Why do Indians eat food with fingers?

Indians traditionally eat a meal with fingers rather than use any silverware. Eventhough the cooking and servings are made using spoons, the final task of food intake is done using fingers.

Reasons

1. The philosophical reason is that one should be able to enjoy the process of eating with as many of the senses as possible – taste, smell, sight, and touch. By using fingers to eat food, one gets to feel the food.


2. Indian food tend to be extremely hot both with spices and temperature. Using a fork or spoon, one cannot feel either of them without putting the food in the mouth. By using your hands to eat, one can feel the temperature and decide if it is appropriate to feed it to the mouth.


3. In India, meals were served on banana leaves. Using forks or knives to blend curry and rice on banana leaves would only ended up shredding the leaves.


4. Indian food are designed to be easier to use fingers rather than spoon and fork. For example: Naan and dosas are similar versions of Pancakes but unlike pancakes, the Indian versions are consumed after dipping them into curries. Using a fork and spoon would be a difficult task to eat the food.


5. Food is considered as Sacred, as it is the root reason for the survival of humans. Eating with hands is one of the ways to respect the food.