Bhaat Festival in Mumbai celebrates ancient rice

love rice? Try varieties you’ve never tasted, or even heard of, at The Rice Festival on February 4 at Jio World Drive in Mumbai to celebrate indigenous varieties cultivated by India’s tribal communities Is.

Organized by Gujarat-based OOO Farms, visitors will get a chance to taste, understand and buy varieties like Raibhog (Sahyadri Royal), Balaram Kamod, Khadakya, Ambemohar, Warangal, Kali Khadsi, Rajgudiya, Dongri, Kala Jirga, Ajara Ghansal among others. and Lal Mahadi, to name a few.

celebration of diversity

Shikha Kansagra, who co-founded OOO Farms with Shailesh Awate, explains why they put together this fair: “Did you know that India had over 1.40 lakh varieties of rice till 1960? With the advent of the Green Revolution and hybridization in agriculture, the variety of rice has reduced to only a few thousand.

She says this festival is a small step towards helping consumers appreciate the country’s different types of native rice and all its flavours. They can “hear the farmers, interact with them and also taste delicious dishes cooked by some of the most popular chefs in India”.

Along with farmers from tribal communities, The Locavore founder Chef Thomas Zakarias, Salt Water Cafe chef Gresham Fernandez and corporate food consultant Rushina Munshaw Ghildial will experiment with 20 varieties of rice and conduct a guided tasting session, followed by dinner Will happen.

Thomas says, “The core of the festival is to showcase rice varieties, their unique properties, taste and nutritional value. It is a step to open the minds of consumers towards indigenous varieties of rice so that they can once again enjoy the fruit- May it blossom

Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal | photo credit: special arrangement

Sweet rice by Rushina | photo credit: special arrangement

Rushina says her work over the years, portraying the diversity and multiplicity of every aspect of Indian cuisine, has brought home the wonder of rice to her. Rushina adds, “Rice dishes have a lot of traditions and recipes in common. But as universal as it is, rice is also deeply personal. ghee salt rice worship Grandmother And father is, I’ll offer a version using OOO Farms Ghee and my Fragrant Rice mountain pisune loon , hill herb salt). Red rice will be accompanied by a kanji, which will be served with green chili pickle or naga chili Lasanyu (Chilli-garlic sauce). Sweet will be saffron sweet rice (Saffron Sweet Rice) with Rose-Pistachios dukkah Which is a mixture of dry fruits.

Rice fields | photo credit: special arrangement

Bombay Duck Brewing (BDB), an independently owned craft brewery from Mumbai, will also be present at the festival, creating four rice beers along with indigenous varieties such as Kali Khadsi and Krishna Sal. This artisanal craft brewer began experimenting with rice beer in 2019.

Abhishek Chinchalkar, one of the brewers, says, “Rice & Shine was the first beer we brewed in 2019 with a rice variety called Ratna. Last year, we made four styles and experimented with red rice Poha To make some rice beer.” (Note that the beers made by BDB are tap beers and should not be confused with the indigenous rice beers of the Northeast.)

Rice Beer by Bombay Duck Brewing | photo credit: special arrangement

Rice Beer at Bombay Duck Brewing

The popular rice beer Red Poha Margen by BDB is prepared from unpolished red rice Poha, “We brewed this beer in collaboration with The Locavore to explore the use of local heritage rice in beer,” explains Abhishek. Other beers are Royalty and Azara Ghansal cream ale, inspired by German lagers, which are traditionally brewed with corn. “Our take on this beer style is made with Azara Ghansal, a respected rice variety favored by royal families in the past,” he added. Paint It Black, a black rice thickener, uses local heirloom rice. Visitors will get a taste of some of these at the fest.

Who are the OOO Farms?

Shikha says, “The journey to OOO Farms began back in the days when we were avid trekkers and saw a sudden change in the Sahyadri Mountains where forests were being cleared and the delicious food served in the mountains was changing rapidly. “

Crest of the OOO Farm

With the changing scenario, he also realized the struggle of finding flavor on his plate. “This gave us a clear distinction between regenerative native, heritage varieties of seeds and the one-time use of modern industrial seeds. This discovery also made us realize that these native seeds are not only ancient but also intelligent in a way that they can adapt themselves to the changing patterns of internal and external environment. OOO Farms works with farmers in the Maharashtra and South Gujarat regions.

Realizing the crisis and emergency associated with native seeds, OOO Farms, ‘an accidental social enterprise, was born’ she adds. During the past five years, the duo has traveled millions of kilometers to collect indigenous seeds, sow them in seed plots and conserve more than 1,000 varieties. “However, for these seeds to survive and thrive, we needed to put them back in the hands of their original custodians – the tribal farmers,” says Shikha.

Shikha says that 35 varieties of rice seeds have been successfully grown on a commercial scale, creating a market for farmers. Some of the regenerated rice varieties include Raibhog (Sahyadri Royal), Balaram Kamod, Khadakya, Ambemohar, Warangal, Kali Khadsi, Rajgudiya, Dongri, Kala Jirga, Ajara Ghansal and Lal Mahadi. Next, they are looking forward to working with Chimansal, Kasbai and Tulshya varieties.