A mountain of steamed rice served on a fresh banana leaf with a procession of vegetable curries, pickles, papadum, rasam, and your choice of fried chicken or mutton curry — eaten with your right hand.
Ingredients
2 cups steamed parboiled rice
3 types vegetable curry (cabbage, beetroot, long beans)
Dhal (lentil curry)
Rasam (pepper-tamarind soup)
Cucumber raita
Mango pickle
Papadum (2 pieces)
Fried bitter gourd
Fried chicken or mutton curry (optional)
Banana leaf
Payasam (dessert) for special occasions
Instructions
1Wash and briefly blanch banana leaf to make it pliable. Place on the table.
2Arrange vegetable curries, pickle, and fried bitter gourd in small portions along the top of the leaf.
3Place two papadum and a mound of steamed rice in the center.
4Ladle dhal over the rice and pour rasam into a small bowl on the side.
5Add your protein of choice — fried chicken or mutton curry — beside the rice.
6Eat with your right hand, mixing rice with curries. When finished, fold the leaf toward you to indicate satisfaction.
Did You Know?
Folding the banana leaf toward you after eating signals to the restaurant that you enjoyed the meal; folding it away from you means you did not — a silent but powerful review system.