The serving order on a vegetarian wedding leaf

A vegetarian wedding lunch in Madurai is served in a set order, and guests notice when it goes wrong. Our servers learn the sequence in their first week, and a head server walks each row to check it. Here is how a leaf is laid out at our weddings.

The banana leaf is placed with its narrow tip to the guest’s left. Salt, a small heap of pickle and a sweet such as kesari or a piece of jangiri go on the top left. Along the top edge come the dry vegetables: a poriyal of beans and coconut, a kootu of chow-chow and dal, an avial, and a pachadi of curd or pineapple. Appalam and vadai sit to the right. A small cup of payasam is often placed in the top right corner so it does not run.

Rice comes first, with a spoon of ghee and paruppu. Sambar follows on the second helping of rice, then vatha kuzhambu or more kuzhambu, then rasam, served in that order so the flavours go from thick to thin. Payasam is served in full after rasam, sometimes two kinds, then curd or buttermilk with a final helping of rice. Banana and betel leaves end the meal.

A full leaf has 18 to 24 items, depending on the menu you choose. Our servers move in pairs along each row, one with rice and one with the curry of the moment, so that no guest waits more than a minute between courses. When guests fold the leaf towards themselves, it means they enjoyed the meal.