MALABARI FOOD FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND

by Keri O’Meara
I ate goat’s balls and they were delicious. They were pepper- fried sitting in a rich paste of tomato, onion, peppers and a medley of spices. You too can enjoy pepper- fried goats testicles at the upcoming Malabari food festival held at Maroli restaurant on Bloor St. West.
If you are less adventurous there will be plenty of other traditional Malabari dishes to please your palate and fill your belly to its ultimate capacity.

There is a poster on the wall at the modest Maroli restaurant that has a picture of its signature dish, Malabari chicken, and reads BLAND IS BAD. This was evidenced in the food served up at a preview for the festival.

A coastal region in the southern Indian province of Kerala, Malabari cuisine is unique in its vast range of flavours and ingredients. What you don’t find at a lot of Indian restaurants is seafood. Not the case at Maroli. Muscles stuffed with rice flour and rolled in cardamom and turmeric, oyster stew, chili powdered and pan fried sardines, Moilee fish curry and tuna Porotta were among the plethora of food on my plate.

But the choices do not end there. The festival will also showcase vegetarian options, briyani’s, beef stews, chicken curries, mutton curries and traditional Malabarian deserts.

Each of the samples I tried was like a hot international party in my mouth containing about 16 different spices with Portuguese, French, Dutch, Arab and Indian influences.

Much of what I tasted contained a lovely and subtle Mediterranean flavour. Some of the dishes were nose running spicy, some sweet with coconut milk some water chugging salty.

To mop up the juices left on my other wise ravaged plate I was given Pathiri, a naan like roti made with rice flour and not too heavy too finish off a very large meal.

The festival runs on November 29th and 30th from 12pm-10pm. Admission is 20 dollars and will allow you to eat vast amounts of food, have a beer or glass of wine and watch the traditional food being prepared. Maroli’s owner, Naveen Polapady, and his wife Shigdha will show you warm southern Indian hospitality and answer any questions you may have about Malabar and its fine fare.

If you cant make the festival try the restaurant for a quiet, cheap and mouth wateringly spicy meal to keep you warm during the months ahead.