Indians are used to eating at local eateries. And, for decades, ever since the fast-food boom took over, global giants have been catering to Indian tastebuds. The result is often a menu that is nowhere to be found elsewhere, with little resemblance to what is offered on the original menu. Now, the festival calendar is making its way onto the menus of fast-food and coffee chains.

McDonald’s has adjusted its offerings for Shravan, and is going viral. Starbucks is celebrating Onam with jackfruit, Nendran banana and Kerala-inspired dishes. And Burger King has taken one of the most recognisable elements of an Onam sadya, the banana leaf, and put its fast-food meal on it.

It is not unusual for international food brands to localise their menus in India. But festivals offer a different kind of challenge. The food has to fit not only local tastes, but also the way people eat at a particular time of year.

For Shravan, McDonald’s introduced a selection for customers following a no-onion, no-garlic diet. The Shravan Specials menu included Unsalted Fries, Strawberry Shake and Chocolate Shake, along with the Signature 7 Veggies Burger. The McAloo Tikki Burger and Mexican McAloo Tikki Burger were also available without onion and garlic.

For a chain whose menus are built around consistency, removing two everyday ingredients is a fairly specific accommodation. During Shravan, however, dietary restrictions are part of how many devotees observe the month, making the adjustment perhaps a necessity while also ensuring that the chain offers familiar fast food within those choices.

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The 10-day-long harvest festival of Onam is going on. While everyone is looking to secure tables to get a taste of a traditional Onam sadya, Starbucks has also decided to join the celebrations.

Its Onam offering brings together savoury dishes inspired by Kerala cooking, including the Avial Inji Puli Wrap, Poricha Kozhi Wrap and Nadan Kozhi Puff. There are also desserts built around ingredients strongly associated with the state.

The Nendrapazham Jaggery Coconut Strudel combines Nendran banana with ghee and jaggery. The Nendrapazham Jaggery Loaf Cake brings together ripe Nendran banana and jaggery. Jackfruit appears in a Swiss Roll layered with jackfruit cream.

Coffee is also part of the story, with Starbucks, after all, being a coffee chain. The brand has introduced two limited-edition beverages centred on jackfruit. The Jackfruit Flat White combines coffee with jackfruit and warm cinnamon, while the Jackfruit Cold Brew brings jackfruit notes to the chain’s signature Cold Brew.

Jackfruit, also called chakka in Malayalam, is deeply tied to Kerala’s food culture. It is also the state fruit. The mighty jackfruit appears in curries, chips, sweets and preserves, and is deeply embedded in the state’s food culture. Putting it into a Flat White is a different proposition altogether, translating a familiar local flavour into Starbucks’ coffeehouse vocabulary.

Burger King has taken a simpler route for Onam. Rather than introducing an entirely separate menu, it is offering Onam Fest Veg and Onam Fest Non Veg meals. The detail that makes them particularly festival-specific is the serving style. The meals are being served on banana leaves instead of the usual fast-food boxes.

The banana leaf is an integral part of the Onam sadya, the elaborate feast associated with the festival. Here, it becomes a meeting point between the visual language of a traditional Kerala meal and the familiar format of a fast-food chain.

McDonald’s, perhaps more than any of the others, has been adapting to India’s food habits for years. India is one of the markets where the chain has built a substantial vegetarian menu, with offerings such as the McAloo Tikki and Veg Maharaja Mac alongside its non-vegetarian options. The Shravan menu is an extension of that approach. So is Starbucks putting jackfruit into a Cold Brew, or Burger King replacing its usual packaging with a banana leaf for Onam.

In India, localisation is not always about changing a recipe. Sometimes it is about understanding what people are eating, and why, at a particular time of year.