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What Indian wedding feasts look like from Kerala to Kashmir and Bengal to Hyderabad, the dishes each is known for, and how to plan a menu for guests.
There is no single Indian wedding menu. What guests eat depends on the region, the community and often the family's religion and diet: a vegetarian feast of two dozen dishes on a banana leaf in Kerala, a procession of lamb courses in Kashmir, fish and sweets in Bengal, biryani in Hyderabad. What they share is abundance, food as hospitality, and a meal that is usually the centre of the celebration. This guide walks through the best-documented regional feasts and what they mean for planning your own menu.
India's wedding food follows its regional cuisines, and within a region it can differ again by community. Outlook Traveller's survey of Indian wedding feasts shows how far apart they can be: Kashmiri Pandit weddings serve a strictly vegetarian meal, while Kashmiri Muslim weddings in the same valley serve the meat-heavy wazwan. Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Jain families in the same city may serve very different menus, and many couples now combine several. Treat everything below as a common pattern, not a rule.
Regional Indian wedding feasts: Kerala (Hindu), Sadya, Rice with around 24–28 dishes on a banana leaf, payasam to finish, Vegetarian; Kashmir (Muslim), Wazwan, Many meat courses cooked by professional wazas, shared by four from one platter, Mostly meat; Kashmir (Pandit), Vegetarian feast, Lotus stem, morels, haak greens, slow-cooked potatoes, paneer, Vegetarian; Bengal (Hindu), Wedding meals incl. bou bhaat, Fish dishes such as bhapa ilish, then rosogolla, sandesh and mishti doi, Includes fish; Hyderabad (Muslim), Walima, Kacchi dum biryani, mirchi ka salan, bagara baingan, qubani ka meetha, Includes meat; Himachal Pradesh, Dham, Madra, dals and rice cooked by specialist cooks, served on leaf plates, Vegetarian.
The sadya is a vegetarian feast from Kerala, served on a banana leaf for festivals such as Onam and Vishu and for weddings. A standard sadya has roughly 24 to 28 dishes served together in one course, around a mound of boiled rice: parippu (lentils), sambar, avial, thoran, pickles, banana chips, and payasam or pradhaman as dessert. Guests eat with the right hand, and buttermilk usually comes near the end. Outlook Traveller notes that each item has a set place on the leaf. Kerala's Mappila Muslim and Syrian Christian weddings have their own menus, built around biryani and around meat, duck and fish stews respectively.
Wazwan is the Kashmiri Muslim wedding feast: a long run of mainly lamb dishes cooked by professional cooks called wazas. Guests sit in groups of four and share one large copper platter. Dishes include tabakh maaz (fried ribs), rista (meatballs in red gravy), rogan josh and yakhni, and the meal traditionally closes with gushtaba, meatballs in a yoghurt gravy. The formal version is described as having around 36 courses. Hands are washed at the table before eating.
Bengali Hindu weddings involve several ceremonial meals, including the bou bhaat after the wedding, when the new bride is welcomed to her husband's home. Outlook Traveller lists fish at the centre (bhetki fry, mustard rui, steamed hilsa), with rosogolla, sandesh and mishti doi (sweet yoghurt) to finish. Fish is associated with prosperity.
The walima, the reception hosted after a Muslim wedding, is where Hyderabad's kacchi dum biryani appears, with mirchi ka salan, bagara baingan and desserts such as qubani ka meetha (apricots). Bhopal and Rampur have their own walima traditions, with dishes such as rezala in Bhopal and taar qorma in Rampur.
Himachal's dham is a vegetarian community feast cooked by specialist cooks and served on leaf plates to guests seated in rows. Madra, a yoghurt-based dish of rajma or chickpeas, is its signature, alongside dals, rice and ghee.
Punjabi, Gujarati, Rajasthani and Marathi weddings have their own well-loved menus, and big city weddings often serve food from several regions at once through live stations and buffets. We haven't found an independent source that documents these menus as carefully as the feasts above, so we won't list "traditional" dishes for them. Ask the families: they will know exactly what their weddings serve.
Start with diets, not dishes. Vegetarian, Jain, halal, no beef and no pork can all apply to one guest list. Record them per guest when RSVPs come in. Decide on one cuisine or several. Many couples serve the regional feast of one family at one event and the other family's at another. How to plan a multicultural wedding covers balancing both sides. Match the menu to the event. Multi-day weddings often have a different meal at each function. See what to expect at an Indian wedding for how the events usually run. Explain the feast to guests who don't know it. A line on the wedding website ("lunch is a traditional sadya, eaten with your hand") helps, and so does a vegetarian option noted clearly on the menu. Plan seating around sharing. A wazwan platter serves four, so tables need to divide by four. Banana-leaf and dham meals are traditionally served in rows.
No. Many Hindu, Jain and some Kashmiri Pandit weddings are fully vegetarian, but wazwan, Bengali fish courses, Hyderabadi biryani and Kerala Christian stews all include meat or fish. It depends on the families.
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