EATING ETIQUETTE (బంతి భోజనాల సంప్రదాయం)
One of my fond childhood memories is eating hot Upma dripping with ghee on an almond leaf (బాదమాకు). The pleasant aroma of almond leaf adds heavenly flavor to the hot ghee. I can still taste it in my mouth, my memory of it is so vivid. I was staying in my aunt's house with a dozen more cousins waiting for one of my cousin's marriage. There stood a huge almond tree in the front yard of my aunt's house. I used to love eating fresh almonds (బాదాం కాయలు). The outer flesh on a ripe almond's shell is red and full of fiber yet juicy. It has a very distinct taste, a mix of sour, sweet and bitter. It is simply delicious. In old times, nature was part of one's daily life. It has a charm of it's own.
Traditionally, Telugu people or in general South Indians used banana leaves (అరటి ఆకులు) to eat food, especially on occasions like marriage, etc where a lot of people are to be served. Usually people sit in a row along the walls of a room on floor, so that the people serving food can use the central part of the room to can move around and be able to serve every one. The food is served in a particular order and is also eaten in a specific order.
The banana leaf is placed so that the wider part of the leaf is toward the person eating. This gives good amount of space for the person to mix items and eat. Once the leaf is placed, the person sprinkles a little water to wipe the leaf. Then Salt is served first in one corner of the leaf. Then sweet is served on all auspicious occasions. Sweet dumplings made with channa dal and jaggery mix balls dipped in urad dal batter and fried (బూరెలు) are the favorite sweet on most occasions. After salt and sweets are served, on auspicious occasions dal is served and then pickles, all the curries and hot ghee are served. In fact, asking when are you serving dal rice (పప్పు అన్నం) is synonymous with asking when are you getting married. Once person is done with dal and curries, sambar, rasam (చారు), curds and kheer (పాయసం)are served. Dal, pickles and curries go on the narrow side of the leaf away from the person eating. All the sweets, snacks and papad (వడియాలు) and rice are served on the broader side. One is supposed to finish all that is served (one can say no to the items they don't like). When done eating, the banana leaf must be folded. On auspicious occasions, the narrow half is placed over the broader half.
Usually only vegetarian food is served on banana leaf as it is considered auspicious. But in some communities and regions, meat is also served. cutlery can't be used, so one has to eat with hands. It is not easy to eat liquid items like rasam and kheer. It takes patience and some practice. Also, usually when eating as a group, all start eating at the same time and one has to wait for all to finish to fold the leaf and get up to wash hands.
Banana leaves are convenient to use in weddings, etc where hundreds or even thousands are invited as these leaves are disposable and they are also Eco-friendly as they are bio-degradable. Also, when hot food is placed on the banana leaf, the oils in the food are infused with the nutrients and flavors of the leaf making the food more flavorful and healthier. Another type of disposable bio-degradable plates used are sal-leaf plates (విస్తరాకు). they are made by stitching dry sal-leaves together with small sticks. It is a dying industry and practice, as more fancy paper plates entered the market.
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