Make Mumbai green again while you gorge on glorious food from the North, South, East and West of India, paying only as much as you can and think the meal deserves? Yes, you can, at this beautiful Independence Day Daawat that The Bombay Canteen is hosting. Known for its pan-India menu, this popular Lower Parel restaurant and bar is hosting its annual August 15 fundraiser feast for the public from 11am to 4pm today.
The Bombay Canteen feast – langar meets Onam sadhya
Every hungry Indian dropping by their Kamala Mills location will be fed a scrumptious feast of dishes from every Indian state on a banana leaf. Local and indigenous produce have been used to cook up lip-smacking dishes like Patodi Ki Chaat, Punjabi Kadhi and Kheema Ghotala for this year’s spread. Think soul of a langar (Sikh community meal) dressed up like a Kerala Onam sadhya.
Much like those two regional feasts, seating is first-come, first-served at this Daawat too. The restaurant will split up big groups and seat them next to strangers, so you can truly enjoy the communal meal experience — sharing food, stories, and laughter with someone you’ve never met. Moreover, anyone from any walk of life can sit next to each other – star kids have served college kids – embodying the spirit of true equality and freedom.
Pay what you like and donate to planting trees in Mumbai
Besides that, this is one of the few Independence Day celebrations in town that channels our patriotism into actually bettering our country instead of just flag-waving. While the meal is technically free, donations from diners are welcome after the meal to show appreciation for the experience. Every rupee donated by diners, whether that’s INR 1 or INR 5,000, goes into developing more green spaces in Mumbai with the RPG Foundation.
Native trees will be planted to improve Mumbai’s biodiversity and beef up the green corridors that connect South Mumbai to Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Previous Daawats have helped transform and build Captain Namdev Lotankar Park in Mahalaxmi and The Nest in Malabar Hills into verdant urban pockets of nature. Before that, proceeds from Bombay Canteen’s Independence Day Daawats have also gone towards helping Indian farmers and providing ration kits to rural families.
If Jai Hind were a flavour, this Independence Day Daawat tastes exactly like it. Hurry! It’s only running for a few hours.