Scouts and Guides Grounds and at MUDA Grounds near Lalitha Mahal Palace – Sept.29 to Oct.10

Mysuru:  One of the most popular events of the annual Dasara festival is the Aahara Mela or the Food Mela. And the popularity is proved every year by large number of people who flock the Scouts and Guides Grounds behind Deputy Commissioner’s Office and the MUDA Grounds near the Lalitha Mahal Palace.

This year too, the Mela will be held from Sept. 29 to Oct. 10 at the above two places and will surely draw thousands of people. While Dasara will end with Vijayadashami on Oct. 8, the Aahara Mela will conclude on Oct. 10. This year, international cuisine is the flavour that every foodie can look forward to, apart from the tribal, State and national delicacies.

A mind-boggling varieties of food that one can taste this year will come from Budakattu, Malenadu, Kodava, Tibetan, Uttara and Dakshina Karnataka, Rajasthani, Gujarati, Hyderabadi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Mumbai, Punjabi, Kashmiri, as also international cuisine that will include the all-time favourite Chinese, Italian, French, Mexican dishes and the youth’s favourites burgers and pizzas.

One of the best ways to attract a foodie to the Mela is to invite them to cook so that they can show their culinary skills. The task will be to cook a particular dish within a fixed timing. Participants have to ensure that the food has aesthetic and visual appeal, aroma and of course taste that must linger for a long time in a taster’s taste buds.

These competitions will be organised every day from 11.30 am to 1 pm. This apart, eating competitions will be a daily affair from 3 pm to 4 pm. Last year and in 2017, Tribal Food or food from the woods produced from various tribal hamlets across the State was a big hit with many tribal food varieties like ‘Bamboo Biriyani’ and ‘Bamboo Rice Kheer,’ ‘makali beru’ tea, tribal crab curry, boiled forest tubers eaten along with pure forest honey, ragi rotti made with Muthugada Yele, Naati Koli Saaru, Fish Biriyani and Donne Biriyani.

Those who want to take part in cooking competition can contact Jayamma on Mob: 98808-17552 or Rathnamma on 99648-07138 and for eating competitions contact T.J. Lakshmi on 94480-32268 or R. Vidya on 94839-01602 before 5 pm on Sept. 21. These persons can be contacted to register names at the office of the Joint Director, Food and Civil Supplies Department, Deputy Commissioner’s Office. Filled in applications must be submitted at the above office, room number 17, on or before Sept. 25 at 5 pm. For more information, people can contact 0821-2422107.

Those who want to set up stalls at the Ahara Mela at Lalitha Mahal Palace MUDA Grounds must submit their applications before Sept. 21, 5.30 pm at Room No. 17 at the office of Joint Director, Food and Civil Supplies Department. For details, call D.R. Kumar on 99022-48619, Suresh on 87221-04052, Naveen on 74069-83767, Shashidhar Naik on 9632960615 or Ph: 0821-2422107.