Different food items like pickle, papad, dahi, roti and sabzi find a space, their own little reserved seats, if you will.
And the fact that this alternative is sustainable is a plus!
But besides convenience and nostalgia, there are other reasons why the thali has remained such a vital aspect of our culinary evolution.
India offers numerous thalis such as Gujarati, Punjabi, Konkani, Goan, Rajasthani, Andhra, Kashmiri and more.
But what unites these, however, is the perfect assortment of delicious indigenous dishes on a single platter.
Every thali explodes with different tastes — spicy, sour, sweet, salty, savoury and bitter, awakening each part of the tongue.
A Kashmiri thali includes kebab nadir shahi (lotus stems kebabs), rajma rismise (slow cooked kidney beans), methi chaman (cottage cheese with fenugreek), Kashmiri dum aloo (potatoes in a nutty gravy), haak (green leafy vegetables), khatte baingan (spicy and sour brinjal), mutton rogan josh (signature Kashmiri lamb curry), Kashmiri pulao (spicy rice with nuts), al raita (bottle gourd in yoghurt) and doon chetin (apple chutney).
The feast ends on a sweet note with phirni, a rose and saffron flavoured rice custard.
The different ingredients that are added to achieve a perfect combination of six tastes, or ‘Shad Rasa’, an ayurvedic concept, are also significant from a nutritional point of view.
These items help remove food residue so that one savours a drink and dish.
For example, in a Manipuri thali, cabbage salad does the work, and in Uttar Pradesh, it is the kachumber.
In Oriya thali, ripened papaya or coconut meat helps. These cleansers also help eliminate the need to drink water after every dish.
Besides the ingredients, a thali also displays the different styles of cooking in India, such as frying, boiling, grilling, fermenting, sauteing and frying, dhuunaar (smoking), poaching, etc.
Additionally, the thali offers an array of textures and colours too such as grainy, coarse, granular, smooth, dry and wet dishes.
The yellow of the khaman dhokla, white of the buttermilk, green leafy vegetables, brown pulses and the redness of tomatoes – every thali is an explosion of colour.