Eating With Our Hands

About two weeks ago now, we had the great pleasure of eating an extravagant Indian feast using our hands as utensils. It began like this....

Sixteen days after an Indian funeral( in this specific case Amma's fathers death) it is traditional to take the ashes that remain from the cremation and transfer them to hand-woven baskets made out of coconut palm leaves and then empty them into the river; however, this part of the ceremony was preformed the day after the cremation because Amma had to go on tour to Australia and would therefore not be present here at the Ashram during the sixteenth day celebration. This of course did not exempt the sixteenth day from being celebrated. The cremation sight was strewn thick with pink flowers and there were many Pujas taking place throughout the day in a temporally constructed hut made from palm leaves.

Adam and I had been in town using the internet, and as we strolled back across the bridge to the Ashram, we saw about 2,000 people gathered on the river bank in front of Amma's fathers house. A beautiful silk tapestry had been hung, enclosing a packed eating area. There were lots of tables and chairs set up, and we got ushered into what appeared total chaos; people washing their faces and spitting on the ground. Many westerners there were utterly confused (us included!), unsure if we were really supposed to be there.

After about 5 minutes of waiting, Adam and I were seated at a table next to two Indian men who had traveled to the Ashram specifically for the feast. As soon, as we had settled in and kicked our feet in the sand under the table, a banana leaf was placed in front of each of us and Indian women immediately began plopping, mango chutney, rice, dhal, spicy ginger chutney, curry, papadum( a chrispy chip thing)on our brilliantly green leafy plates. And then to top it off they filled our cups with a hot, sweet tea to cool the palette from the intense spice we were about to become familiar with.

We dived in with our fingers, pushing the food into our mouths with our thumbs. It was much easier than anticipated. The men next to us showed us how to mix some rice and dhal until it became sticky and then to crush some papdum on top and scoop it up into our mouths. It was exciting and spicy, and we agreed that it was the best meal we had had in India. And I still can't compare any food I have eaten since to that feast.

So, when we now eat Indian food, we eat it with our hands, unless we can't endure the spice, because it is much easier to inflame your lips when you are pushing food into your mouth with your hands than when you are using a spoon and being dainty(they only have spoons here).

-Eva