How to eat Indian food like a local - BBC REEL 

i don't think that you have spoken about the fact that when you eat with your fingers you are also customizing the food to your taste. For example how much sambar and rice with a touch of pickle and a bit of vegetable do you need ...and everyone's proportions are different, how much meat and gravy with your roti etc. this is the most important aspect of eating with your fingers...this is very tough to do so with utensils.

Why not? Every country has its own culture and habits, and it must be proud of it. No one needs to be ashamed. The whole world should respect each others culture. Above all, even scientifically speaking, eating with hands has natural therapeutic healing effects.

I am japanese but I used to eat my food with my hands when I was a kid. Like "Ohashi? Pft! Imma use ma hands!" (I am almost 30 but sometimes, I still use my hands to eat certain foods)

We lick our fingers after eating (only when we are at home…😂)its considered to be a bad manner if we do it in public gatherings..

Thank you for showing India..as it is ...

Currently eating Indian food while watching this haha

Indian food is so delicious. But it's expensive here in the Philippines.

Food tastes better with hands and I’m not even Indian!

Thank you India. Greetings from France.

This is also common in the Philippines. But we clean our hands with soap prior and after.

Thank you indian peoples for inventing such wonderful food

I don't think I could ever get used to this but props to you India! At least what seems to be like a lot of you peeps are not using loads of plastic utensils & plastic plates. Those leaf plates are kinda cool!

2:39 No Indian will ever do that licking from Elbows to wrist.

People from Bengal and other regions in India can pick quite fast, while eating each morsel, the finest bones from various freshwater (river) fish species, which are part of their regular diet, with just 3 fingers and the thumb of only one (right) hand.

I was shown to eat Indian food with my hands. I’m Australian. I do use a soup spoon to scoop food on bread, but other than that it’s my right hand (fingers) all the way. I love this so much. ❤

Westerners eat with hands but mostly food that is not runny and won’t leave stain or grease at your hands ( burgers, hotdogs, breads, basically dry food) it just makes more sense to use spoons and forks for more runny foods. The same like Indians cannot imagine eating with cutlery the same others won’t eat without it. There is nothing wrong about, do what makes you comfortable and happy

The problem is that they clean their hands on the clothes😂😂😂

Once a Italian colleague asked me about eating with hand. I told him in european food different ingredients are mixed during cooking and you eat mostly single item final food as main course like pasta, rossetto etc. In Indian food different food items are cooked separately with different ingredients and Indian prepare each single bite to eat and in this single bite preparation different cooked food are mixed. The mixing needs to be done in a proper ratio otherwise it will not taste good. For example while eating rice separate food items will be boiled rice, lentils curry, dry vegetable bhujiya and one or more chutney. Most Indian will prepare before taking bite by mixing small portion of rice, few spoons of lentils currey, small portion vegetable bhujia or curry and pinch of chutney. Using fingers to mix compare to spoon and fork give perfection so we Indian eat with hand most of our food. Using fork and spoon do not give desired taste as mixing in desired proportion/ratio is difficult compare to hand. If Indian eat european food like pasta or ressoto they will prefer to use spoon or fork compare to hand.

2:39 no indian lick their elbows to wrists while eating. The speaker might cans from another planet.

Super interesting!

So interesting. Very nice information

I’d fit in really well,, I always eat like this when I’m alone

We can get exact taste of food by eating by hand.expecially Indian foods.we can see also in this video the taste of love that when a mother feed food for children there will be happen the signature of love and care.

I know where my hands have been, I don't know where my spoon has been.

I'm hungry after seeing this 😭

Very educational ❤

Interesting 1st time I'm seeing BBC is on Indian Food. Bcoz, it always broadcasted poor side of India.

I was eating Indian leftovers while watching this and realised I was eating with my left hand the entire time lol (I'm left handed)

I am a westerner, but I could not agree more that eating with your hand just brings something extra to your food. It's like you connect with your food more and to me it taste better. Food and metal/plastic taste way different than from your hand.

It is easy just use your clean hand ❤️

Very nice video. I am eating food in my hands. I don't think about this facts. Thaks.

I love my india.. Its make me happy.. Bt every culture is good.. I respect everything's. Bt finger connections with food is helping to our healthy life ❤

You shouldn't eat with your left hand unless the its very hard to torn or split something with one hand. You can use your left hand to hold the glass or scratch if you feel itchy. The last thing you want is to rub your hand with spicy food to scratch your eye or skin, your cloths will also be ruined if you use your hand like that. Different foods are eaten different while using different parts of hand. Its how you learned to eat and dont mind eating. Most people in India just eat using one hand unless, the bread is too hard or you are eating 'jhal muri' or you are a child who's learning to eat with hand.

Accurate one.

I absolutely think food that is traditionally eaten with fingers tastes much better when eaten with fingers. Similarly, food that is traditionally eaten with wooden chopsticks tastes better eaten with wooden chopsticks (it tastes different when eaten with metal chopsticks or fingers or knife/fork/spoon). Same goes for knives and forks, it's not that practical to eat a rare steak with your fingers and equally impractical to eat dosa with utensils.

Thanks for representing us northerners and not just painting all indians and all our cultures under the same brush 😑

Yes, eating with your hands does enhance the tastiness of the dish, ex Sambar and Dosa, but Sambar and Vada has certainly eaten with a spoon.

Very easily one can see by the way we take food to mouth which class a person belongs. Eating with utensils or with hand eat with some etiquette.

I am not ashamed of eating food with my hands even in flight...

You can try it to, not only while eating indian food. We were eating food for a long time of our history and its weirdly way more appetizing when you eat it that way. We might have special mechanism in our brain so it produce more hunger hormones - ghrelin - when you eat using your hands because that is how we used to do it from prehistoric times.

Licking finger is not common in urban areas. It's a rare scenario now a days .

Tô aqui pela atividade complementar 👁💧👄💧👁

As a Left Handed person. I wouldn’t know what to do. 😂

Food is related to culture.. you have a choice on what to eat...we can't force others to eat what you like There are people who don't get food.. the best way is to not waste food

Thumbnail is Kerala Sadhya Reason : It's colourful as a Rainbow 🌈

Good

That is banana leaf make food tasty👍 and Contribute to Environmental friendly #Save earth from polyphene and plastic #BBC #TeamSeas

this is the most important aspect of eating with your fingers.

The children being fed reminds me of how as catholics we receive communion.

I know in England we have anglicized versions of Indian food but a typical order for our household is: Poppadom's with mango chutney and onion chutney = eaten with hands, breaking bits off and dipping into the chutneys. Lamb Samosas: eaten with a knife and fork, particularly if adding any sauce. Chicken Bhuna/Balti with Pilau Rice & a Naan Bread: I will eat the meat with a knife and fork. However, I dip the Naan bread in the curry with my hands and sometimes use it as a way to grab a piece of meat or some rice/curry but mostly I finish the curry/pilau rice mix with a knife and fork. This is how I would say most British people eat an Indian curry dish with starters and sides.

Good video

I also eat with my hands using tortillas 😊

Eating with your hand is for me ethical and also practical in some sense for example i try to eat using spoon and fork the usual with seafood like shrimp and crabs its a huge waste of meat after all that pretending to be ethical in the dinning table in some restuarant i realize f**ck it the hell everyone thinks, i eat with my hands with seafood more easier to peel the shrimps and more easier to get the meat from the crab and easy to separate the flesh of the fish from its tiny bones it gets messy but totally worth it, i eat rice with fried or dried type of foods with my hands i havnt tried using it with wet food.

Better eat with ur hands then wash hands with water . I just dont like using tissue papers . Also i think eating food with hands makes it more tasty (of course its my personal preference)

When I'm just at home normally, cooking and eating for myself or one or two others and sitting at the table, I find it immensely helpful to have a "clean hand" and an "eating hand" It's especially hard for kids to eat with one hand until they develop the skills necessary by age 7 or so, and it takes until age 9 to develop strength and dexterity to pour yourself a glass of water with 1 hand. often I use my left hand to do everything from pour water, serve food, and I can eat chapati/dosa all at the same time with no problem. It's part of the way things have been done for centuries, and the food practices surrounding food and the rituals and mantras you recite before food (nowadays I mostly do it only when traditionally dining on the floor with family), the whole brahmin culture around food, it's absolutrly necessary to tell kids over and over not to use their left hand at all when eating from the time they are a toddler, even though it's very hard for a 4 year old to tear a chapati with one hand and it takes a while, it is an essential skill to learn. I am a very cleanly person ("cleanly" by american standards, and a germaphobe by indian standards) and in my experience, eating with your hand very often the best way to eat many foods, but the culture around eating with your hands here in america (holding greasy burgers and hot dogs with 2 hands, touching other stuff, wiping with a napkin [which doesn't even do much anyway] and especially using your eating hands to touch other parts of your body) is is very unhygienic compared to the simple but not easy alternative of eating with one hand. The way I see it, the people who consider eating with hands gross or unclean are the same people who use both their hands to touch their phones while eating, and a whole myriad of other unhygienic practices that people who usually eat with silverware develop over time. Particularly when eating with hands at indian restaurants (and restaurants with finger food like fast food places) I make it a point to wash my hands in the bathroom before, I try to always keep my eating hand ABOVE my plate, and keep my other hand AWAY from my plate If you are someone who wants to learn how to eat with your hand, first develop the habit of keeping your eating hand (dominant hand) above your plate at all times and don't let it go near anything other than the food going into your mouth. Your other hand should never go near your plate, or touch anything dirty or oily. For me, who is the only one who cares this much about germs in my extended family (idk why, maybe cuz I grew up in America) it's just become a very normal and natural process for me.

So if you don't eat with your left hand because it's unclean what about if your ambidextrous or only have one arm for instance do they then have to use a fork?

Why I’m learning the proper etiquette of eating traditional Indian food I will never know It’s 2am I live in the UK

At the end of the day once the food is on my plate I can chose whether to use my fingers or cutlery. What is more concerning is the lack of washing hands before or after a meal in India.

Random question from a non local. Has this custom changed with CoVid??

Nice video, thanks. Though I think it might be fun to eat ice cream with my hand, unless there is chocolate sauce because that would just be too messy even for me!

In the west we eat junk food with our fingers but healthy food with knife and fork.

India culture is really good especially the food.. but I can't help finding disgusting how people eat with hands there.. i just can't.

I'm a lefty. I can't use my left hand?

Eating with hand is best...

In Bengali dining etiquette, we never eat with both our hands. You use either your right hand or your left hand. Eating with your left hand is fine if you are left-handed. The hand which you are not using to eat food must be kept completely clean because you use it to hold utensils (like ladles, dishes, etc.) to serve the food to others and yourself. Touching the food on your plate with both hands is considered highly inappropriate (except for some special cases). Also, the palm is (almost) never used; you use only your fingers to eat. Wiping your plate clean with your fingers and licking your fingers are considered good etiquette since it appears to convey that you enjoyed the food (a gesture of appreciation for the host or the cook). In a multi-course meal, generally consisting of rice and different dishes, which is generally served by service à la russe, you should always eat each course separately, by mixing every dish with rice separately, and not by mixing all the dishes together with rice. Discarded bones of fish and meat should be neatly placed at one side of the plate. Wasting food is detested. The plate should be clean without any food wasted after the completion of the meal.

Well as a 29 year old mixed race American man (white+black) its interesting to find that when i eat indian food i prefer to use my hands it it feels and seems to taste better. And furthermore to find that i eat with 3 usually or 4 fingers and no palm. I dont't think that im superior to anyone but its interesting to think that if i ever visited Indian and was eating natural, one might be reminded of a higher cast hahaha.

we eat like humans with hand

Eating with the hand is the oldest way of eating. If I could just eat my food with my hand, all the time, I would happily do that.

Have been living with Canadians and when they saw me eating biryani with hand and licking my food they almost went to coma . I know they r judging me .

We debone fish with one hand.

As long as your hands are clean, why not? I've tried it myself, saw no problem. But using a fork keeps my hands clean throughout the process.

In the pass, Thai people also use hand to eat like Indian. But we had change after we knew spoon and fork.

Wrap veggies in rice! GENIUS

Eating with the hands has a few disadvantages. One is that it is not pretty to watch -- all that slurping and licking. Second is that you cannot have long banquets where everyone is sitting around and chatting over 2 hours like in China or the west, because you cannot keep your hands messy with food that long. This is especially true in South India, I think, where the hands get messier.

When I see indian people eat rice with their hands I always think of the scene from kill bill where beatrice eats rice with her hands cuz she doesnt know how to use chopsticks, and the master throws her rice away and tells her humans should eat with tools and only dogs eat with their hands.

It's all about individuals comfortability...there is noting so deep..You use spoon or hand.. Upto you... You cannot eat soup or ice cream with you hands and you cannot eat chapati with any spoon.... So it depends what food your eating and what your comfortable with...

You are eating Indian food the wrong way when you follow some rules

When in Rome , do as romans do.

Disclaimer: *Most of the etiquette shown in this video, such as licking from the palm of the hand to the elbow, applies only to South India except eating with the fingers.*

North Indians eat with spoon and fork. South Indians eat with hands.

Yeah the south indian thing is apt.

My mum uses hand

When you realise that you don't use your left hand because you haven't invented the bog roll.....

I feel that this video may have exaggerated the portrayal of how South Indians eat. In North India, it's common to use more utensils during meals. However, it's important to note that many people in South India also use utensils. Even when eating with our hands, we typically maintain a level of cleanliness and etiquette. In my household, for example, I've been taught to keep my plate as neat as possible while eating. Licking one's arm for runny foods is generally seen as something only children do, and it's not considered appropriate for grown-ups, let alone in public settings.

south people use only right hand eating chapati or right but north guys use both hands and break the chapati to 4 parts

You'll never convince me that cutlery isn't an advantage over your hands. Like I get it but at the same time we evolve with tool use. You can keep your tradition I'll happily keep mine.

Roti yes, bread yes, flat bread yes, but rice I can't.

To people in west it may seem weird, but from our perspective using stuff like sharp metal forks and knives, that can even kill people, in your mouth!? That seems a lot more weird.

and BBC pulled Caste into food too 😂😂

That's South Indian style, North & Northeast have different styles, BBC bs media should know

is uncle ka koi school me admission krao.... inke dimag se caste system nikal nhi raha hai 😳

The comments from non natives are ridiculous. It's your own hand! Do you not have soap back home? How do you eat burgers, fries, nachos etc? Without washing your hands? Licking food off your elbow is just disgusting though. Never seen anyone do that.

During an epidemic, it is necessary to change traditions and eat with a spoon, because it is not always possible to wash your hands.

Access to different foods WAS limited. 😂

It's easy to eat fish with chopsticks and keep hands clean

Using untesils to optimize all the meat in the fish is also a SKILL.

Athu vichaarichu alcohol and smokingum culturil ulpedutharuthu

That’s cool and all but not if you’re a plumber like myself lol.

Don’t think I’ve ever eaten any of these foods, but I would like to. Tho with the amount of germs I know are on hands even if you don’t wipe with it, my god licking the fingers sounds gross So long as they wash their hands well I’m down with it

😮 Indjans do not drink soup esp Hot soups. Steamboat cooking at the table is very popular in cold season in China - not possible in India 🎉🎉🎉