Soam
Sadguru Sadan, Chowpatty, Mumbai
Meal for two: Rs 700
In the auspicious month of Shravan, Soam is adding flavour to the festivities by celebrating the Shravan Faraal Utsav. Shravan is considered to be one of the most prosperous times of the year according to the Hindu calendar, which is also observed as a month of fasting or phalhar or faraal by the Hindu community. Any form of cultivated grain or “anna” is forbidden, but the consumption of foods derived from fruit (fruits themselves and products of fruit) or things found growing wild are allowed. Just like always, this year Soam is adding a dose of fun to the fasting experience. Taking the advantage of the venue, as it is situated near Babulnath Mandir which attracts a lot of crowd at that time, Soam is offering a tremendous variety of dishes especially for the people looking for some twist in traditional food for fasts, giving something new and the kind of food that one finds in the kitchens of traditional Indian homes at the same time.
The whole menu consists of mouth-watering dishes starting from snacks like faraali pakodi chaat, sabudana patties, faraali dahi bhalla and much more, to the main course which includes faraali kofta curry with rajgira paratha, faraali sama pulav, stuffed puri and singdana usal. The menu also consists of a variety of dishes for all the people with sweet tooth. It constitutes of faraali malpua, kesar kopra paak and so on. The reasonable price of the place makes it even more attractive giving a great experience. The signature dish for this year is faraal ka gold coin which is taken from the Chinese context. It is made from purple yam patty seasoned with mint and chilly. Another dish which has got overwhelming appreciation from customers is daal dhokli and idli with faraali chutney and sweet potato sambhar.
“It’s a 12 year old family restaurant and we have been celebrating this festival every year since the opening of the place. It’s a month when people go to one day or sometimes one month fasting. So we came up with the dishes which are traditionally faraal food like general sabudana patty. We did this in the beginning, then we realized that people fasting for a month and travelling all the way to our place would like a little variety. So we played a little with the ingredients to make things more fascinating. I have discovered that ingredients for instance ararot, kuttu that we have been using for ages and centuries and we are now made aware of it because the western people are using it. I think there is this new awareness of using ingredients that are very healthy and we make things in a slightly more healthier ways like making a paratha out of it. You also get dishes of kuttu which are nourishing and healthy. We are focusing on making things healthier and obviously making it traditional mat the same time. We make something new which everyone would love to try out at our place,” says Pinky Chandan Dixit, owner of Soam.
It’s a nice gesture that Soam is providing a great range of fasting cuisines. People looking for more exciting ways of having traditional food stuff while fasting direct from the typical Indian kitchen should surely try out this place and enjoy the month of Shravan with more scrumptious food than ever.