Among the early Indian monks at the time of the Buddha, there was no starter, main course, or dessert. Everything was contained in the pindapata: the morning alms round where the clay or iron bowl gathered whatever the laypeople placed—rice, porridge, milk sweetened with sugar, fruits. A single meal, taken before noon, eaten mindfully, without choosing or despising. Clear drinks (juices, whey) remained permissible in the afternoon, and sweets served as medicine. One did not separate sweet from savory: one accepted the gift as it came.

Clarified butter (ghee) and rice cooked in milk are the sacred heart of this cuisine: food of giving, offering to the wise, and one of the five 'medicines' allowed to monks (ghee, butter, oil, honey, cane molasses). Rice pudding sweetened with jaggery accompanies the founding moment of Buddhism.