Varieties of Thalis

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The Sanctum Sanctorum of the Indian household

Varieties of Thalis

In the olden days 'Pattal' (platters for food) was made as a doily of leaves. 'Dona' (bowls were made with leaves as well. These were disposable items used to serve food.

Apart from these the Thali is very integral to Indian food. An entire Indian meal is served at once in bowls arranged on the periphery of a Thali. Most of the traditional tableware was made of brass, copper, or Kansa. The food surface was coated with tin (Kalai). Silver with gold trim in tableware was used for the rich class. Nowadays, most of the tableware is made of stainless steel.

Indian food is very diverse. There are many different food items available in Indian meals. Thali is one such meal. Many dishes are presented in one serving. Thali is generally a full plate of meal in which there is a variety of vegetables, lentils (daals), chutney, non-vegetarian dishes, papads, pickles, curd and also sweets served with rice or chapatis. Eating from a Thali is quite common in most parts of India. Thalis are one of the most delicious and inexpensive dishes that one will encounter throughout India.

A Thali is a round metal plate in which a number of bowls are arranged along the boundary of the plate. In South India, the Thali is on a banana leaf. There are different types of vegetable curries in the small bowls. In the centre of the Thali are the rice and chapatis. Every region of India has different types of Thalis. The North Indian Thali has got vegetables like beans or cottage cheese vegetable along with puris (wheat bread rolled into small circular shapes and deep fried in hot oil), or chapatis (rotis- wheat bread rolled into large circular shapes and shallow fried over a hot Tawa), in Rajasthan the Thali has gate ki sabzi and papad ki sabzi. The non-vegetarian Thali has one non-vegetarian dish that contains spice of that region. The flavor of each Thali is unique to its region. Thalis sometimes go even by the regional characteristics of the items they have. For example, one may encounter Rajasthani Thali or Gujarati Thali, the Kerala way of Thali is known as Sadya.

Stainless steel thalis/plates used for snacks

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Thali with stainless steel bowls (Vatis)

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Bowls/ vatis in different shapes, designs and capacities.

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The design of the Thali, with multiple compartments/partitions instead of using many small bowls is a cost effective innovation which serves the same purpose of the Thali minus the extensive washing and storing of the bowls/Vatis, and hence this is a preferred option to serve food in some restaurants.

Stainless Steel Thali with multiple partitions

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Disposable Thalis
Disposable tableware has gained a lot of popularity in urban India.
People sometimes use plastic, paper, or styrofoam plates/Thalis because they are easy to use, light in weight and can be easily disposed of. Some of the paper plates are printed colourfully, especially for use at children’s birthday parties. These are preferred to be used when food has to be served at large gatherings, birthday parties for small children, serving of prasad at Indian religious ceremonies etc. The sizes of these plates vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Since the plates are disposed of after use, there is no cleaning or maintenance involved and hence a large amount of domestic work is reduced. This practice has become very popular as the cost per plate is minimal, and it is a more hygienic practice than reusing a batch of plates again and again at large gatherings where availability of clean water for the purpose of cleaning is questionable.

The following images are of disposable paper plates and Styrofoam plates.

Paper plate with a metallic finish

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Colourfully printed paper plate

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Styrofoam Plate

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Even partition Thalis are being replicated as disposable plates. Indian food with its flavours and variety is best enjoyed in separate sections, not mixed together in a round plate, just as it's done in traditional Thalis. In order to achieve this, some companies are now manufacturing disposable Thalis with 3 to 5 compartments, to separate each item in the Thali, so it can be savoured and enjoyed. These plates are made of Styrofoam, or plastic.

These plates are custom designed for Indian food and have both shallow compartments and/or deep compartments to accommodate all consistencies of food. The manufacturers feel that people enjoy food better in these plates.

Partitioned Styrofoam plate with 3 partitions

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Partitioned Styrofoam plate with 5 partitions

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Some disposable bowls are available, which are convenient for parties, take-outs from restaurants, catering at railway stations, and food served on trains, flights etc. Thick paper lids keep the food in place. A few examples of these in plastic and aluminium foil are shown below.

Disposable plastic bowls in different shapes

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Disposable aluminium foil bowls of different shapes

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Design Innovation for Railways
Thali is a hand held tray to serve and eat food on the Indian railways. The way the food is served and eaten on the trains is a very unpleasant experience. Reacting to the fact that millions of passengers travel by rail every day and the time spent inside a train is long, a Thali was developed to enhance the experience of eating on the train. It also makes the life of the people who serve food on the trains easy.

With the above brief, a design student has proposed the following idea for a modern Thali.
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