As you well know, this is a very specialized skill, and not one I possess! We were fascinated as kids on a vacation south (Bangalore, Madras, and everywhere along the way) when we first encountered people eating soupy rasam/sambhar and rice by (cupped) hand, because we couldn’t conceive of being able to do it! I then forgot about it until a lifetime later, when I stayed with a Tamilian college friend and her mother in Delhi a few years ago, and we ate bisibelebhat for lunch one day (which I know isn’t as soupy, but still)
Hahaha - the last time I ate seated on the ground was as a little kid in my grandparents’ kitchen every weekend, before it was renovated with western-style counters and stovetops. Definitely trickier than eating at a table! We sat on flat stools but the thalis were on the floor. It never seemed tricky then, though, just normal (even though in our own house we only ever ate at a dining table).
Love it! And true… I’ve eaten biryani with a fork, and switched to fingers because it just didn’t taste right. Something that has to be experienced, can’t be explained.
My experience is they are always available when requested, though if I ate something especially strong, the lemon (and salt, another childhood lesson) needs some help from soap at a basin.
That said, I am constantly surprised that Indian restaurants in the US don’t provide wet naps either before or after a meal (even though they are commonly offered at Japanese restaurants) when the correct way to eat that meal is with your hand. I mean - even at a minimum, you have to touch the ubiquitous naan to dip it into things!
Oof. You got heavy with that, but so true. I have even gotten looks eating Indian food by hand at an Indian restaurant.
My mom has a similar nit about native English-speakers mispronouncing common/widely used words from other languages (and of course non-Euro names) vs. the expectation for non-native English speakers to speak and pronounce things “correctly”.
