The aromas of the harvest season celebrated in Karnataka will feature at a pop-up menu
Prabha Kini (left) hosts a meal at her residence
The harvest season is almost here. All sorts of fruit are about to ripen. There are mangoes. There is also breadfruit. Which is something that you don't easily get in Mumbai. The market in Matunga (central) is one of the few places in the city where you can find one. But in Mangalore, it's one of the necessary items for a meal. It's a green type of vegetable. "It looks like a tender coconut," says Prabha Kini, a home chef who will exploit the flavours of the season for a Gaud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) meal this week.
ADVERTISEMENT
Khotto
There is also jackfruit that grows at this time of the year, which the dinner features. But the most important ingredient is rice. A few fresh grains are what symbolise this culinary experience. Apart from all the fruits and vegetables that grow at this time of the year, rice is what marks the period.
Payas
"Ugadi" is the name that is given to the celebratory period by Mangaloreans, who the GSB community is a part of. It's the first day of the lunar calendar and this year, it falls on April 6. Kini's pop-up will be held a day before. And the most important item that's part of the meal is the daal. It's the most ubiquitous Indian dish. The meal ends with what Kini's family calls the GSB fruit salad. The dessert is otherwise called satam. The texture is like that of a semi-dry, thick gravy, Kini says. And it has mangoes, apart from pineapple. Watch out for these two fruits soon in your market, given the season.
Lemon and saffron sherbet
Dalithoy
AT Near Standard Chartered Bank (address will be revealed on registering)
ON April 5, 7.30 pm
Log on to authenticook.com
COST Rs 900
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates