How to Eat With Your Hands When You are in India

When you are in an Indian city, whether urban or rural, eating with your hands is very common. No one feels dirty or ashamed about it; at least for most of the foods. If runny gravy is not there in your bowl or plate, you can comfortably use your hands to gulp down the delicacy in front of you. In the beginning, the westerners find this way of eating far too absurd, but they adapt to it with time. They learn the way to use their hands like a utensil such as a spoon, a scoop, a ladle to mix up the food, and a lever to shove food into your mouth.

Indians believe that you can enjoy the flavors of the food more with your hands than with a spoon or a fork. Moreover, this method replenishes your gut bacteria, which means there is no requirement of additional gut bacteria for the stomach. When you come from countries where eating with your hand is considered a taboo and bad manners, you may find it difficult to do it initially. Read below to find out how you can learn this new way of eating when you are in India.

Be patient

Using your hands to dip into a plate full of rice, curry, and cooked vegetables might not seem a delightful idea at first. You may not even want to touch the food, but you need to be patient while learning how to do it. Use your first two fingers and the thumb at first, and then gradually, you can proceed to make use of the third and then the fourth finger. You need to use all your fingers when you are eating rice and curry; it will help you scoop out a ball of rice and pop it in your mouth!

Which hand to use

First thing first, whichever hand you use, you should wash your hands thoroughly before you sit on the dining table. While choosing a hand, you need to remember just one thing- use your right hand for eating. This is because you reserve the right hand for cleaner purposes like eating, picking up items, exchanging money, etc. even if you are a leftie otherwise. The left hand is used for cleaning purpose in the bathroom, so you never, never use it on the dining table.

Wash your hands after eating

Water is precious in India, but it is readily available with most street hawkers, peddlers, etc. Even if you find tissues at most places, washing hands after eating is the best thing. You can easily find a wash basin in the cafés, restaurants, and small eateries. You will also feel refreshed after cleaning your hands with water rather than just tissue papers like you do in the West.

Do not create a burden for the street vendor

Be a responsible traveler when you are eating food from small street vendors in India. They do not make much money from their products. When you ask for extra tissue papers, polythene bags, paper bags, extra chutney, etc., you increase their cost of operations. Try to avoid asking for such things so that you do not create an additional load for the small street vendor.

The western countries and many other nations also embrace the idea of using hands while eating finger foods. However, the majority of the dishes are eaten with utensils. Moreover, because of the differences in the kinds of foods, the way to eat them also differs. If you feel unhygienic about it, you should carry a hand sanitizer and wet wipes with you at all places. You may not find these things to buy easily, so it is better to buy them in bulk when you do in your Self-Drive Car Rental Kolkata. Just relish the delicacies of India rather than fretting over the way of eating.