At the Mauryan court, the meal is organized around anna, cooked grain (most often odana, rice). Around this foundation revolve supa (legumes), shaka (vegetables and leaves), dadhi (curd), and melted ghee poured at serving time. The meal ends with a milk-based sweet and a refreshing drink. Kautilya's Arthashastra even describes the administration of the royal kitchens: tasters, measured rations, hierarchy of dishes. After Ashoka's conversion, this meal became markedly vegetarian, with meat almost banished from the imperial table.

Clarified butter is the fatty and sacred soul of all ancient Indian cuisine: it is poured over rice, used to fry spices, and anointed on offerings. Alongside it, cane sugar—India is the birthplace of crystallized sugar—gives sweets their identity. No chili here: the bite comes from long pepper (pippali), black pepper, ginger, and asafoetida (hing).