Mumbai – The Food Capital of India

Mumbai has always been the top destination for any food enthusiast. The flavours from around the world meet here, raising this city to the status of food capital of India. Mumbai is known for its exotic dishes be it vegetarian or non-vegetarian. Mumbai offers a cuisine that is full of flavoursome, zesty seafood, authentic dishes and a variety of curries. It houses innumerable restaurants serving world class food and cuisine like Guajarati thalis, Mughlai cuisine, Mangalore’s seafood, Thai cooking and much more. Apart from these restaurants, Mumbai is better known for its street food that offer Vada pav, Bhel puri, Paani puri, chaats, seafood dishes and many other traditional dishes. And when you get full from eating all these Mumbai food, you can easily get home made food in Mumbai as well.

Mumbai does offer a vast array of food and cuisines and specialises in each one of them as well. You can find the best of all the cuisines here, so can you in most part of the world. However, there are few cuisines that Mumbai serves best and you can’t get that taste anywhere else in the world. The food of the ethnic people of Mumbai and original residents of Mumbai. The Kolis, Bohris and Pathare Prabhu are some of the very earliest residents of Mumbai and the kind of food they have to offer cannot be found anywhere else.

Bohri

The Bohri people are part of the Muslim community that initially migrated from middle-east Asia to Gujarat and then to other parts of India. Ever since, they have come to become an integral part of Mumbai. They offer a cuisine that has influences of both the Middle East and Gujarat. The Bohra families traditionally sit on the floor around a large thaal and have their meal together in the same thaal as one course after another is served. It is considered a communal activity that encourages, equality, oneness and sharing. The Bohri thaal starts and ends with tasting some salt which is believed to cleanse the taste buds. Unlike any other, the Bohri meal starts with a dessert, where others end with dessert. They have a variety of sweet dishes to serve such as Kalamra (Rice pudding which is based of Yoghurt) and Malida (a sweet mix of Jaggey and wheat). Salad is accompanied with full course meals that are served after appetisers. Rice dishes include a variety of Pulaos and the lesser known variant of Biryani – the Bohra Biryani. Mutton is used extensively in bohra cuisine however there are vegetarian dishes as well, influenced by Gujarati cuisine.

Pathare Prabhu

Pathare Prabhus are some of the oldest inhabitants of the city of Mumbai. They came to Mumbai from regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan and you can feel the hint of Gujarati and Marwari cuisine in their food. Pathare prabhu love their seafood and their food is often spicy. Their cooking technique is quite simple and still pathare prabhu seafood might still be the best seafood you have ever tasted.

These are just teasers of what Mumbai can actually offer. Come to Mumbai, meet the local, explore the city and indulge your taste buds into some of the best experience it ever had.