Rice at the centre, surrounded by a ring of preparations — sambar, rasam, avial, thoran, olan, pachadi, pickle, papadum — all served at once on a fresh banana leaf. The sequence matters: different combinations with each portion of rice, working through the courses in order. The meal ends with payasam, a sweet rice pudding, sometimes in two versions.

The banana leaf gives the food a faint green fragrance. Eat with the right hand. When you're done, fold the leaf closed — in the Malayalee tradition you fold it away from you, a practical move so the leftover rasam and buttermilk don't run toward your lap and onto a good mundu or kasavu saree. (Some Tamil communities read symbolism into which way you fold it; at a Kerala sadhya it's simply the tidy way to finish.)

In Dubai, sadyas are served at Onam and other Malayalee occasions at community venues and a handful of South Indian restaurants that do it properly.