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6 Min
19/09/2025
Do kheer and the Mexican tamales have anything in common? More than you’d think. Whether it's India’s Shradh or Mexico’s Day of the Dead, both traditions use food to honour the dearly departed. So, here’s a cross-cultural comparison to see how families cook, serve, and remember their ancestors through their offerings and the food they eat on these occasions.
Ancestors are remembered differently across the world. In India, it takes the form of ‘pitru paksha’, and Mexico has its Day of the Dead. Both communities believe that the ancestors’ spirits are around during a set period. The rituals might be different, but the core is the same. The Day of the Dead is intertwined with Catholic and Aztec traditions, involving visiting graves with offerings and placing food at home altars. Shradh, rooted in Hindu traditions, does it differently with food offered to ancestors and Brahmins, and also to deities. As for the food, here’s what differs.
During Pitru Paksha, Hindus honour their ancestors (pitrs) through rituals that include offering food, water, and prayers. Food offerings (naivedya, Prasad, Pind Daan) serve several purposes, from expressing gratitude to the ancestors to praying for their moksha (eternal salvation). It also connects the living and the dead, and to purify the mind and body, many partake in sattvic (pure, simple) food as a part of the spiritual discipline of this period.
The food needs to be prepared with care and purity, and the food offered is often first given to priests, or symbolically to ancestors, and then consumed by the family.
Rice is fundamental in shradh offerings, symbolising purity, sustenance, and spiritual nourishment. Plain white rice is often topped with pure cow’s ghee, offered to the ancestors as a basic staple. It goes into desserts like kheer and becomes a sacred offering that embodies sattvic qualities – easy to digest, simple, and unadorned.
Ghee is considered exceptionally sacred in Shradh rituals. It is used in pujas as well as cooking, poured over cooked rice, or mixed into offerings. Its richness and purity are believed to sanctify the food, making it agreeable to both deities and ancestral souls.
Light and nutritious lentils are key for Shradh, because they too are sattvic. Urad dal (white split black gram) and moong dal are often chosen because of their digestibility and symbolic purity. They are used alone as dal or mixed into rice to make dishes like khichdi, which is quick to cook.
Milk (especially cow’s milk) and curd are important offerings in Shradh rituals, representing purity, nourishment, and life’s sustaining qualities. Often used to prepare kheer or sweets, or offered directly, dairy items help enhance the sanctity of the offerings. Curd may sometimes accompany rice.
It’s observed on the 1st and 2nd of November. It is believed the spirits of the ancestors return on these days to be with their loved ones. It’s a mix of the ancient Aztec rites and the Spanish catholic influences. During this time, ofrendas or altars are decorated with flowers, incense, food offerings, and even photographs of loved ones. Cemetery visits are also common, with graves being cleaned and symbolic items like sugar skulls, marigold flowers, and breads like pan de muerto being made. If you wish to experience this day without booking a trip to Mexico, then Disney’s Coco is a must-watch.
It’s a kind of sweet bread with butter and an orange zest glaze that makes powdered sugar stick to its surface. What sets it apart is the twin strips of dough criss-crossed on top, meant to resemble human bones. The ritual of offering this sweet bread to the dead goes back to ancient Aztec civilisation, where food was placed on the deceased’s tomb. It was believed that the departed would be hungry during the journey to the other side.
This food item dates back to the Aztecs, who used corn to make its dough with a sweet or savoury filling. Tamales are wrapped in banana or corn husks and steamed, and usually accompanied by a non-alcoholic drink called ‘atole’. The Aztecs were said to have served this dish—made with beans, meat, and chillies—to the Spaniards back in the 1550s. There are many varieties, namely, tamales rojo (red tamales), tamales verde (green tamales), and tamales dulce, the sweet variety.
Originating from the sugar mills of colonial Mexico, this sweet dish was made by reducing aguamiel (sugar cane) juice and cooking whole calabazas ( pumpkins) in it. This was cooked in ‘tachos’ or cauldrons, giving this dish the name calabaza en tacha.
A thick corn-based drink usually made from cornmeal or masa harina (local flour), it is offered at the altar. The flour or cornmeal is usually mixed with water, but might be made with milk or a combination of both. It is sweetened with piloncillo, a thick syrup made with local cane juice. It might also use honey, sugar, fruit, chocolate, and spices.
While Indian Ahradh and Mexico’s Día de los Muertos differ in visuals, rituals, and flavours, their essence is surprisingly aligned. Both traditions view food as not just sustenance, but a bridge between the living and the dead – a sacred offering that tells their ancestors, ‘remember me’.
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