Simply Hearty & Homely! Food Buffs Savour GSB Delicacies at ‘Konkani Food Fest’ at Taj Gateway
Simply Hearty & Homely! Food Buffs Savour Gowda Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) Delicacies at the Gastronomic ‘Konkani Food Festival’ at the Cardamom Restaurant, inside Hotel Taj Gateway, Bunder Road-Mangaluru on the First day of the Three Food Festival going on from 7-9 December.
Mangaluru: They Came, They Savoured, They Enjoyed! for the FIRST time in Mangaluru, the Gowda Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) Delicacies at a STAR Hotel, were featured at Hotel Taj Gateway, Mangaluru, and food buffs couldn’t wait to savour the Tasty, Hearty and Homely cooking of the GSB Community meticulously curated by the well-known Chef Komal Prabhu, who brought the Konkani Love in the form of unbelievable flavours of GSB Cuisine, to the food lovers of Mangaluru and beyond. It was Chef Komal’s signature GSB Offerings to the City of Kodiyal!
Wanting to showcase the subtle flavours of the GSB style, she found the perfect collaborator in Hotel Taj Gateway Executive Chef Seenu, who also understood the nuances of GSB spices, and therefore He and his team lend their assistance to Chef Komal, in preparing the authentic and traditional GSB cuisine that many food buffs have been waiting for a long time. “The food is gentle on the palate and has delicate flavours unlike the robust and strong expressions of other Coastal food, for instance,” said Komal, who has more than 20 years of experience in this space, and manages Rathna Hotels, a restaurant at Bangalore Golf Club and a 24 x 7 Corporate Cafeteria.
“We dropped in at the Cardamon restaurant well in time to try a degustation menu of the festival and we were pleasantly surprised with the unique offerings of a GSB spread. We understood why it is Komal’s favourite and once we tried the Dalithoy, Fish Alle Piyao Ghashi, Bolanjeer Pannaupkari, and few others, it was clear that subtle, homely flavours was the charm here. Everything was remarkably low on grease and hot spices, except for a couple of items I had water running down my nose? Other than that the food was worth the money. Where would you get such gastronomic spread for such a low price at a Star hotel- in Bengaluru or Mumbai you would be paying two or three times more” said S R Pai, who had come down for a wedding in Mangaluru from Chennai.
Also speaking to Team Mangalorean, Rakesh Shetty hailing from Mumbai said, “Whenever I come down to Mangaluru, I never miss having Idli Vada Thove at Taj Mahal restaurant, but the dalthoy featured in the buffet menu is unbelievable with the best taste I had so far in my life- that I three servings of it with white rice. The prawns dry fry, Bollenjer (Silver Fish) curry, Mussel sukka and moode, OMG- they are simply finger lickin’ good. Forget about that KFC slogan “Finger lickin’ Good”, the food at this Fest is simply “Finger Lickin’ Good”, and anyone who is a food lover should not miss this Konkani Food Festival”.
The low-on-grease factor extends to the cabbage fritters and the other fried items like the delicious Fish/Prawns fry, the Fish Curry, etc which shines with the flavour of fennel and hints of tamarind and coconut, and one item even had Bimblis in it. However, it was the sol kadhi (a Konkani household staple) that took my taste buds into unchartered territory — redolent with GSB flavour, the curry is a staple Konkani dish that is usually mixed with rice and is the last course of a meal. And with filling my belly with couple of chilled draughts on the tap, and with a few desserts like Tausha (Cucumber) Muddo, Mando, I finally walked away conceding that as promised the traditional Saraswati cuisine definitely delivered some delightful new flavours, textures and uncommon spices from its GSB origin.
All this and much more will be served to the food buffs of in and around Mangaluru, during the three-day “Konkani Food Festival” going on from 7, 8 and 9 December at Hotel Taj Gateway-Mangaluru, the GSB cuisine curated by Chef. Komal Prabhu. A first of its kind Konkani special unlimited buffet for an unbelievable price of Rs 999/-. Fish along this vast coast line of DK are widely believed to swim in the Arabian Sea. When not, they can be caught swimming in steaming hot coconut-based Konkan curries. Most times, one can get a good catch in quaint, and often queer, at various non-veg restaurants in the City. So what’s in it for those who like licking green fingers?
A lot of the Gowdi Saraswat Brahmins are vegetarians. It is a misconception that Konkan food is only fish and is the exclusive domain of the non-veggies. There’s the Avnaas Ambe Sasam, Bibbe and Tendle Upkari, Thingalavare and Soorna Bendi, Mushroom Amshe Thikshe, to mention a chosen few. When one notices how the community of Gowda Saraswat Brahmins have kept the memory of their migration from the North to the South alive through food, for example daali thove, a gravy central to their cuisine, it can be seen how food is central to the culture and life of the GSB community. The history of migration and difficulties involved in the long journey is reflected in the ways the community for its survival made roots, shoots and fruits all a part of their food culture. Most of these preparations involve minimum ingredients and this fact tells us the story of the diversity of the community due to migration.
History confirms that any community which has had to migrate develops a strong survival instinct. Food being one of the most basic necessities of survival. It is not just the availability of different vegetables, fruits and leaves during various seasons which make different cuisines possible, it is the compulsion to nurture and safeguard the body and health in varying and various weather conditions also prompts the communities in transit to develop different cuisine for different seasons.
This is the history that has given birth to the culinary heritage of the GSB community, which in the rainy season nourishes itself with taikilo, gudgudu alumbe (thunder mushroom) paghil, kirlu (bamboo), warms itself up during winters with kook, avalo (gooseberry), ambuli (raw mango), guddi- (pumkin), kuvale and nurtures itself during spring with matti gulla, kadgi (raw jack), jeev khadgi (bread fruit). When summer comes, which is the cruelest of all seasons, the GSB community beats the heat savouring ambo (mango), bibbe (cashew) , pachponos and ponos (jackfruit).
Curated by Chef Komal Prabhu of the renowned Chef Komals Kitchen has artfully crafted the menu. The Konkani Food Festival aims to bring to the food lovers of Mangaluru and nearby places a variety of items prepared by the community. The fest will include items like Panak, Kokum soda, Nimbu sharbat, Fried Yam Kismoori, Salla Kismoori, Mixed Sea Food Salad, Mixed Veg Pickle|Sandige|Curd , Clams Sukka, Silver Fish Rava Fry, Crab Sukka, Squid Rawa Fy, Fish Naked Fry, Teasel Gourd (Paagil) Fritters, Tender Jackfruit Fritters, Sanna Polo and Patrade, Horse Gram Soup, Prawns and Crab with Garlic Soup, Amla and Garlic Soup, Fish Alle Piyao Ghashi, Bolanjeer Pannaupkari, Prawns Hingauda, Anjal Pannaupkari, Kundapur Chicken Curry, Kane Ambat, Prawns Pannaupkari, Avnaas Ambe Sasam, Bibbe and Tendle Upkari, Thingalavare and Soorna Bendi, Mushroom Amshe Thikshe, Dalithoy, Neer Dosa, Khotto, Moode, Kadle, Bele Payasam , Pova Kheeri Payasam, Ragi Manni, Doodh Pak, Tausha Muddo, Mando, and much more- and the menu changes on all three days. So if you want to try all the delicacies of GSB, then dine all three days during the Fest.
Chef Komal who has an experience of over a quarter century in the profession, played a key role in turning a prominent seafood restaurant the most sought after place in Mangalore for GSB cuisine. The Konkani Food Festival is a continuation of her dedicated effort towards promoting and popularizing traditional GSB cusine.
In celebration of this rich cultural heritage and in honour of the history remembered through and in food, the renowned The Gateway Hotel has organized this Konkani Food Festival a first of its kind, where the GSB community’s special dishes have taken the centre stage. Spice up your summer evenings with delicacies straight from the Konkani coastline! Come by and celebrate the remaining two-day weekend extravaganza of authentic Konkani cuisine only at the Cardamom Restaurant, inside Hotel Taj Gateway, Mangaluru! Savor an exotic array of mouthwatering dishes prepared by the expert culinary Chef Komal Prabhu and her team!
ABOUT CHEF KOMAL PRABHU:
Mrs Komal Prabhu is a leading name in the Food Hospitality Industry. She has more than 20 years of experience in this space. She also manages Rathna Hotels, a restaurant at Bangalore Golf Club and a 24 x 7 Corporate Cafeteria “. She loves networking with people. Customer focus and people management skills are her strengths! The word “Impossible” is absent in the dictionary of her life. An eternal optimist, she takes both bouquets and brickbats with equal grace. “Our critics are our architects towards success” is her motto!
Over the years, Komal has been recognized as an accomplished Chef, with Mangalorean and GSB cuisine being her USP. Her burning desire is to propagate and popularize GSB cuisine at the International level. Towards achieving this, Komal conducts workshops for women food entrepreneurs on GSB delicacies, and also handholds budding chefs who are interested in learning the finer points of this style of cooking. She has been also invited as a judge for many culinary events and as a resource person for talks/ workshops on women entrepreneurship. Komal was awarded the Adani First Generation Business Excellence Award during the State level POWER Summit held at Udupi in February 2017 She is also an active member of Mangalore Toastmasters.