What a thali is and how to write one on your menu.

What does thali mean?

Thali (TAH-lee) is Hindi for "plate". Wikipedia explains that the word "is also used to refer to an Indian-style meal made up of a selection of various dishes which are served on a platter." The small bowls around the edge are called katoris. Traditional thalis were made of kansa, a copper and tin alloy. Most restaurants today use steel, and some use a tray with built-in sections.

In South India, the same kind of meal is often called meals, or bhojanam in Telugu, which means "full meal". There, rice is the staple rather than bread.

What's usually on a thali?

The mix changes from place to place, but most thalis include:

• Rice or bread, or both. Roti, puri or another flatbread, with rice in the center or served after the bread.
• Dal, a lentil dish.
• One to three vegetable dishes, often called sabzi or shaak.
• Yogurt, as plain dahi, raita or kadhi, a yogurt and gram flour curry.
• Pickle and chutney, in small amounts.
• Papad, a thin crisp wafer.
• A sweet, such as kheer, halwa or gulab jamun.

The idea is balance. Wikipedia notes that thali presentation often covers the six tastes of Ayurvedic tradition: sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter and astringent.

Regional thalis

India has dozens of regional thalis. Here are four you'll often see on menus. The first three are described on India's official tourism site, Incredible India:

• Gujarati thali. Usually vegetarian, with dal and some vegetables lightly sweetened. The Ahmedabad guide lists "different breads (like phulka, bhakri, puri) crafted from diverse flours, rice varieties, buttermilk, farsan," with farsan meaning savory snacks like dhokla and kachori.
• Rajasthani thali. Dishes like dal baati churma (lentils, baked wheat rolls and a sweet crumble), gatte ki sabzi (gram flour dumplings in a yogurt gravy) and ker sangri, dried desert berries and beans, with millet roti, according to the Jaisalmer guide.
• Punjabi thali. Often dal makhani, lentils slow-cooked with butter and cream, with flatbreads and a glass of lassi. In winter, sarson da saag with makki di roti, mustard greens with cornbread, is a classic, as the Chandigarh guide describes.
• South Indian meals. Rice with sambar, rasam, vegetable dishes, curd, appalam (papad) and payasam, a sweet. It's often served on a banana leaf. Wikipedia notes that before a traditional meal, people clean a banana leaf "which is used as a large sheet for serving food."

Kerala's sadya is a banana leaf meal too, but it's a vegetarian feast for weddings and festivals like Onam rather than an everyday plate, as Kerala Tourism explains.

Thali vs other set meals

A thali is a set meal, but it isn't served like the set meals most American guests know.

Our guides to table d'hôte and teishoku cover the other two.

Unlimited, veg and non-veg thalis

Some restaurants serve an unlimited thali. Servers walk the room with pots and refill the bowls until the guest says stop. At Shree Thaker Bhojanalay in Mumbai, The Infatuation describes servers who "walk around and fill (and refill) steel plates and bowls, while urging diners to go for third helpings." The restaurant has served a Gujarati thali since 1945, according to Wikipedia.

If you offer refills, say exactly what's included. A line like Refills of dal, vegetables, rice and roti; one sweet per guest stops awkward moments at the table. Cost it on a hungry guest, not an average one.

Wikipedia also notes that "Restaurants typically offer a choice of vegetarian or meat-based thalis." A non-veg thali usually swaps one or two bowls for a chicken, mutton or fish curry. Keep them as separate items with separate prices. If your vegetarian thali uses ghee, paneer or yogurt, it isn't vegan, so say so for guests who ask.

How to write a thali on your menu

A guest can't picture a thali from the word alone. List the katoris, one per line, with a few plain words for anything unfamiliar. Then add the bread and rice, what changes daily, and the price.

On Menupresso, each thali can be its own section with Individual dish prices switched off and the price in the section introduction. List each katori as a dish, with Vegetarian, Vegan or Spicy labels where they apply, then change the bowls in the morning and press Publish changes. The Jaipur and Kolam designs in our template library were made for Indian menus. For a full sample, see our Indian restaurant menu example.