Mumbai Food: Savour delicious Punjabi eats at Sion-Koliwada

Rawas Koliwada at Hazara Restaurant and Bar

Punjabi cuisine and its many interpretations may have made their way around the globe, but did you know that closer home, in a little pocket of Sion-Koliwada, sits a settlement that serves up some of the community's most delicious eats?

Chhole Puri at Chawla's

To discover these eateries and their myriad offerings, attend a food walk through GTB Nagar with Wandering Foodie, a group that aims to promote regional Indian cuisine through weekend food tours. What makes it worth signing up for is the fact that most food tours almost entirely ignore the central suburbs, and more so, this stretch.

Try the mutton paya at Sardar Paya House. Pics/Rishiâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Contractor

Come with a big appetite, for this walk is bound to leave you stuffed. "We begin at Chawla's, a little eatery outside Gurudwara Dashmesh Darbar, which serves chhole puri," says Rahul Patil, co-founder of Wandering Foodie. "From here, we'll move on to Sardar Paya House, where we will try the mutton paya," he adds.

Next, you will head to Hardeep Punjab, which serves what is a cross between Indian and Italian food. The Chicken Chaska Maska is a preparation featuring chicken tikka pieces draped in a cheesy white sauce. As bizarre as it sounds, we hear the dish is stellar.

"We will also be going to Hazara, which supposedly came up with the recipe for fish koliwada, a dish that is synonymous with the city today. Then, at neighbouring Mini Punjab, we will try out the White Tandoori Chicken, a less fiery version of the traditional dish," shares Patil. The walk will end at Agarwal's Kulfi Roll and Snacks, where you can pick from 20 kulfi flavours like mango, butterscotch, rose and even chocolate.

The walk is limited to only 10 people, so if you're interested in exploring this little-known part of the city with some company and tidbits of history, here's your chance.