Archana Pai, a former celebrity manager, food enthusiast and home chef, is organising a Konkani food fest in association with the Trident Hotel in Kochi. From the seashores of Mangaluru and Goa, Archana brings authentic Konkani delicacies to the Malayali crowd. “You know, traditional Konkani cuisine doesn’t use onion or garlic. And that is what we are serving here,” she says.
According to her, Konkani cuisine never wastes any part of a vegetable. Locally sourced vegetables are used, including colocasia, elephant yam, drumsticks, colocasia leaves etc. “Even the leaves, stem and the skin of plants are used. Chips and chutneys are made using the plant’s skin. This unique aspect is what I wanted people to know,” she says.
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This is the first time, the 47-year-old is preparing food for the Malayali public. “I often make feasts for guests in my home. However, it was a few of my friends who work as chefs, encouraged me to bring my skills to the public forum,” she explains.
For the fest, Archana has prepared dishes such as valval, in which colocasia and potato are simmered in gravy. Whereas for theeyal, roasted coconut is made into the base of curry. “Each day, the ingredient of theeyal will change. It could be potato, yam etc,” she says. The fest also boasts an array of non-vegetarian Konkani delicacies. This includes rava fish fry and ghashi, a curry made of smaller fishes such as anchovies