Portuguese Thali

A while ago I had lunch at a restaurant that served Indian food on a banana leaf (see “An Indian Vegetarian Meal“). Today I happened to visit the same restaurant and noticed something very different on the menu – a Portuguese Thali. The word Thali means a plate of food in Hindi. The type of food really depends on which part of India you are.

Goa was ruled by the Portuguese, not the British. Unlike the British who came to India to plunder, the Portuguese came to do a whole lot more – one of them being spreading Christianity. So no prizes for guessing how I got my Portuguese last name. Half of Goa’s population is Roman Catholic, while the other half is Hindu. So there is a absolutely fantastic mixing of cultures here.

The Portuguese Thali that I had today was an excellent example of that. It had a nice mix of typical Portuguese and Indian food with an added Goan flavor served in typical Indian style on a banana leaf. Awesome!

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