We started our Vidarbha food tour from the 'Orange City' Nagpur. And the first thing that we decided to experience here was the city's signature Saoji cuisine, renowned for its fiery and robust flavors. To guide us on this quest we had with us Mandira, who is a walk leader with the tour group named Orange Odyssey.
We started our journey from a textile workshop as this cuisine is believed to be from a community of weavers known as Halba Koshtis. Owing to the drop in the cotton business and consequential loss of livelihood, a few people from the community set up small eateries around Nagpur to showcase their fiercely spicy food that was already well appreciated in their group. Over these eateries soon became a rage with the working classes and now the locals from all walks of life.
Soon after touring the saree workshop, we reached one of the most well-known Saoji eatery named Suryakant Saoji. Saoji food primarily consists of non-vegetarian dishes and is deeply rooted in the culinary traditions of the region.
Here owner Sanju showed us the making of Saoji patodi rassa and Saoji jhinga curry. The former had gram flour chunks as the key ingredient while the latter had prawns. Its distinct and complex flavor comes from the rich blend of spices and the slow cooking technique.
The spice blend used in Saoji curries is what sets it apart from other Indian curries. It is a potent combination of aromatic spices such as cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, stone flower, black peppercorns etc. , along with a generous amount of red chili powder.
After making these dishes we joined everybody for tasting them. Sanju ji had also served us another crowd favourite delicacy called Saoji Sundari. This is goat's offal based curry.
The taste experience of Saoji curry was truly exceptional but its not for those with low tolerance for spices. These curry have a thick gravy with robust flavors. Watch the video till the end to discover if Anubhav could handle the heat. For those who can, this is definitely worth a try.
About the host:
anubhavsapra.com/
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Text by Swetaleena Nayak