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Variety is the spice

The Mangalorean food festival at The Park offers more than just coastal seafood preparations

PHOTO: V. SREENIVASA MURTHY

WIDE ARRAY The food fest showcases the diverse cuisines of coastal communities photo: v. sreenivasa murthy

When one thinks of Mangalorean cuisine, coastal seafood preparations almost always come to mind. However, there is a world of cuisine that often gets overlooked in our hurry to get to the coast, such as that of the Bunts, Muslims and Christians. It is this diverse world that the Mangalorean food festival at The Park seeks to explore.

Common thread

The spread is typically vast and varied, but shares a commonality in the wide use of coconut milk and the flaming red but harmless Byadagi chillies which exude a rich flavour and colour without setting your tongue alight.

Among the salads, the pork salad is an interesting choice, with a strongly lemony flavour and a crunch that is often missing in pork. For vegetarians, the bendekai pachadi and the cucumber karam are the way to go — both pack the deliciously sour punch of well-fermented curd. The ridge gourd chutney, on the other hand, is delicately understated, refreshing in its lack of strong spice.

For the main course, the kane rava fry and the pathrode are usual starting points. The kane rava fry is light and crisp but extremely difficult to eat, with dozens of small bones.

The pathrode, made of colocasia leaves and rice, is slightly disappointing because of an excess of spice that hides the taste of the colocasia, the true richness of the dish. This also seems the case with the prawn bimbli curry, which again has more bite than it should. Better alternatives are the pomfret baffat roce, kori sukha, mutton polov or pork indad. The pork indad in particular, has the characteristic mix of sweet and spice that goes very well with the nicely done sanas or the lacy and wafty neer dose. The fried brinjal in coconut milk, though, is clearly the highlight of the spread, tasting like nicely spiced fresh cream.

However, the dessert section is what really makes the meal. It encompasses the entire range of tastes, from the subtle patholi that dulls the normally excessive sweetness of jackfruit to the perradh or guava cheese, which is like a less oily and less glutinous version of halwa. The boble kheer is another interesting choice, with an unusual combination of rice balls and bottle gourd.

The Mangalorean food festival is on at Monsoon at The Park every day from 8 p.m. onwards until February 13. For reservations, contact 25594666.

RAKESH MEHAR

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