Vasai: Shiv Sainiks and activists of Aaradhya Foundation will celebrate a Misal Mahotsav from January 11 to 13 at Sainagar, Vasai Road. Maharashtra’s most loved brunch has many variations, and most of these varieties will be on display, claimed Milind Chavan, a deputy shahar pramukh.
This popular dish, very easy to prepare, consisting of a spicy curry, usually made with moth beans and topped with potato-chiwda mix, farsan, sev, onions, lemon and coriander, and usually served with bread or rolls, serves as a breakfast dish, as a snack and also as a full meal. It has many, many varieties with each region of this state claiming its own branded Misal.
Rich in proteins, it is the only food that has attained popularity by prefixing the name of the place where it originated, like Kolhapuri Misal, Nasik’s Misal, Khandeshi Misal, Nagpuri Misal, Puneri Misal. etc. At Vasai, foodies can have a go at Pune Kolhapuri Jhakass, Parner’s Jhatkedaar, Nasik’s Mug Matki, Thane’s Mamledaar, Nanded and Kankavli Misals.
For the religiously inclined food connoisseurs there will be Jain, Farali, Upvass ones. The curries will be different in colour, like black, yellow, red and white ones. Organisers have promised that 50 to 60 varieties will be made available. Even exotic ones like Bambatli Misal, Mathatli Misal, Katakirr, Misal Darbar, Chulivarchi Misal will also be on sale. After slurping the spicy curries, if your mouth is on fire, there will be the Guru Mocktails, Sabirbhai’s Paan, Panvel Kharvas, Pune’s ice gola. fruit salad to cool and soothe your internals.
Misal represents the original Maharashtrian cuisine, the ultimate street food for the Marathi manoos. Maharastrians have yet to invent a better ice-breaker than the spicy Misal, No wonder, Misal festivals have seen an attendance of more than 50,000 people when they were held at Parel, Dadar, Lalbaug and Thane last year. Just a couple of weeks ago, Virar held its Misal fest and drew in more than 18,000 people.
