Soak in the Koli culture by attending this three-day seafood festival in Versova

Crabs cooked in green masala

Sarika Ladge has been knee-deep in fish masala for the past few days, and is only going to speed up preparation this week as the Vesava (Versova) Koli Seafood Festival approaches. For the past 14 years, Ladge and her family of more than 20 members, have been putting up a stall at the one-of-a kind festival exhibiting Koli culture, and the school teacher is excited to be part of the 15th offering as it returns after a gap of two years owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The three-day festival is held at the Versova fishing village, and visitors can dig into more than 27 varieties of fish across 45 stalls. The stalls will be helmed by fisherfolk dressed in traditional attire. "I haven't skipped the festival even once," Ladge tells us, adding, "We are eager for visitors to taste authentic Koli food that you can't find in restaurants, at throwaway prices."

Sarika Lakde

Versova's famous Bamboo ke Bombil, in curry, is a delicacy Ladge insists your try. "Bombil or Bombay Duck is dried on bamboo racks in the winter sun," she explains. "The fish is cleaned and hung out from 8 am till about 5 pm. The curry is made with garlic, turmeric, salt and green chillies along with our home-ground Koli masala that has 36 spices. This winter delicacy is served with rice and roti."

At Ladge's stall one can also find squid and crab prepared in the Koli green masala that's made out of coconut, coriander, green chilly, garlic, salt and garam masala. "During the festival, we make fresh green masala every day, and fry the masala in the morning so that the dish can be served quickly at the stall.

Founding member of the festival, Rajhans Tapke believes the festival is the best way for the city to know its people. "Kolis are native inhabitants of Mumbai," he says, "but though people know of us, they don't know much about us - our culture, festivals, music and dance and the food we eat."

Rajhans Lakde. Pics/Satej Shinde

The festival, as per Tapke, was initiated in 2006, with the dual purpose of familiarising people with Koli culture, and also helping them financially. "Our daily catch is reducing every day due to pollution in the sea and climate change," he says. "The idea was to help Kolis earn a bit more by not just selling the catch, but by selling a finished dish which can fetch them more money than raw fish sale."

With the pandemic striking the festival out for two years, Tapke says the demand to bring it back on the city's cultural scene was weighing high. "The demand stems from the fact that everything here is indigenous, handmade and comes from local sources," says Tapke. "Traditionally, we prepare an year's supply of the Koli masala and grind each ingredient by hand with mortar and pestle."

Apart from jawla (dried baby shrimps), prawns, lobster, squid, crab, one can taste other varieties of fish that are not commonly found in eateries. Then there's gaboli (raw fish eggs) that are seasonal and not easily available.

Koli dance is a festival staple

Rajhans Raja Lakde, treasurer of the festival, is setting up his special tandoor stall on all the three days. Lakde barbecues the fish on coal embers, and it's the smoke that gives the pomfret, surmai, rawas, lobster, and tiger prawns that distinct smokey flavour. "We marinate the fish in our special tandoori masala that has about 20 spices," he says, "for three to four hours. And then we slow-cook it on embers to keep it juicy."

Get ready to dance too

Enjoy the eats with music and dance on all days:

>> On day 1, the Aai Ekveera Group Production will present Vaarsa Kolyancha. On the second day, Bhoomi Nirmata, Ravi-Raj Recording Studio will present Parampara Vesavkaranachi and on the last day, Jidnyasa Arts will present Vesavkar ani Mandali Koli Geete Aani Koli Nrutey.

WHAT: Vesava Koli Seafood Festival
WHERE: Versova Fishing Village
WHEN: January 20 to 22, 6 PM till midnight