Monday, June 25, 2007

My Food-Stall (A Fantastic Experience)


About 130 Surali Wadis that I made for the Event

Since my school days I have had one belief firm in my mind and that is if you really really work hard at something it always pays . Be it an exam, a talent contest or a sports event if you pour your heart and soul into preparing for it ,it has to give you positive results and my belief was once again proved right this last weekend.

It was a Family Picnic cum Cricket Match event organised by the Marathi Association in my city. One of the chief highlights of this event was the food stalls. Anyone interested could book themselves a food stall and sell some food items there. You had to make enough for about 50 to 60 people. The task was a bit daunting because I have never cooked on such a large scale and initially I was really not sure whether I wanted to get into it . But with a lot of encouragement and support from my husband I decided to go ahead and give it a try. Going ahead meant I was cooking food for two days and constantly worrying whether it would be enough .

But before the actual cooking the difficult task was to identify what I would like to sell. We were not allowed any kind of heating facilities at the venue, so the item/s had to be such that would taste good even when eaten cold. So after a lot of brain-racking we decided on Suralichi Wadi (which is an authentic Marathi dish) and Mango Flavored Sheera(or Suji Halwa as it is called in Hindi).

Boxes packed with the goodies all ready for sale

Along with the food we had to carry a portable table to arrange all the stuff on, disposable plates,spoons ,paper napkins,bin bags, the signs advertising what we were selling and for how much,a tablecloth, some old newspapers and some plastic carry bags. It was quite a lot of stuff to carry .

At the venue after we set up our little stall the only thing to do was wait for people to come up and buy something from us. Initially very few people came to our stall. There were 2 main reasons for that . Firstly the event started at 2.30 p.m so everybody had had lunch at home and them come and secondly the stall next to me sold Wada-pav which is a very popular item so most people were obviously attracted there first.

But slowly people started approaching my stall too and die-hard marathi food lovers can never say no to suralchi wadi which is made very rarely now a days even at home. So once the word got around that I was selling Suralichi Wadi and Mango Sheera and that they tasted awesome my sales picked up. Everyone loved the two items and I even had a few ladies ask me how I had prepared the two and so on. Boy did I enjoy all the attention.

Our Little Helper who disappeared as soon as he found a play area close by.

Well to cut a long story short at the end of 5 hours we had SOLD OUT. Yes , we sold everything. I was so thrilled. We also made a profit which we are going to spend by treating ourselves to something special .

I am so looking forward to the next event now


21 comments:

Indian Food Rocks said...

He! He! Good for you, Anu! Congrats!

And you had fun doing it all! Way to go!!

Nupur said...

That sounds like such fun!! Of course, both dishes look so attractive and appetizing!

Nabeela said...

Thats an icredible idea...I might try and get my friends here to so something of the same sort.

Tee said...

Thats so much work! your 'suralichya wadya'and sheera look very tempting and so perfect! No surprise that both your dishes were sold out...great job!

archana said...

I really appreciate you for making surali chi vadi for 60 people. Its not so easy to make these vadis,lot of technique involved. I can barely make two plates :))
The vadis and halwa are looking so nice neatly packed. I am impressed :)

Suganya said...

That is a mighty task, cooking for 50 to 60 people. And the best part is you had fun.. Kudos Anupama!

Nirmala said...

Anupama, was a regular reader of your blog but first time commenting. Thats a real awful task. Cooking for 60 people that too such complex recipes! Really great job! Enjoy the success with the "special treat". Great work!

Bong Mom said...

That must have been so much fun. Can feel the excitement :)

Aarthi said...

Congrats Anupama...what and Inspiring Event :)

Anupama said...

Thanks Manisha, it sure was fun. Have never even done it in India.

Thanks Nupur, Did you try out the Suralichi wadi btw


Yes Nabeela, its a great way to bring people together in a foriegn land

Thanks so much Tee

As I said Archana,the task was definitely daunting but the recipe becomes very easy when you use the pressure cooker method

Thankyou Suganya for always having something nice to say.

Welcome to my blog Nirmala and do keep in touch now

Yes Sandeepa, it was exciting and my husband and I were talking about it for hours after the event

Thanks Aarthi

Prema Sundar said...

Both the wadi and sheera look perfect Anupama. Looks like U had lots of fun there...

Nabeela said...

Ypu've been tageed Anupama!
http://trialsnerror.blogspot.com/2007/07/7-random-facts-meme.html

Kalpana said...

SO wonderful!

Dhana said...

Ashwini, sounds fantastic! Also, what a co-incidence, I tried out your suralichi wadi recipe and just wrote about it today :)

DEEPA said...

this is cool one ...good that you sold all of them ..

J said...

That sounds like so much fun!!

marriedtoadesi.com said...

Congrats! Sounds like a fun event. Wish I could buy a plate right now.

Kanchana

Gini said...

Wow! That is amazing. That must have been really fun!

Priyanka said...

Hi Anupama,
First time on your blog. YOu are amazing. You made suralichi vadis for so many people. Great going.

Sharmi said...

that sounds like a great event. the lil one looks so cute! lovely looking wadis. must have had a great time.

Anonymous said...

Dear Anupama,

Oh wow! I always love these stalls and stuff. Preparing for a minimum of 50 people would have been a challenge and a great experience.Glad to know that you were fully sold out and made profits. I just simply love khandvi which is what your wadi reminds me of. Your sheera and packing looks so professional. Must have been quite a high :)