Eat like the Aamchigele: A pop-up brings to the city the flavours of Udupi’s Gowd Saraswat cuisine

The feast comprises vegetables

With Diwali on the horizon, perhaps some of you might be looking to detox before the binge season. This pop-up at one of the oldest restaurants in the city, Cafe Mysore, curated by The Happy High, might be an idea in the right direction. The Aamchigele dinner is a temple meal from the Gowd Saraswat Brahmin community, says Ajit Balgi, founder, The Happy High. "Aamchigele is a term that means ‘our people'," he explains, adding that the idea was to curate a cuisine that was not easily available in the city.

Sweets and rice with coconut at its core

Served on banana leaves, the dinner will have coconut at the core of its theme. From the sweet and spicy avanasa sasam to the cooling pachadi and tingalavro bendi, Balgi promises a veritable feast with five vegetables, sweets and rice. "What makes it special is the tadka that uses asafoetida and Byadgi chilli - rich in colour, not spice. Also, no garlic or onion is used as it is a temple feast," he points out.

Ajit Balgi

AT Cafe Mysore, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road, opposite BN Maheshwari Udyan, Matunga.
ON October 19; 7 pm to 8.30 pm (no walk-ins)
CALL 9930771739 (for registrations)
COST RS 1,200