We spent a whole day in and around Maat Village, Kasar Devi exploring the local food scenario at this breathtaking place. Along with the scenic location, it is the hippie trail that attracts travelers to this quiet village. Many western travelers and mystics have visited and settled down at Kasar Devi. This also includes many celebrities. Hence the food culture here is a mix of both local and international influences. On one hand you have the simple and soulful Kumaoni food while on the other there are popular western snacks, beverages and confectioneries.
We started the food exploration with basic home cooked food at our homestay Rudra Himalayan Retreat. The spread consisted of gehat ki dal, lesu roti, kumaoni chawal, bichu saag ki sabzi, mooli ka thechua and aate ka halwa. These were the wintertime staple food at this place.
After the meal our host Sanjay ji took us to two popular places that serve both local and a few international snacks and confectioneries. First destination was The Himalayan Hippies Cafe. It is a quaint cafe run by an enterprising Kumaoni girl named Charu. On reaching there Charu and her friend Minnie briefed us about the hippie culture as they perceived it and also shared some stories about their professional journeys.
Then we were joined by the young members of a budding music band named Hope The Band, who enthralled us with two of their melodious compositions. Then together we tasted a healthy finger millet cake baked by Charu. It had a unique luscious taste that came from the chocolate, finger millet and little salt.
From there we reached out final destination Baba Cake. The name of this quaint eatery is after the name of the genial owner Baba Tilaknath. The eclectic menu was a mix of some traditional and western classics. Baba Ji as he is fondly called learnt baking mostly from his in law's place in Germany. His cakes and pies are extremely popular with locals and visitors alike. We tried apple crumble, brownie and a warm platter of Munsiyari rajma chawal. The apple crumble, with its crusty base and jammy center was truly divine. And so was the rajma chawal because the kidney beans used in it were from the village of Munsiyari.
Overall it was an fun experience trying the food at this scenic and calm town of Kasar Devi
HOPE THE BAND
https://instagram.com/hopethe.band/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyqj...
17.52 - 20.33 : Song - RANIKHET GHAR HAI MERA
Full Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn6xy...
20.52 - 24.06 : Song - TAREEF TERI
Full Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5stkh...