UAE: Hour-long queues, sold-out meals, sea of gold and white; how Indian expats celebrated Onam

UAE: Hour-long queues, sold-out meals, sea of gold and white; how Indian expats celebrated Onam

To say that Dubai’s Karama has several restaurants dishing out delicacies from the south Indian state of Kerala would be an understatement.

You can find a Malayalee restaurant in every block. Yet, all of them saw queues that extended for several metres on Tuesday, as Malayalee expats lined up for the traditional feast of Onam.

Men were spotted sporting a silk shirt and a mundu (A garment consisting of a rectangular cloth that is wrapped around the waist, worn by men in Kerala), while women adorned their hair with flowers.

Thousands of residents came together to enjoy the sumptuous Onam 'Sadhya' feast at various restaurants.

Long queues were seen at many restaurants like Dhe Puttu, Aramam, City Makhani, and Ikkayees, where the waiting time ranged from 20 minutes to nearly 1 and a half hours. Some restaurants delivered special feasts of around 10,000 packets. “We started our preparation early morning around 5 am,” said Salman, manager at Aaramam in Karama.

“We are expecting over 3,000 guests today, starting from 11.30am until 3.30pm at seven of our branches,” he added.

At Dhe Puttu restaurant, people queued up as early as 11am to find a seat. “We have been receiving overwhelming response from the Malayali community as well