This restaurant is serving home-style Maharashtrian meals in Ladakh

Six years ago when biking and travel enthusiast couple Kaustubh Dalvi and Greeshma Soley set up a hostel in Ladakh neither of them had imagined that the curving the roads of their destinies would one day lead to becoming restaurateursHailing from Mumbai and Sangli respectively Dalvi and Soley decided to shift to Ladakh because they fell in love with the place However instead of buying a house they thought of building a pad for fellow travellers Thatrsquos when they established Roversrsquo Den a backpackersrsquo haven in Leh Word travelled that two Maharashtrians had set up a hostel here The result was that people from the state automatically gravitated towards Roversrsquo Den That was a turning point in their journeyThe restaurant is now wildly popular in the region with a clientele that includes locals tourists foreigners government servants and soldiers posted in the regionSoley recalls ldquoWe had a fullfledged kitchen serving local fare However sometimes we would share the Maharashtrian food we cooked for ourselves with our patrons and they liked it a lot Many requested if they could get more of the same So we started taking preorders for limited quantities Our kitchen staff all of whom are nonMaharashtrians had to be trained in preparing delicacies Most of them are from Jharkhand and for them cooking any vegetable involves onions tomatoes and powdered spices The fact that a bhaaji can be made with just green chilli and cumin seeds was a foreign concept to themrdquo Interestingly the locals got curious about the food too ldquoSago for them was only to make kheer it was interesting for them to see that you could make khichdi from it toordquo adds SoleyA month into their new venture a sexagenarian Maharashtrian whom the duo call Chitnis kaka came to sample their dishes ldquoHe was so impressed with the authentic taste that he clicked some pictures and circulated them with a short writeup among his contacts on WhatsApp The next morning we got a call from the Brihanmumbai Maharashtra Mandal a community of Maharashtrians with chapters in several states in India as well as abroad that had taken notice of the message and inquired about the food that Dalvi and Soley were serving They spread the word far and wide and from that point onwards footfall increased exponentiallyrdquo says SoleyPoha with chana usalldquoLadakh is not a very kind place in terms of weatherrdquo says Dalvi adding ldquoIn such extreme conditions food can be the only solace and if the food reminds you of home more sordquo In March last year Dalvi and Soley officially launched their restaurant Khanaval in an old stone property complete with wood panelling on the walls and sloping thatched roofs that they bought from its previous owners Khanaval is Marathi for a restaurant and it aims to give its patrons something from each region of the state starting with the humble vada pav pav bhaji and misal Therersquos patvadi rassa from Vidarbha and pithla bhakri from Konkan as well Thalipeeths we are told are a hot favourite with foreigners who happily take to Instagram to gush about having a vegan glutenfree and healthy lentil option for breakfastSabudana vada and KhichdiThe cooking process is a continuous challenge as the treacherous terrain and unforgiving weather make it impossible to plan the inventory Soley says ldquoYou may get one batch of supplies of lentils today but there will be no guarantee that you will get another batch the following month We have to make do with whatever they can get and so therersquos a lot of mixing and matching For instance when jowar bajra and nachni attas are unavailable we make bhakris from barley and buckwheat instead The customers donrsquot mindrdquoVada pavDalvi tells us ldquoEven the farsan that we use for our misal is made from scratch Some shops sell namkeen here but they had no idea what farsan was I had to source the recipe and teach it to themrdquo Dalvi shares What about the pav we ask ldquoWhen we started only burger buns were available in Ladakhmdashsacrilege for any selfrespecting pav bhaji vada pav and misal pav lover We got laadi pavs from Mumbai and handed samples to some bakers who are now our pav suppliersrdquo explains Dalvi adding ldquoLadakh has many locals who have studied in Mumbai or Maharashtra who come flocking to Khanaval for their vada pav and misal pav fixrdquoWhile tourists who are overjoyed at finding the taste of home are a significant part of Khanavalrsquos clientele locals too are diehard fans now Besides many government servants posted there hail from Maharashtra ldquoThe District Collectors of Ladakh and Kargil are both Maharashtrians as is the current Deputy Inspector General of Police here Every time we get large orders from them we know theyrsquore having guests from Maharashtra over at their placerdquo says Dalvi ldquoBesides there is a large presence of the Indian Armyrsquos Maratha Regiment here who also canrsquot get enough of the taste that they grew up onrdquoThe couple is surprised at their transformation Previously while both cooked occasionally they werenrsquot passionate about it ldquoMy mother and my motherinlaw can hardly believe their eyes when they see me cooking in Khanavalrsquos kitchen now I barely ever entered the kitchen in my own homerdquo Soley laughsKhanaval is now a place where locals and travellers from around the globe congregate It endures as a sanctuary a testament to the unifying power of food ldquoLadakh beckons adventurers from all walks of life and we aim to offer a slice of home to everyonerdquo Dalvi concludes