Golden Star Thali
Mumbai
The Gujaratis are best known in Mumbai’s culinary scene for thalis, restaurants offering several courses of all-you-can-eat platters of food with a variety of subtle flavors. The restaurants take pride
in leaving their customers full; one has a Web site that claims, “We serve as long as you can eat.”
Thalis are typically served on large, round steel plates (the word thali itself means plate) and begin with a course of farsan (steamed and fried starters). The meal goes on to different types of rotis (Indian
breads) with accompaniments of vegetables (three to four types) and dal (lentils), followed by rice. And finally dessert, the most important part of the meal and also the main reason you should head for
a thali in Mumbai this season. Aamras – thick and sweet freshly squeezed juice of mango – which makes for the best dessert, is available only in the summer and in some places, is served in
unlimited quantities.
Some of the best places to try a Gujarati thali in Mumbai include Rajdhani, with branches all over the city; Chetana (34, K. Dubash Marg, Kala Ghoda; 91-22-2284-4968), which also serves Rajasthani food, similar in many ways to Gujarati cuisine; and Golden Star Thali (330, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road; Opp. Charni Road Station; 91-22-2363-1983), which is one of the oldest and most popular.
If the idea of a large platter of seemingly unlimited food is overwhelming, then head to the Rajdhani snack outlets, which serve lighter
Gujarati bites. Soam (Sadguru Sadan, Ground Floor, Opp. Babulnath Mandir, Chowpatty, 91-22-236-98080) is also known for its authentic Gujarati food and is particularly worth visiting during
the times when there is a food festival on. Try the spongy, sweet-sour dhokla or creamy khandvi and in the winter, undhiyu, a thick vegetable stew.
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Payasam (rice pudding).
Mumbai
South Indian food – a catchall term that’s come to mean the fluffy idlis and crispy dosas from the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh – is served across
Mumbai at fast-food restaurants like Sukh Sagar and Shiv Sagar.
But there’s more to South Indian food than steamed idlis and coconut chutney. You can start your culinary journey in the Matunga district, a hub for Udupi, a style of vegetarian cuisine from Karnataka.
At A. Rama Nayak’s Udipi Shri Krishna Boarding (First Floor, LBS Market Building, Lakhamsi Nappu Road; 91-22-2414 2422), a cafeteria-like restaurant open since 1942, thali-style meals
(where you can sample a little bit of everything for 40 rupees, about 80 cents) are served on banana leaves. Patrons are encouraged to eat with their hands, mopping up dollops of cauliflower and shredded
coconut with pieces of chappatis (wheat bread). For dessert, go with the cardamom-laced payasam (rice pudding) if it’s available.
At Cafe Madras (38/II Circle House, Bhaudaji Road, King’s Circle; 91-22-2401-4419), where the line always goes out the door, you can’t go wrong with standard fare like idlis and dosas, served with
sambar and chutney, but try the spicy rasam vada (fried lentil cakes that are soaked in a savory broth) too. Wash it all down with the cafe’s famous filter coffee, served in stout stainless steel
cups.
Read more…
Charukesi RamaduraiThe Kala Ghoda Festival in 2010.
Mumbai
The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, one of the most eagerly awaited annual events in Mumbai, runs this year from Saturday through Feb. 12.
During the event, Mumbai takes to the streets to celebrate India’s performing, literary and visual arts. The festival is named for the statue of King Edward VIII on a black horse — kalaghoda —
in South Mumbai. The area, now an arts precinct, comes to life with street installations, food stalls and a main stage for music and dance performances. And the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, unlike many
other cultural festivals, is free and open to everyone.
The attendees are a cross-section of the city. They include families who go there on weekends to watch big-name bands, groups of teenagers who gather along with street urchins from the area at some of
the more esoteric installations on the street, aspiring writers who rush to register quickly for the limited spots at fiction and poetry workshops, and women in crisp cotton saris who spend time browsing
through the handloom fabrics and tribal jewelry on sale.
Most events take place on K.Dubash Marg, Kala Ghoda’s main drag, but some are held at other spaces including the Jehangir Art Gallery and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum (formerly
known as the Prince of Wales Museum). The highlights this year are workshops on draping the sari in novel ways, the art of collecting art, and discovering Mumbai’s culinary heritage.
Charukesi RamaduraiInside the Crawford Market in Mumbai.
Mumbai
It is not easy to imagine this in today’s Mumbai, but it wasn’t long ago that anything considered “foreign goods” was hard to come by in the city’s markets. An exception that
continues today is Crawford Market, in South Mumbai, where residents and visitors alike can find Western items like Camay soap, Kraft cheese, Fa deodorant or a pack of Pampers diapers. Read more…
Pet Pujaris
Mumbai
Dining in Mumbai can be overwhelming for new visitors. So what better way to familiarize yourself with the local cuisine than to meet up with other food lovers over dinner? That’s the mission behind
Pet Pujaris — literally, “devotees of the stomach.” As the group’s key descriptor on its Facebook page says: “foodie meet
ups and foodie bonding.” Read more…
Mumbai
The Indian market for comics and graphic novels is booming, and there is no better proof of this than the second Comic Con India. The first such convention took place
in Delhi earlier this February and will remain the key event in future while Mumbai will see an “Express” version, running Oct. 22 and 23 at the World Trade Center (Cuffe Parade; 91-22-6638-7272;
comicconindia.com/Express), that will travel to different cities each year.
The Express version is aimed at promoting local talent across various cities who otherwise have no access to publishers and readers. Read more…
Short + SweetAn actress prepares for a role in last year’s Short + Sweet theater festival in New Delhi. The festival moves this year to Mumbai.
Mumbai
“A psychological dream-thriller. With tomatoes.” “A monologue about a man with an incredible sense of smell.” “Why is a hat so important?”
These are the synopses of a few of the plays presented at the Short + Sweet theater festival in Chennai in South India in July. The festival, with a focus on, well,
the short and sweet, now comes to Mumbai for the first time, from Oct. 2 to 9 at the NCPA Experimental Theater (NCPA Marg,
Nariman Point; 91-22-6622-3830).
Sweet + Short, sponsored by the National Center for Performing Arts and the Primetime Theater Company, calls itself “the biggest little play festival in the world.” It celebrates theater that is
brief but scintillating; each play — not excerpts, but complete — runs for 10 minutes or less.
The idea for the festival kicked off in Australia and soon moved around the region, through New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore and is now, in its 10th year, moves to three Indian cities (the India debut was
in Delhi in 2010). Read more…
Charukesi RamaduraiThe Poster Shop in Mumbai’s Chor Bazaar.
Mumbai
It was Haji Abu’s grandfather, and then his father, who passed on their love for Hindi cinema to him. Mr. Abu turned his hobby into his profession, opening the Poster Shop some time in the early 1990s.
Twenty or so years later, his tiny shop at Chor Bazaar (91-98704-40970) is crammed with thousands of old film posters, lobby cards and assorted film memorabilia, Mr. Abu explained as he showed off carefully
preserved ticket stubs for blockbuster movies from the 1960s and ’70s. Read more…
Charukesi RamaduraiThe historic district of Khotachiwadi in Mumbai.
Mumbai
Khotachiwadi, a historic area of Mumbai, is like Platform 9 3/4 in the Harry Potter series: invisible to all but those who know exactly where it is or are determined to find it. The narrow lane leading into
the wadi, or hamlet, does nothing to inspire confidence and, like Harry and his friends, you need to take a leap of faith and enter. Read more…
Alex White Mazzarella
“Beehive #2,” atop the Peter Pan Treehouse in Dharavi, Mumbai.
Mumbai
Buried deep inside a labyrinthine Mumbai slum, a tiny lane has become the unlikely flag-bearer of gritty urban art. A cluster of cardboard canisters, shaped like a beehive, bright blue and pink graffiti and
a collage of red wax splatters punctuate the myriad tin-roofed huts and single-story factories of Dharavi’s 13th compound.
Late last year, two American artists, Alex White Mazzarella and Casey Nolan, along with a Dutch photographer, Arne De Knegt, decided to adopt 13th compound as the destination for their three-month-long immersive
art project. Read more…
