I love to have meal on banana leaf. I have gone to many celebration in Bangalore where a traditional meal is served on banana leaf. Like Usha mentioned that there is special way and arrangements of serving things on banana leaf. Curd rice is served at end. I was surprised to know that there is a particular way of folding the leaf after the meal and throwing away. You have to fold it away from you..this is what my friend said.

I love the pan that they serve at the exit.

usha manohar wrote:

Normally during festivals we serve food on banana leaves which I feel adds a special touch to the meal. Serving different dishes on the proper side if the leaf is an essential part of the meal. A little salt and pickle is served first on the top right hand side of the leaf and then the salad , upkaris ( sabji) , rice and so on...a little rice is served after the dessert . Normally people like to finish the meal with curd rice.  

I remember having meal on banana leaf during festivals and social ceremonies among the Bengali community. Nowadays, the thermocol plates have substituted the banana leaves and naturally, that lacks the traditional touch. .   

In Southern India, even today meals are served on banana leaves. If not on daily basis, they serve it at least during festivals.

There are many households in villages who have banana groves , so use the leaves for serving their meals most of the time .For them using plates once in a way would be a novelty

During my long stay in South India I used to visit Udupi Restaurants that served rice on Banana Leaf. They also provided water to clean it and then one waiter in white ban and shirt would clean it with white cloth and another one would serve rice and yet another rasam and then another one the Sambhar and the list goes on. I once stayed with one of my new Brahmin friends near Kalngunte beach. I was served food in their kitchen on a banana leaf and I thoroughly enjoyed the way her mom treated and fed me . I was only 25 then but I still remember that evening. We played table tennis in her sports room where her mom and dad also participated. I won't take her name  but her surname was Deshpande and she worked in Survey of India. By the way, I was a trainee sales engineer then posted in Belgaum.    

Even in Imphal, banana plates are used for community feast during ceremonies. Some people try to substitute it with steel plates but it is frowned upon by many elders. Banana plates gives more traditional touch and is considered cleaner than plates. We however do not used it for daily basis. 

I have a strong memory from my childhood. In our native place in UP, our ancestral house had two kitchens...one for veg and one for non veg. So everything was separate for two kitchens. The veg kitchen had rich look with plenty of vessels and dishes. The non veg kitchen gave a poorer look with an old pan, kadhai and cooker for cooking and some glass glasses for drinking.It was not a part of the main house but one of the room on outside verandah was turned into non veg kitchen. We had rich steel dinner sets in veg kitchen but nothing of that sort in non veg one. Most of the elderly people and ladies were vegetarian. The newer generation and some males brought non veg into culture. The elderly people accommodated with step motherly treatment. 

We were served non veg food on banana leaf. We had to finish our food on verandah, throw them outside, take a bath on the outside hand pump and then enter our house. I was a non vegetarian in my childhood. I remember after coming back from play in the evening, if we saw our house-help cutting banana leaf from the backyard, our taste buds used to get excited anticipating that our uncle would have cooked some yummy non veg. That is one fond memory of banana leaf from my childhood.

Arunima Singh wrote:

I have a strong memory from my childhood. In our native place in UP, our ancestral house had two kitchens...one for veg and one for non veg. So everything was separate for two kitchens. The veg kitchen had rich look with plenty of vessels and dishes. The non veg kitchen gave a poorer look with an old pan, kadhai and cooker for cooking and some glass glasses for drinking.It was not a part of the main house but one of the room on outside verandah was turned into non veg kitchen. We had rich steel dinner sets in veg kitchen but nothing of that sort in non veg one. Most of the elderly people and ladies were vegetarian. The newer generation and some males brought non veg into culture. The elderly people accommodated with step motherly treatment. 

We were served non veg food on banana leaf. We had to finish our food on verandah, throw them outside, take a bath on the outside hand pump and then enter our house. I was a non vegetarian in my childhood. I remember after coming back from play in the evening, if we saw our house-help cutting banana leaf from the backyard, our taste buds used to get excited anticipating that our uncle would have cooked some yummy non veg. That is one fond memory of banana leaf from my childhood.

I have heard that some people do not allow non-vegetarian food to be cooked in the same kitchen. They just lend some utensils and stove for that purpose which needs to be kept in a corner of the house. I am pleasantly surprised that your ancestral house had two kitchens. I loved the way you narrated your childhood memory.

suni51 wrote:

During my long stay in South India I used to visit Udupi Restaurants that served rice on Banana Leaf. They also provided water to clean it and then one waiter in white ban and shirt would clean it with white cloth and another one would serve rice and yet another rasam and then another one the Sambhar and the list goes on. I once stayed with one of my new Brahmin friends near Kalngunte beach. I was served food in their kitchen on a banana leaf and I thoroughly enjoyed the way her mom treated and fed me . I was only 25 then but I still remember that evening. We played table tennis in her sports room where her mom and dad also participated. I won't take her name  but her surname was Deshpande and she worked in Survey of India. By the way, I was a trainee sales engineer then posted in Belgaum.    

There are still  many restaurants here in Mangalore and other smaller towns where they serve meals on banana leaves. They only have meals and nothing else on the menu.. there is a very popular resyrestau here where they serve a set vegetarian meal on banana leaf and you can order side dishes like chicken sukka ,fried fish,prawns ghee roast etc..

usha manohar wrote:

suni51 wrote:

During my long stay in South India I used to visit Udupi Restaurants that served rice on Banana Leaf. They also provided water to clean it and then one waiter in white ban and shirt would clean it with white cloth and another one would serve rice and yet another rasam and then another one the Sambhar and the list goes on. I once stayed with one of my new Brahmin friends near Kalngunte beach. I was served food in their kitchen on a banana leaf and I thoroughly enjoyed the way her mom treated and fed me . I was only 25 then but I still remember that evening. We played table tennis in her sports room where her mom and dad also participated. I won't take her name  but her surname was Deshpande and she worked in Survey of India. By the way, I was a trainee sales engineer then posted in Belgaum.    

There are still  many restaurants here in Mangalore and other smaller towns where they serve meals on banana leaves. They only have meals and nothing else on the menu.. there is a very popular resyrestau here where they serve a set vegetarian meal on banana leaf and you can order side dishes like chicken sukka ,fried fish,prawns ghee roast etc..

There are some specialty restaurants in Pune that serve on Banana leaves. As Pune is growing fast from all sides, most plantations and farms are being razed down and it is getting harder and harder to find banana leaves. In fact they have now become an item of luxury. During Ganpati and Gauri poojan, when I want to serve the specially prepared Naivedya, I have to buy a single Banana leaf for anything from Rs. 30-50! The people selling these have a fine season and make a lot of money!