In the late Vedic court, the meal is not divided into starter-main-dessert but conceived as a balance of the six tastes (shadrasa: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, astringent) presented together. One eats seated on the ground, with the dishes arranged on a large leaf (palasha or banana) or a copper plate: at the center rice or barley (anna), surrounded by lentil porridges (supa), dairy products, ghee poured as a sign of abundance, and a little sweet to close. Ghee circulates from dish to dish; it sanctifies and binds the whole meal.

Clarified butter is the soul of the Vedic table: poured over rice, anointed on offerings, thrown into the sacrificial fire. For a queen of Kashi, the ghee that gilds and perfumes each dish is the very sign of the lineage's prosperity.