eating

Most of my lunches and dinners consist of three basic components:
Daal - some kind of soupy bean dish
Sabzi - vegetables of various kinds
Rice/Chapati - Rice=duh; Chapati=a kind of flatbread, may be different depending on the daal or daal-like dish

People eat all sorts of different ways. Some only eat with Chapati, some only with rice, and some both.

Some people eat their daal like soup.
Some people mix rice and daal and make soup.
Some people eat daal with chapati.
Some people pour daal over rice and eat it with a fork, spoon, or with their hands.
Some people mix sabzi with their rice and daal.
Some people eat their sabzi separately with the chapati.
Some people eat everything all together.
Some people eat one thing, get up for another, get up for another.

So I try to ask rules for manners, and most commonly I get: there aren't any. But thats not really true, its just that nobody will tell me. The best I've gotten, is that when you eat with your hands (which is exceptionally fun coming from a society that has told me my whole life not to), try not to get your pinky finger too dirty.

Yea, thats the best I've got. But Mom, when you make chicken and rice and spinach and gravy - Don't be surprised to see me start eating with my hands. Its way too much fun not to.