Indian meals can be as simple or as elaborate as you choose to make it. Learn the essential anatomy of an Indian meal, the role that each dish plays, and build a balanced menu for your next Indian dinner.

First Things First

• Indian meals are typically eaten family style, all at once. 
• There is no notion of courses or plating the meal (unless we are talking about a Thali but let’s leave that aside for now).
• Western meals have a main dish with sides to accompany it. However, in an Indian meal, everything on the table is a star, with a specific role to play! 
• All the dishes are laid out on the table and everyone helps themselves! 
• On the plus side, this really works well when planning a meal or even a party for people with food restrictions. There is always something on the table that they can eat!

Components of an Indian Meal

Just like in any cuisine, we need the nutritional balance from proteins, carbohydrates and vegetables. How do we make that happen?

• Proteins – Chicken, fish, legumes, lentils, paneer all provide protein in the form of Curries or Biryani or Dals.
• Carbohydrates – This usually comes from rice and naan, roti, parathas etc. It can also come from potatoes which is served as a vegetable.
• Vegetables – Indian food tends to be very heavy on the vegetables. There are invariably multiple saucy curries, dry sautéed vegetables, salads etc that showcase both Indian and the more familiar western vegetables.
• Accompaniments– This is where we tease the tastebuds with tangy and spicy pickles, chutneys and raitas.
• The Crunchies – You cannot skip the crunchy favorites like pappadam, chips and more elaborate homemade papads. I remember standing at Marks and Spencer in London and watching the Brits buy full Indian ready-to-eat dinners complete with pappadums! Talk about exporting a trend!!
• Yogurt – There’s always some form of yogurt on the table – plain or a raita. If some of the dishes go a bit heavy on the heat, the yogurt helps to cool it all down! In south India, you must end a meal with Thair Sadam – rice and yogurt. It’s like putting a period to mark the end of the meal!

To make your Indian meal more elaborate, you would add many of each type of dish till the table is full and groaning under all that weight. In reality, an everyday meal is simply a rice, dal, roti, and vegetable combo. Or even a simple pulao and raita. So pick and choose as you like and do let me know if you attempt any of my recipes. I’d love to hear from you!