Thali

Thali(meaning "plate" or "tray") orBhojanam(meaning "full meal") is a roundplatterused to serve food inSouth Asia,Southeast Asiaand theCaribbean. Thali is also used to refer to an Indian-style meal made up of a selection of various dishes which are served on a platter.Thaliis also used in south Asia for ceremonial purposes.
According to archeologistBindeshwari Prasad Sinha, dish-on-stand and simple dishes belonging to theIndus Valley Civilizationmay be regarded as the prototype of Indian dishes as thalis but these do not have accompanying bowls commonly seen with thalis.According to Sinha the distinctive thali accompanying bowls instead appears in thePainted Grey Ware culture.Archeologist B.B. Lal similarly suggests food was eaten from thePainted Grey Waredishes and bowls. B.B Lal notes that "typical dinner set in the Painted Grey Ware consists of the thali (dish), katora (bowl) and lota (drinking vessel)," he suggests it highlights the tradition followed today.Earliest textual sources on thali comes fromAyurveda Samhitas,Sangamand medieval periodIndian cookbooks.
A chapter in ancientSushruta Samhitatext is dedicated to dining etiquette, method of serving food and proper placement of each dish before the diner, it is the earliest known textual evidence on thali presentation.
This dining and serving etiquette fromSushruta Samhitais also adopted in medieval Indian cookbooks with some variations.
TheManasollasatexts chapterAnnabhogadescribes dining etiquette, method of serving food and the way in which district officers and other nobles should be treated at dinner in the court.
TheKsemakutuhalamculinary text advises the cook to serve boiled rice in the middle of the plate. Pulse, meat, vegetables and fish are placed (in that order) on the right, and broths, drinks, water and pickles on the left.
In Ayurvedic tradition, six tastes known asShadrasais used to classify foods according to their qualities for ideal meal. These six tastes include; sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter, astringent. Thali presentation often includes all six of these flavors.
Greek ambassadorMegasthenesin his workIndicanotes the dining manners ofMauryan Empirecourt:
Portuguese ambassadorDomingo Paeswho visited the court ofVijayanagar Empirenotes:
Portuguese ambassadorDuarte Barbosain coastal trading town ofKozhikodein Kerala notes the way local chieftains dined:
Meera Mukherjee suggests tripod or three-footed stool may have been similar to"Mukkali"stool, a type of vernacular furniture more commonly found in southern parts of India.While Chowki, Palagai or Bajot, a four-legged stool are more commonly used with thali today.
Thalis are traditionally made with Kansa metal, a mixture ofcopperandtin. Although it is similar to bronze, Kansa has highertincontent than bronze. The fifth chapter of the textRasaratna Samuchayais dedicated to Kansa with significant information about Kansa kitchenware, diningware and its benefits.
Thalirefers to the metal plate that a thali meal may be served on, whileBhojanamrefers to full meals. Thali is popular method of serving meals in South Asia.The idea behind a thali is to offer different flavours of sweet, salt, bitter, sour, astringent and spicy on one single plate (technically the last two are actually forms ofchemesthesisrather than true flavours). According to Indian food custom, a proper meal should be a perfect balance of all these six flavours. Restaurants typically offer a choice of vegetarian or meat-based thalis. Vegetarian bhojanams are very typical and commonplace inTamil Naducanteens
Dishes served in a thali vary from region to region in the Indian subcontinent and are usually served in small bowls, calledkatoriin India. These katoris are placed along the edge of the round tray, the actual thali; sometimes a steel tray with multiple compartments is used. Typical dishes include rice,dal, vegetables,roti,papad,dahi(yogurt), small amounts ofchutneyorpickle, and a sweet dish.Rice or roti is the usual main dish that occupies the central portion of the thali, while side dishes like vegetable curries and other aforementioned delicacies are lined circularly along the round thali. Depending on the restaurant or the region, the thali consists of delicacies native to that region. In general, a thali begins with different types of breads such aspurisor chapatis (rotis) and different vegetarian specialities (curries). However, in South India and Southeast Asia, rice is the only staple served with bhojanams. Thalis or Bhojanams are sometimes referred to by the regional characteristic of the dishes they contain. For example, one may encounterAndhrabhojanam,Nepalesethali,Rajasthanithali,Gujaratithali,Maharashtrianthali,Manipurichakluk,Tamilunavu andThaiunavu. In many parts ofSouth Asia,Southeast Asiaand theCaribbean, the bread and the rice portions are not served together in the thali. Typically, the bread is offered first with rice being served afterwards, often in a separate bowl or dish.
TheEconomic Survey of India 2020has a section calledThalinomics, the survey found that the vegetarian thalis became 29% more affordable compared to 2006-07, while non-veg thalis became 18% more affordable.