Seated at a table on Island Grounds where ‘Masala Kart’, a three-day
street food festival began on Friday, Gopal was dishing out
generously-sized aloo paranthas by the minute to hungry visitors. He had
little time to chat about the 40 years he has spent making parathas all
over India.
The festival had everything from MLA pesarattu to malpua, from
putharekulu to haleem. Last year, the fest was held on Elliot’s beach,
but this year, they have more food, more space, and more importantly
more car parking, said Vinod Gopal, CEO, Red Chariots, which is
organising the fest.
He said they had over 120 stalls and cooks from around the country. “For
an average family to eat all kinds of food from different parts of the
country could take at least 20 years. So we decided to bring all the
food to one place,” he said.
The organisers have roped in people from Udipi, Jammu, Chandigarh,
Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pune, Vijaywada, Rajahmundry, Mysore and
Tirunelveli among other places.
Last year, they had 80 cooks, this time they have around 120, said
Vinod, adding that the cooks have been handpicked to make the food as
authentic as it gets. So, there’s paranthas from Paranthe Wali Gali and
halwa from Tirunelveli.
Sonali Prakash, who had come with her husband and son, said the idea of
bringing chefs from around the country to one place was a great idea. “I
just had Jhal Muri, and it tastes like authentic Kolkata street food.
The layout too is better this year,” she said.
On Sunday, the organisers are planning to ask two teams of cooks with
three members each to collaborate and come up with a special offering.
The festival will be on till August 4 between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. at
Island Grounds.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/kya8rmg
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