I'm Tamil by birth, but moved around northern India with my Army family. Yet, every summer we would go back to Madras to spend the school holidays with the grandparents, and invariably attend a traditional wedding.

Each would follow the same format – a morning ceremony sandwiched between breakfast and lunch served feast-style on fresh banana leaves, with all our favourite foods, both sweet and savoury together. Everything was eaten with our hands, dished out by lungi-clad servers, and served with a side of gossip from all the 'maamis' (aunties).

I particularly wanted to highlight this kind of traditional vegetarian Tamil Iyer food because it's almost never served in the popular 'Indian' restaurants, which showcase mostly Punjabi food. You'd have to visit a Tamil home or a regional Tamil or generically 'south Indian' restaurant to eat anything close to it.

Created for the Global Cuisine challenge.

#vegetarian #feast #weddingfood