Every year, Karavalli at Taj Gateway hosts a special aquafest for the seafood connossieurs. This year too, the festival is back with the best from the coast. In short, an odyssey through food from Goa to Trivandrum.
   Karavalli or the land by the sea, stretches from the rugged coastline of Kerala to the sand drenched beaches of Goa on the West Coast of India.

As spectacular and surprising, as the countryside is the cuisine of its many communities, which are confined by and large to family kitchens until Karavalli at the Taj Gateway captured and showcased them.

Go Goan with the Tiger Prawn Assado, which is a dry prawn preparation. Travel down Karwar and there is the Karwari fish curry. Bangaloreans are not unfamiliar to Mackarel, but this is Karwar’s own and one has to try it out and find the difference. Stop by Mangalore for the Bondas Sukhe.

And now that you are travelling down further, you can be slightly adventurous and develop a spicy palette to try Meen Kodampuliyittathu, a spicy red fish curry from Kerala. It’s best when eaten with tapioca.

From tip of the South comes the Travancore Prawn Curry and from the North of Kerala, the Mappilah fish curry.
Says Sous Chef Jose Thomas, “Among the favourites, there is the Pomfret in banana leaf, Tiger prawns Malabar style and the Alleppy fish curry. For the accompaniments, there is the ever so delightful Kappa puzhaku, Appam, Idiyappam and much more.”

Jose adds, “Apart from the usual menu, there is six to seven new varieties that we have introduced this year and is a must try. There are the regular customers and the response has been great. A lot of foreigners are coming in as well. But what sets apart this fest is that we have advanced our dinner timings to 6.30 pm.” 

The best way to wind up your coastal cruise is with the Bebinca, the dessert which is as good as ever and Kerala’s Ada pradhaman which can bring back nostalgia.

This lunch and dinner festival ends on Nov 25. So this is one trip you cannot afford to skip. So come and get greeted with Kerala Tharvad atmosphere and get reminded of the spectacular backwaters and the sun drenched beaches of Goa and the family kitchens of Mangalore and witness a soul stirring aroma emerging from the Karavalli kitchens.

A fishing village awaits you and the irresistible aromas will transport you to the coast. Such dazzling coastal cuisine with an array of local spices and coconut milk will most certainly make the Aquafest remembered for a long long time. The lunch and dinners offerings would be Ala Carte .