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Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
5 min
29/09/2025
If your social media explore page is full of thalis, plating videos, and food challenges, welcome – you’re in the right place. These festive spreads below aren’t just meals; they're cultural scuba dives that deserve a carousel post. You don’t need to know the difference between kosha mangsho and chole to treat your taste buds this Dussehra.
India’s festivals are incomplete without food, and Dussehra, which marks the triumph of good over evil, is the perfect time to indulge in traditional feasts. While fireworks and mythological stories light up the skies, it’s the thalis from every corner of the country that bring colour to your plate. You don’t need to book a trip to Kolkata or Gujarat to sample their local festive thalis; you can indulge in local thalis this Dussehra. These thalis below go beyond the usual and reflect India’s culinary diversity.
The eastern part of the country is known for its elaborate feast when celebrating Durga Puja. A Bengali thali, which is centred around steamed rice (bhaat), brings an assortment of both vegetarian and non‑vegetarian dishes. Common vegetarian sides include a typical dal, luchi (puffed flatbread), shukto (a mildly bitter vegetable dish), aloo posto (potato cooked with poppy seeds), seasonal greens, and various bhajas (fried vegetables). Non-vegetarian items are also commonplace with macher jhol (fish curry), chingrir malai curry (prawn in coconut milk), or kosha mangsho (slow‑cooked mutton). The thali is finished off with chatni (chutney), and sweets like mishti doi or roshogolla.
A Gujarati Thali is known for its balance of sweet, salty, sour, and spicy flavours, with many small-ish side dishes. You’ll find multiple vegetable preparations (shaak) using tubers, gourds, or greens, then a watery dal or kadhi (yoghurt‑based curry), often alongside a dry legume, beans, and pulse dish (kathol). There are also farsans (snacks or appetisers) like dhokla, khandvi, and local breads like thepla, bhakri, and puri. There’s also rice or khichdi served towards the beginning, and chutneys and pickles added towards the end. Desserts are also part of the spread – shrikhand, basundi, or halwa. Also, chaas (buttermilk) and yoghurt are common additions towards the end.
If you want a richer fare, try the Punjabi thali, which generously uses butter and ghee in its dishes, perfect for the festive occasion of Dussehra. Expect breads such as naan, tandoori roti, stuffed parathas or kulchas; multiple rich dals (rajma masala, dal makhani), paneer dishes (paneer butter masala, shahi paneer), and spicy chickpea or bean curries like chole or pindi chana. There’s also the typical rice, which might be jeera rice or pulao. There are also accompaniments, including raita, pickles, and a salad of raw onions and tomatoes. Desserts include gulab jamun or kheer, and the entire thali is polished off with chaas or lassi.
Goan thali might not be a festive favourite, but it is worth a try if you are bored of the typical Dussehra thalis. It reflects coastal and Portuguese influences, so seafood is central to it. Typical elements include steamed rice, fish curry (often with coconut, kokum), fish fry (chonak), some prawn dishes (not common), chicken cafreal, vindaloo (spicy vinegar-ey dish with pork or fish), poi (local bread), and sol kadi (a refreshing drink made with coconut milk and kokum). You also get prawn specialities like kismur (a salad) and prawn balchão. There are also accompaniments like a dry chutney and vegetable side dishes primarily made with plantain or local greens.
This thali reflects the arid, desert-scape and goes heavy on grains, pulses, ghee, and preserved ingredients. Key items are dal baati churma (baati bread with spiced dal, which is topped with sweetened, crushed baatis), gatte ki sabzi (gravy gram flour dumplings), and ker sangri (dried beans and berries). With these, you get flatbreads or rotis made with bajra, jowar, or makka (maize). There’s also kadhi (thinner and spicier), and panchmela dal (a mix of five lentils). You also get papads, chutneys, and raita. For non‑veg thalis, often a mutton curry (laal maas) is included. Desserts might have ghevar, malpua, or moong dal halwa.
Dussehra is slightly different in the south, with Karnataka leading the celebrations with Mysore Dasara. A Mysore-style thali is a simpler vegetarian platter with steamed rice at its core. The rice is accompanied by thili saaru (rasam) and sambar. Moving away from Karnataka, to Andhra and Tamil Nadu, you might get local favourites like mamidikaya pulihora (raw mango rice) and puliyodarai (tamarind rice). You also get an assortment of side dishes like bangaladumpa vepudu (potato fry) and curd. Since it’s a festive thali, expect payasam and sweets like godhi halwa and mysore pak.
Maharashtrian fare features staples like varan bhaat (basmati rice plus toor dal combination), bhaji (vegetable side dish) such as batatyachi bhaji (potato), vaangyache bharit (eggplant mash), usal (sprouted beans curry), and often puran poli or ambol or amsa that makes it a sweet and sour thali. The thali is completed with breads like bhakri or thepla, many pickles, curd, and spicy lentils. Move over to the coastal or Malvani regions, and fish or seafood, with coconut, may be included. Also, sweets or desserts are present too, like puran poli or shrikhand. This thali uses ample amounts of kokum and tamarind, which defines its flavour.
Food isn’t just fuel for the body; it’s a reflection of tradition, memory, and celebration. And what better way to honour Dussehra than by indulging in India’s most festive, regionally rich thalis? Whether you’re into spicy vindaloo or creamy dal makhani, there’s a thali that speaks your language. So this year, ditch the diet and dig in.