Payasam To Alu Watti: What Will FDA's Tukaram Mundhe Taste If He Walks Into GSB Ganpati Mahaprasad?

News cities mumbai-news Payasam To Alu Watti: What Will FDA's Tukaram Mundhe Taste If He Walks Into GSB Ganpati Mahaprasad?

Last Updated:September 10, 2026, 16:04 IST

As Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe's crackdown widens to festival kitchens, here's what a surprise visit to GSB Wadala's 25,000-plate Mahaprasad might turn up.

If Maharashtra FDA’s inspectors show up unannounced at GSB Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal in Wadala this Ganeshotsav, they’ll walk into one of Mumbai’s biggest community kitchens, one dishing out traditional South Indian Mahaprasad to nearly 25,000 devotees a day, cooked by specialist acharyas flown in from Karnataka.

The timing is notable. The FDA has rolled out a ‘Festival Enforcement Calendar‘ this year, widening food-safety scrutiny beyond restaurants to bhandaras, langars and Mahaprasads, a move that comes days after the regulator suspended licences of three food outlets at ISKCON Juhu over hygiene violations. GSB Wadala says it’s unfazed and ready to open its kitchen.

A Tale Of Two GSB Mandals This Ganeshotsav

While Mumbai’s richest Ganesh mandal, the GSB Seva Mandal at King’s Circle, is making headlines this year for a record Rs 703.27 crore insurance cover on an idol adorned with over 66 kg of gold and 335 kg of silver, its community counterpart in Wadala is drawing attention for a very different reason: what’s actually cooking in its kitchen.

The two are separate GSB mandals with separate leadership, but together they capture the two faces of this year’s Ganeshotsav, one measured in crores, the other in the number of plates served.

What’s Actually On The Mahaprasad Menu?

According to mandal chairman Anant Pai, who spoke exclusively to mid-day.com, the menu is simple, traditional and unapologetically South Indian, with rotating vegetable preparations so devotees don’t get the same sabji twice across the 12-day festival. The daily spread includes:

• Dal-rice

• Rasam

• Two vegetable sabjis (rotated daily)

• Idli

• Vada

• Sambar

• Chutney

• Dosa

What Would Foodies Specifically Want To Try?

Two dishes stand out as the mandal’s edible showstoppers. Payasam and Kesarbhaat cover the sweet end, described by Pai as community favourites.

On the savoury side, Alu Watti, made from Colocasia leaves, is the labour-intensive star: it takes long enough to prepare that the kitchen makes it only two or three times across the entire festival.

Mooga Ghashi, a coconut-based sprouted mung gravy, rounds out the spread. The standout dishes to look out for:

• Payasam — sweet, traditional, a community favourite

• Kesarbhaat — saffron-flavoured sweet rice, equally popular

• Alu Watti — Colocasia leaf preparation, time-intensive, served only 2-3 times during the festival

• Mooga Ghashi — sprouted mung bean in coconut-based gravy

How Big Is This Operation, Really?

Big enough that a surprise FDA visit would find a small industrial kitchen at work. Pai told mid-day.com that 60 to 70 cooks work around the clock across breakfast, lunch and dinner shifts to feed 22,000 to 25,000 people daily.

He said the mandal has run on the same tested protocols “for ages," tweaking processes only when new regulations require it, and insists there’s no compromise on food safety.

“GSB Ganeshotsav’s pattern has been very traditional and so defined. We don’t compromise on anything ever," Pai said.

Why Is FDA Watching Festival Kitchens More Closely This Year?

The scrutiny isn’t limited to GSB Wadala or even to Ganeshotsav mandals broadly. The Maharashtra FDA’s new Festival Enforcement Calendar identifies high-risk food products and possible adulterants across religious and community food events throughout the year, and this time explicitly brings Mahaprasads, bhandaras, langars and annachhatras under the same scrutiny previously reserved mostly for commercial food establishments.

The trigger appears to be recent enforcement action elsewhere: on September 8, the FDA suspended the licences of three food establishments operating at ISKCON’s Juhu premises after inspections reportedly found serious hygiene and food-safety violations. That action has put large-scale community kitchens on notice ahead of the festival season.

Will GSB Wadala Actually Let FDA Inspectors Take Samples?

Yes, without resistance, according to Pai. “If FDA ever wants to take our cooking samples or food samples, we will definitely follow the rules and give our samples to the FDA whenever it is required. It’s not an issue at all," he told mid-day.com.

He added that while the mandal’s core protocols remain fixed, it does make “a lot of additions and changes to a few processes" whenever new regulations require it.

What Does This Mean For Mumbai’s Ganeshotsav Foodies?

For devotees and food enthusiasts alike, GSB Wadala’s Mahaprasad remains one of the city’s most reliable festival food experiences, a menu built on decades of consistency rather than reinvention, run by cooks brought in specifically for the occasion.

And with the mandal openly welcoming FDA oversight rather than resisting it, this year’s 12-day celebration is shaping up to be as much a test of trust in traditional community kitchens as it is a showcase of devotional cuisine.

Whether Tukaram’s team shows up with a checklist or not, the Payasam, Alu Watti and Mooga Ghashi are likely to keep drawing the crowds regardless, even as Mumbai’s other GSB mandal grabs the spotlight this year for a very different kind of extravagance.

About the Author

Sumedha Kirti

Sumedha Kirti is a Chief Sub Editor with over eight years of experience — both at the desk and reporting. She is a graduate from Delhi University's Miranda House. Kirti has previously worked with news...Read More

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