South Indian Traditional Style of Eating Food and Customs

EverythingTraditional | South-Indian traditional way of eating food

This article is to give a short description on South Indian meal and benefits in our traditional style of eating food

We Indians have a wide range of recipes made with home-made spices. Culinary diversity is one of our treasures!

We have a very rich eating habit which is proved to be healthier.

Considering South India, Rice being the staple food is eaten with lentil and vegetables prepared spicy and flavorful. Meal in Indian homes will include vegetables, dal, rice or ragi mudde, rasam, curd, buttermilk, sweet, pickle and home-made papad and occasionally non-veg with chicken, mutton or fish.

Table Of Contents

• Sitting on the floor
• Using Hands
• Using Ghee
• Rasam in our meal
• Pickle with our food
• Sweets with the meal
• Curd or Buttermilk at the end of the meal
• Food served on Banana leaf
• Villedele- ವೀಳ್ಯದೆಲೆ (ele-adike-sunna) or paan
• Highlights
• Conclusion

Sitting on the floor

We have a rich culture of sitting on the floor while eating food, which has many benefits:

Sitting on the floor in Sukhasana pose, relaxes the mind: eating with calm and peaceful mind aid in better digestion. Bend forward to eat and go back, this movements of abdomen muscles helps in good digestion as well.

Using Hands

We eat food with our fingers :

It is believed in Ayurveda, fingers represent the five fundamental elements of the universe or pancha bhutas …

1. Agni (Fire) - Thumb
2. Vaayu (Wind or Air) - Index Finger
3. Akaash (space) - Middle Finger
4. Bhoomi ( Soil or Earth) - Ring Finger
5. Varuna (Water or Rain) - Little Finger

Eating food with fingers stimulates pancha-bhutas which helps in secretion of digestive enzymes, in turn improves our digestion. Eating by hands give the touch and feel of the food, food tastes better when eaten with hands

Using Ghee

Ghee : we start our food with Ghee, first served is ghee and dal , Ghee stimulates acid secretion in stomach required for digestion

Rasam in our meal

Rasam : has tamarind, Jeera, Pepper, garlic, which helps in digesting food easily. Hence its eaten towards the end of the meal 

Pickle with our food

Pickle with food : home made – fermented pickle helps in digestion , rich in good bacteria or probiotic,  lemon pickles or citron / bitter lemon (herale / narthangai) is rich in vitamin C,  it is one of the best probiotic foods that you can have . Just  the sight of the pickle makes our mouth water…it’s a great appetizer in disguise J

Sweets with the meal

Apart from calming the nerves of our sweet tooth, Sweets again improve in digestion added benefits of iron when sweets are made of jaggery

Curd or Buttermilk at the end of the meal

Curd or buttermilk : served at the end of the meal, your body absorbs nutrients from food and also improves digestion 

Food served on Banana leaf

Banana leaf is rich in polyphenols which prevent diseases

The leaf is symbol of prosperity, leaves have antibacterial property, possibly kill germs in food

Hot food on the leaf stimulates the nutrients in the meal, food absorbs vitamins and other nutrients from leaves, this also gives authentic flavor to the food.

Villedele- ವೀಳ್ಯದೆಲೆ (ele-adike-sunna) or paan

Two or three betel leaves are taken in hand, applied sunna (Food-grade lime) and added some adike (areca nuts) folded and stuffed into mouth full, chewed to turn your mouth to red

There is an old saying: if your mouth turns dark color then you are lucky because your better-half love you that much, darker the color deeper the love J

Chewing villedele has significant health benefits including that of digestion, and sunna though taken in a very small quantity here, fulfil your calcium intake required for your body, strengthens bones, old-age cracks or fractures of bones are avoided if consumed occasionally

Villedele act as antiseptic and also mouth-freshener

Highlights

1. Sit down in Sukhasana and eat
2. Eating by hands
3. Use of Ghee in food
4. Pickle with our food
5. Rasam in our meal
6. Curd or Buttermilk at the end of the meal
7. Curry & coriander leaves as an added bonus

And Food served on banana leaves at least on festive days … let's make this a modern practice  J

This highlights how thoughtful and informed our ancestors were to develop such an eating ritual…and passed on to us as tradition. This humble way of eating is so rich in its beneficiaries. In this fast moving and busy lifestyle we might not  find time to have such kind of meal in this way on daily basis but this must not be an excuse to never have it. If not every day, at least during festivals and other such occasion we must take this opportunity to embrace this mode of eating the traditional meal

Conclusion

Traditionally hot food is served on banana leaves. We sit down on ground and spread banana leaves and eat by our hands, fingers are used to feel the temperature as steaming hot food is served  

Involves everyone eating together, improve the bonding with family

Now, on festive days or family gatherings we eat our wide spread delicious food on banana leaves

Our Delicious festive meal includes 

Sweets, ghee, vegetables, papad, pickle, salad, rice, sambar, rasam, curd, buttermilk, banana fruit, villedele.

Do you think we are missing any nutrient in this – carbs, proteins, vitamins, fat, probiotics, fibre, and so on…

Most elements mentioned above are natural digestive- helps to absorb the maximum nutrients from the foods

Traditional Meal filled with nutrients along with deliciousness of food, togetherness of family, discussions etc.. What more can anyone ask for? 

Should we not adopt this again…?   if at all forgotten…J