In classical Gupta India, a well-composed meal (bhojana) is not divided into starter-main-dessert but conceived as a balance of the six tastes (ṣaḍrasa) theorized by Ayurvedic medicine: sweet (madhura), sour (amla), salty (lavaṇa), pungent (kaṭu), bitter (tikta), and astringent (kaṣāya). Rice or flatbreads are served together on a large banana leaf or a copper plate, surrounded by small portions: legumes, vegetables, yogurt, condiments, and a sweet. For a scholar like Aryabhata, the meal is simple, vegetarian, and governed by the seasons and the stars he observed.

Ghee, melted and purified butter, is at once cooking fat, remedy, and sacred offering: it binds the whole meal. Asafoetida (hiṅgu), a powerfully scented resin imported from the western highlands, replaces onion and garlic often avoided by Brahmins and scholars, and defines the cuisine of ancient northern India.