What’s on the menu aboard Emirates Airlines this Onam 2025?

Dubai: Onam, Kerala’s harvest festival, is being marked in the skies this week. Until September 6, Emirates passengers flying between Dubai and Kerala can experience a festive sadhya at cruising altitude.

The airline is serving traditional Onam favourites across all cabin classes on flights to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. Meals come with banana-leaf dish liners to capture the feel of a home-style celebration.

Appetisers

Passengers are welcomed with familiar snacks:

• Sharkara upperi – jaggery-coated banana chips

• Kaya varuthathu – crisp banana chips

• Kondattam mulaku – fried sundried chillies in yoghurt

Accompaniments include kaalan (coconut, yoghurt and yam), cucumber pachadi, and puli inji, the tangy-sweet ginger chutney. Business and First Class travellers also receive pappadam and mango pickle.

Main courses

Dishes vary by cabin but reflect Kerala’s love for coconut and seasonal vegetables:

• Vegetarian sadhya with sambar, kootu, matta rice and thoran

• Alleppey kozhi curry with avial, chemba rice and thoran

• Nadan kozhi kari with steamed rice and vegetable kootu

• Kerala-style chicken stew in First Class

• A mutton option for First Class diners

Desserts

No Onam spread is complete without payasam. Onboard menus feature:

• Palada pradhaman – creamy rice pudding with nuts and raisins

• Parippu payasam – sweet lentil pudding with toasted coconut

• Moong dal payasam on select flights back to Dubai

For Keralites travelling during the season, the familiar flavours may offer a taste of home before arrival. For others, it’s a chance to discover the dishes that define one of India’s biggest harvest festivals.