When Mumbaikars celebrated #MasalaDay on May 20

Cooking is incomplete without spices, each dish having its own special amalgamations and mixes. And this ingredient is also what Mumbai's foodies celebrated on Sunday, May 20. Calling it #MasalaDay, these community cuisine experts came together for a discussion on the spices and mixes that flavour the melting pot, which we know as Mumbai. today.
The event was curated by Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal.She talks about the idea of having such a day. “Imagine Indian cuisine without spices or masalas to define them. They are the tastemakers of Indian food and every regional cuisine has them - take the Bengali panchphoron or the Gujarati methi nu masalo. We thought, why just make our own spices. This year, why not try making or tasting masalas of different communities? You can also do a #SpiceSwap with friends. I have found that having different masalas on hand can make it easy to add variety to food. Thus, #MasalaDay is the perfect day to get adventurous,” she says.

Rushina adds that last time around, the idea was widely received. “Last year, on this day, we documented about 40 masalas. At the event too, we came up with a superb discussion on how much spices matter to us," she says. They had put this event out on social media five days and it resulted in a good turnout. Foodies talked about what spices mean to cuisine and in context to the memories that are associated to them. Adds Rushina, "I have fond memories of how, in the month of May, ladies would come home with huge mortar pestles and my grandmother would get spices pounded on the terrace for a year. Also, did you know, every region uses spices differently? Like, north Indian garam masala and the Malvani garam masala are quite different.”
Other panelists at the event included culinary consultant Saee Koranne Khandekar, blogger Rhea Mitra Dalal, Pathare Pabhu cuisine expert Soumitra Velkar, Roopa Nabar, and others. Adds food blogger Smita Deo, “I spoke about Kolhapuri masala and the way to make it. I got married into a family from there and I talked about how the spices used in cooking, have evolved over the years.”
The event was followed by a masala tasting. Here's to more spicy fun!