How to eat a leaf meal
Which way the leaf faces, what is served first, and how to say you have finished.
Our Thai Pongal week menu
Sakkarai pongal, the Mattu Pongal lunch and festival meal boxes for families in January.
Thai Pongal, in the middle of January, is the biggest festival of the year in Kongunadu, and our kitchen changes its menu for the four days. Here is what we cook and how to order.
On Bhogi, the day before Pongal, we keep our regular menu but add a payasam with every meal. On Thai Pongal day, we cook sakkarai pongal from new-harvest rice, jaggery from Erode and a generous amount of ghee, with cashews and cardamom, along with ven pongal, vadai and the full festival meal. The sakkarai pongal is also sold in sealed containers, 500 g for ₹220, for families who want to offer it at home but do not have time to cook.
On Mattu Pongal, the day for cattle, our lunch includes a traditional mixed vegetable kootu made with seven to nine vegetables, including country beans, pumpkin, sweet potato and raw banana, as many Kongu homes do. On Kaanum Pongal, the last day, we serve lighter food and open late for families coming back from outings.
For families hosting relatives, we make Pongal meal boxes for four, six or ten people: pongal, two vegetables, sambar, rasam, curd rice and a sweet, from ₹1,150 for four. Order by 10 January on WhatsApp, as we cook to a fixed number. Free delivery within 5 km applies, but on Pongal day itself, the roads near the temples are slow, so expect delivery to take an hour rather than 35 minutes.
