The Do’s and Don'ts of Indian dining etiquettes

A guide to basic Indian dining etiquette

The culinary cultures around the world are different, and so are the dining etiquettes. In India, which boasts of varied traditions and cultures, the dining etiquette needs to be followed everywhere, and they come in handy if you are visiting an Indian friend or dining at an Indian restaurant:

Before the meal

In India, guests are considered equivalent to God. So if you’ve been invited for dinner, make sure to not arrive early or exactly on time in order to avoid a host, who might be still in mid-preparation. In Indian households, the guest is not served the meal immediately after arriving as there is a prior snack session, including drinks, snacks and chit-chat.

When the meal is announced

Once your host announces that the meal is ready, make sure to wash and dry your hands, be it in restaurants, hotels and urban homes. Generally, the host arranges food for the guest on the table and keeps an eye to offer what the guest might need next.

Sequence of food

Indians generally skip the ‘courses’ of meals. Food is served as per regional cultures and the type of cuisines. Entire dishes are served and not individual portions, so you either help yourself or the host will do so.

Standard Indian food

At any Indian household or restaurant, you will get flatbreads like naan, chapati, roti or paratha with additional daal, curries, raita, rice, pickles and sweets.

Use of cutlery

Indians usually don’t prefer to use cutlery for eating food and eat food using their fingers, at times. Spoons are used for eating liquid dishes like curries and daals, and the flatbreads are eaten with hands only. Apart from bread and desserts, food is usually served in a single plate with bowls containing different delicacies.

Finishing food

Indians consider leaving food on the plate as bad manners. So assure that whatever you place on your plate must be finished. Eat at a medium pace, not too slowly or quickly as it may mean that you don’t like the food.

Paying compliments

After you’ve finished your meal, always pay a compliment to your host for the food as it is prepared with great effort and care.

Leaving the table

Remain seated until the host or the eldest person at the table finishes their food, even if you have finished eating your food early. Getting up from the table is considered ill-mannered.

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