The act of eating is filled with cultural importance and messages all throughout the globe, and Hindu culture is no different.
Given their great focus on purity, Hindus place a high value on food preparation and eating.
Individual and group social status is communicated by factors such as who one eats with, who may cook one's meal, and what sorts of food one will consume and how it should be prepared.
The highest-status tribes, particularly brahmins, are the tightest when it comes to eating habits.
For the most part, such high-status groups follow the commensality principle, which entails only consuming food prepared by members of their social group.
There is a significant difference between vegetarian and nonvegetarian diets when it comes to the substance of one's food.
A strictly vegetarian diet signifies greater status, whereas nonvegetarians have different levels of status based on the sorts of meat they consume.
Every meal is a potential source of ceremonial contamination for Orthodox Hindus, and it must be properly controlled.
Food cooked in water is seen to be significantly more sensitive to pollution (ashaucha), therefore it is accepted with more caution, but food fried in oil or ghee is thought to be lot more resistant to pollution and hence a lower source of ritual risk.
From a religious standpoint, the safest meal is one that is prepared and consumed at home.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
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