicha ethakka (ripened banana) tart.
Welcome to artisanal food as traditional flavours go contemporary this Onam
Hobbyists Mariya Mohan Manjooran and Annu George have utilised the COVID-19 lockdown to innovate and create an artisanal line of desserts for the traditional festival of Onam.
Maria with a flair for decor and Annu with a talent for baking have been creating customised hampers for special occasions.
“As food truly connects and communicates love people have been asking us to customise food hampers, which they send as gifts on special occasions, ” says Annu.
“Every bite of the payasam cupcake will remind you of the semiya payasam ,” says Annu sharing the elements that go into it: kismis , cardamom, vermicelli and flour.
The dessert jar, a layered pudding in a glass bottle, with a cake base made with jaggery, rock candy and ginger is topped with syrup and cream. A crunchy topping completes the dessert.
Ethakka tarts encase a gooey mash of sautéed naadan ethakka garnished with coconut crush.
The hampers are decorated with stock Onam motifs: the traditional kasavu , marigold flowers and banana leaves.
Priced at ₹2000 they are available only in Kochi.
(C ontact: 95623 60505 )
Athapookalam cake
Kollam based sisters Anna and Aniya George began baking in 2012 “inspired by my mom and aunts”, and set up Jacob Bakes in 2019.
They have come up with themed designer cakes and cupcakes for Onam.
Their Onam basket comprises marigold flower ( jamanthi ) cupcakes and an athapookalam cake.
“Just as creating an athapookalam (flower carpet) is time consuming, it took hours to make one on the cake too.
Each marigold petal is hand piped,” says Anna who is a student of medicine. Aniya is studying agriculture in Tamil Nadu. The cake hamper is priced at ₹ 900 and the cake at ₹1700.
( Contact:94464 88076)
