Thali

A thali is a tray, which can be pressed stainless steel or elaborately decorated gold or silver, upon which are placed a number of small metal dishes about 6-7 cm/2½-3 inches in diameter, again made of either stainless steel, gold or silver. The idea of thali is that the individual can sample several different dishes all at the same time. It is what the French would call a menu de dégustation and the Spanish call tapas, where the chef offers you small portions of all his favourite dishes. It enables you, should you wish and depending on what you put into your thalis, to have a multi-course meal, perhaps including a little soup to start, then going through a variety of vegetable or meat dishes and finishing with something like a mango kulfi (Indian ice cream). This is a fun way to experience Indian food and the first person who opens a stylish thali restaurant in London will make an absolute killing. As I recall my journey around India, I think that the only redeeming feature of Madras (or Chennai as it now is) was the fantastic thali fast food restaurant called Hotel Saravana Bhavan in a street called Dr Radha Krishnan Salai.