India: thali

Thali, Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu. January 2015

Thali

One of the many things I am happy that Brian convinced me to do in life was travel to India. I had zero interest in going there when we were planning our "round the world extravaganza" after he graduated from Columbia Law. However, we agreed that we would go some places I liked and some places he liked. We both agreed on Turkey - he wanted India and I wanted a stop in Singapore. Thus, in the early 1990s in the late summer/early autumn, we found ourselves in India as vegetarians.

Why veg? India of the 1990's was still grappling with a host of development issues and food sanitation in restaurants was fairly dicey for two white boys from America with virgin bacteria gut. We decided to play it safe and eat veg. The strategy worked by the way - we never got sick the entire trip (except my last meal in Delhi where I ate something off and ended up being sick the entire stay in Singapore -- oh, the irony).

Anyone familiar with Indian food knows "thali". Thali is a banana leaf or perhaps metal tray with serving dishes filled with an endless array of foods, each different from restaurant to restaurant. The original banana leaf where food is directly mounded on that green canvas is my favorite - it is so basic and natural. These different foods are continually refilled as needed (all-you-can-eat, basically) including rice and sometimes bread. Thali was the mainstay of our six weeks in India and I have to say, that time made me fall in love with Indian vegetarian food.

Jump ahead to the Singapore years and in Little India, due to the Tamil influence, there were lots of restaurants serving thali, but adapted for Singaporean and tourist standards to a degree (the prices certainly were "adapted"!). I indulged occasionally, especially when hanging out with MP because he missed food from back home and he couldn't afford "good" restaurant food in Singapore. Eventually, given my increasing interest in Tamil culture, I planned a trip to Tamil Nadu. I was actually planning to meet MP in Madurai on my first visit, but his boss suddenly declined his vacation request and I realized I was "on my own" with pre-purchased, non-refundable tickets. That was my unintended, first solo trip to India.

Early on that trip, I realized that no one in South India knew what the hell "thali" was, but luckily in Pondicherry, the hotel manager enlightened me when I told him of my frustration. "Ah sir, you want MEALS". Such an odd name, but I trusted him. Lo and behold it worked - no need to speak Tamil at all. I simply located a restaurant (usually near a big temple), had a peek inside to verify the patrons were eating "meals", and then took a seat. This, of course, caused a huge kerfluffle among the staff. "Oh my God, what are we going to do with this guy? We don't speak English." was, I was sure, being nervously whispered amongst the staff. A waiter would eventually come with a look of dread on his face - a firing squad might have been a more humane fate! I would just say "meals". The relief was almost comical. I heard them back in the kitchen saying it over and over "meals, meals, meals". Anyway, out came my banana leaf and that fabulous array of veg food that made me want to weep, literally. People have asked me if I could ever be a vegetarian. Most places, probably not - in Tamil Nadu? hell yeah!

I had a return visit to Tamil Nadu and finally went to MP's home. Part of that visit was our road trip to Ramanathaswamy Temple [see: Ramanathaswamy Temple]. We made it there around lunch time and dined on the meal pictured above a short distance from the kovil (Tamil for temple). It was the only time I convinced the brothers MP to eat veg because there was no choice. That place is so holy there are ONLY veg restaurants in the temple precinct. Side note: apparently serving a guest only veg food was just "not done", even if requested!

As for thali itself, it can be elusive. I never found a good one in the USA. Singapore and Malaysia both have decent approximations. One of the best I had was in Salalah, Oman! Believe it or not, another place I had a decent thali was Antwerp, Belgium. Definitely a "go-to" food for me in life, thali is one of those meals that feels like a gift from the Gods. Maybe that is why it's served near temples?