For centuries, a typical traditional meal in South India has been served on a "vazhaillai", a freshly cut plantain leaf. It is believed that hot food, when served on a clean banana leaf, not only tastes better but also imbibes the nutritional values of the banana tree. In olden days, in the absence of modern recycling techniques, this provided a fresh plate for each meal, in addition to being biodegradable.

 

How do people eat on a banana leaf?

Watching people eat South Indian food on a banana leaf is quite a sight. Eating from a banana leaf requires a combination of reflex, skill and practice.

 

The top half of the leaf is reserved for accessories, the lower half for the rice. The lower right portion of the leaf may have a scoop of warm sweet, milky rice payasam, which should be lapped up quickly. While the top left includes a pinch of salt, a dash of pickle and a thimbleful of salad, or a smidgen of chutney. In the middle of the leaf there may be an odd number of fried items like small circles of chips, either banana, yam or potato, hard round discs of spiced, ground dal known as thin papads, or frilly wafers, or vada.

 

The top right hand corner is reserved for the heavy artillery, the curries, hot, sweet, or sour, and the dry items. If it is a vegetarian meal, the vegetables are carefully chosen, between the country ones—gourds,

drumsticks, brinjals/eggplants—and the ‘English’ ones, which could be carrot, cabbage, and cauliflower.  There may be a side attraction such as a puran poli, or sweetened dal stuffed into a pancake, puris, sweet rice or any one of the famed rice preparations such as pulisadam, or bisibela bath.

 

After having worked through the preliminaries, the long haul starts with the rice, which is generously doused with ghee. Sambhar, the highly spiced dal-based dish containing whatever appropriate vegetable there is in season, follows and this is succeeded by rasam.

 

After a final round of rice and curds, or buttermilk or both, a traditional meal concludes with a small banana, a few betel leaves and nuts.

 

We would like to extend a warm welcome to Banana Leaf – we believe in serving simple, nutritious, high quality food with a smile. So, in the true spirit of South Indian cooking, please join us for a wonderful journey featuring authentic south Indian cuisine at the Banana Leaf, centrally located in Columbus, Ohio.

 

Please feel free to provide feedback in our comments box or ask to talk to the owners. We will do all we can to make your dining experience a pleasant one.