Pondichéry Cafe at Sofitel Mumbai BKC is hosting From the Mountains to Mumbai: A Himalayan Feast, a limited-time menu curated by Chef Michael Swamy following his travels through McLeod Ganj, Uttarakhand, and Bhutan. Himalayan cooking is not one cuisine but a collection of distinct food traditions, spanning Tibetan, Bhutanese, Garhwali, and Himachali styles, each shaped by high altitudes, cold climates, and ingredients that mountain communities have relied on for centuries.
Chef Swamy is a culinary storyteller, chef, and experience curator working at the intersection of food, wildlife, culture, and regenerative ecosystems. He is as much a food photographer as an advocate of forest-to-fork menus.
Steamed buckwheat momos with Dalle chilli chutney open the meal. Buckwheat has been grown in the Himalayan foothills for thousands of years because it thrives at elevations where wheat cannot grow. It is paired with Dalle chilli, a round, fiery variety native to Sikkim and one of the hottest chillies produced in India.
Thenthuk, a hand-pulled noodle broth from Tibetan mountain kitchens, follows. Ema Datshi, Bhutan’s national dish and a cornerstone of Bhutanese culinary heritage, is a stew of chilli and cheese. In Bhutan, chilli is not a spice used in small quantities but a primary vegetable and a core source of nutrition, which gives Ema Datshi its characteristic boldness.
Stone-cooked river trout with wild garlic butter draws from a cooking tradition still practiced in parts of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, where flat stones heated over fire serve as a cooking surface, producing a texture and flavour distinct from conventional cooking methods. Bhutanese honey chilli glazed chicken wings round out the non-vegetarian section with a smokier, sharper profile.
On the vegetarian side, the apricot kernel salad with local greens connects to a farming tradition that has sustained mountain communities in Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh for generations. Skyu, a traditional Ladakhi dumpling made with hand-rolled dough and root vegetables, is one of the oldest prepared dishes in the Himalayan food canon.
Offering an authentic take on the piquant Himalayan cuisine, the Himalayan feast runs for a limited period between April 20 to 26, for approximately ₹3500 per person.
