The culinary heaven that is Mumbai offers something for anyone with evolving or differing palates and tastes. We’ve covered some of these enticing offerings ranging from gluttony inducing wraps and rolls to Mumbai’s healthiest meals. But few authentic culinary pleasures can be spoken of in the same breath as those of some of Mumbai’s small but amazingly popular eateries and it seems the world has finally taken cognizance of this fact what with Aaswad Upahar’s Misal Pav being declared the World’s Tastiest Vegetarian Dish in 2015.

Image Source: Magnolia 2 Mumbai

Foodie Hub, said to be one of the world’s largest network of local food experts, had declared the Foodie hub awards on May 31 of that year in London, where the spicy curry and its bread partner from the Shivaji Park-based eatery were adjudged winners in this category. Foodie Hub received over 4,000 dishes from 150 cities from all around the world and is said to have employed the same mechanism adopted by other food awards where local experts would nominate items and a central team would try the items on a rotating basis.

The Misal Pav at Aswaad Image Source: India Food Network Image Credit: Kalyan Karmakar

The dish was nominated by Kalyan Karmarkar, popular among food bloggers as Finely Chopped, who is the Foodie Hub expert from Mumbai. Suryakant Sarjoshi, owner of the quaint 30-year old eatery, reacted with a sense of confidence and excitement. “We got the news and it feels great! Our misal won because the spices used for the curry are entirely homemade and the farsan is of good quality. As a dish, it is a whole meal in itself,” Sarjoshi told India Food Network. His eatery’s dish beat out dishes such as the Vegan Spinach Pie from Athens, Baby Beans with Quail Egg from Barcelona, Black Barley from Perth and Palmito Assado Na Casa from Rio De Janiero.

The juicy curry made from moth beans or matki (in Marathi) and topped with chopped onions, tomatoes and crunchy farsan, perfectly complemented with the dry and soft Mumbai pav is a favourite, Maharashtrian staple and is available at Aaswad for only INR 55. If you have never tasted it out of some misplaced skepticism, the title of World’s Tastiest Vegetarian Dish deserves a try at the very least, don’t you think?





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