Tasting Maharashtrian delicacies at October Food Fest, Mumbai

                                                                                                   ||श्री||

Working at my desk on Thursday afternoon, I had a very different idea about how my weekend was going to be, until a friend sent me a link on Facebook. 

Just then, I knew its time to get into 'Man v/s Food' mode. ;)

Soon it was Friday evening and with my Foodie friends marched to the October Food Fest. The venue was perfect - a Stadium - the place we had showdown between Food and Foodies; and as usual a huge number of dishes were conquered!

crispy Kachoris from Shegaon.

Drooling with anticipation, it was hard to be patient and walk all the way to the main entrance, especially when there were so many other (not so) secret entrances on the way. So we decided to sneak in using on of these entry points and landed right in front of the stall with delicious Kachoris from Shegaon. Yumm! - Soft inside, crisp outside and so tasty! 

Varhadi Special - Patodi, Zunka, Bhakri.

The next immediate stall served Zunka-Bhakar and other typical staple food of the rural Maharashtra, that are fast becoming popular among the City dwellers too! and going by the taste of it, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't. This particular Stall was from Varhad/Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

While my taste buds were busy enjoying the real taste of Maharashtra, little did I expect for a Visual and aural treat - an exhilarating performance of Dhol-Tasha, also commonly known as Nashik Dhol these days. I was able to capture a section of their performance, the best part of it!

my favorite moment in the video is at 01:52, where after a buildup, the music stops for a moment and then suddenly they start again at the previous high energy note enhancing it with dancing with the Huge Dhol! Brilliant, just Brilliant!

Tasting one dish after another, the best way to take a break would be Kulfi; and we found a stall for that too! 

After this well deserved break, we continued our exploration and soon encountered a difficult terrain - the valley of the FISH! There stood a huge section of atleast 20 to 30 stalls that served typical Koli dishes. This would be heaven for a sea-food lover, but since I am a strict vegetarian, I was trying to find something vegetarian in this region. A difficult task, but not impossible. :P

Koli women dressed in traditional attire served freshly cooked fish and other sea food. My

object of interest was Sol-Curry - a specialty from the Konkan region of Maharashtra. Prepared from Coconut Milk and Kokam. It is something one must not miss; and the best part is, its totally Vegetarian!  Enjoying the ambrosial taste of Sol-curry, I realised that my vegetarian Foodie comrades had abandoned me and moved on to the vegetarian section. I, on the other hand, had yet to cross another adjoining section of Kolhapuri, Nagpuri and other Nonveg stalls; but with Sol-curry cup in my hand, it was all worth it. 

NB: For all Non-veg food enthusiasts,  DO NOT miss the last part of this post. 

                                                                              I was kind of peeved on my friends for abandoning me, but they had struck GOLD (offcourse, vegetatian Gold) - Ukadi che Modak! A Konkani sweet dish, thats favorite of the Lord himself! Lord Ganesha loves these! and when your friends have found something so delicious, its hard not to forgive them. 

Whats the best way to end a feast? Paan! Standing with friends, chewing Paan under the full moon of Sharad Poornima in open grounds of a huge stadium with a bloated belly with amazing food from every corner of Maharashtra - can life get any better!

*Burp ... oh it just did ;)

There are Handi-crafts stalls too. Don't forget to check them out. 

And here is something for all the Non-vegetarians : Feast your eyes