Thali
A round platter of small bowls that offers a full meal: dal, vegetables, bread, rice, pickle and sweet.
Also: thaali, meals plate, bhojan thali, set meal
A thali is a plate, usually of steel, brass or silver, on which small bowls, katoris, hold a range of dishes, along with rice and bread. Regional thalis include Gujarati, Rajasthani, Maharashtrian, Kerala and Udupi forms. The idea is balance across the six tastes, sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent, with spice distributed so that mild and sharp, wet and dry sit side by side. Spice shows in the dal's tempering, the masala of the vegetables, the pickle and the chutney. Meals are eaten in an order and the thali encourages variety in small portions. Bhutanese, Nepali and Sri Lankan platters follow a similar spirit.