It’s Pronounced “Tali”… And It’s Worth the Trip.

If you ever come to India, you HAVE to have a traditional Indian lunch called “Tali” (it’s actually spelled and pronounced more like “Thda’li”, but we’ll just stick with “Tali” for ease). It’s a multiple-course meal that basically runs as follows:

a) You are given soup (it’s a vegetable base with floating little leeks and bits of carrots) and a wonderfully tasting cauliflower dish that is similar to “Orange Chicken” at Panda Express… except that… er… well… it’s not “chicken” b) We all ordered a beverage called a “Sweet Lime Soda”, which is brought as a 1/3 of a glass of syrup (think hyper-sweetened Karo) doused with fresh lime juice, and then you add seltzer water to taste until you have a delightfully bubbly and refreshing primitive “Sprite” c) After the soup and cauliflower, each person is given a large lipped round tray with 18 smaller saucers in it, each of which contains some scrumptious and highly unique Indian sauce or chutney. In addition to these, fresh white rice and a number of “Indian breads” are also brought, and each saucer is either dumped onto rice, or used as a dipping agent for the breads d) After the multi-dish, fresh lemon water is brought to each guest in order to allow them to cleanse their hands, and e) for an after-lunch treat, plates of micro-sweet bananas and “verilai” are brought to the table.