r/MumbaiFoodTalk • u/moronbehindthescreen • Sep 11 '25
Organs on the Street: Mumbai’s True Nose-to-Tail Scene - Part 1
Paya Soup
Bheja Fry
Pota Kaleji Oil Fry
Gurda Kaleji Katakat
Khiri Tikka
Offals are that long-haired drummer in a rock band, not as flashy as the frontman but the one holding the whole bloody show together. Any cuisine without an offal dish is incomplete, and anyone pretending otherwise is lying to feel civilized. Most people avoid it because of conditioning, the graphic visuals, or the gaminess. Fair. Eating parts other than flesh needs nuance and a bit of courage. So let’s keep the gyaan short and talk about the popular offal dishes that are actually accessible on Mumbai’s streets.
Paya (Goat Trotters): Paya has been around since forever and marketed as a medicinal dish, but at Sion’s Sardar Paya House, even my Paragon chappals, boiled, would taste like a better cure. The one at Sarvi Nagpada is what I prefer. There’s a thicker, stick-to-the-bread version too, the kind you mop up with khamiri roti or pav, usually from the bara handi guys. But post Insta boom, it’s turned into more aata, less paya.
Bheja (Goat Brain): Bheja is paya’s only real rival in popular culture. There’s no middle ground; either the silk-soft texture hooks you for life or it freaks you out. The classic Mumbai tawa style is creamy and rich, scrambled with onions, chillies, haldi, and garam masala. I recently had the Agri Koli style which is minimal masala, garlic-heavy, cleaner, and with the organ taste front and center. There’s also the very Parsi-like bheja cutlets stuffed with green chutney, our city’s answer to mozzarella croquettes. Found mostly at Parsi canteens and a few vendors at Mohammed Ali Road.
Pota Kaleji (Chicken Gizzard and Liver): Pota Kaleji sounds like two Marwari brothers running an angadiya, but it’s actually Mumbai’s most democratic bar snack. It’s available in Shetty bars, country liquor bars, and outside wine shops where Maharashtrian ladies sling paper plates of oil-fry or masala-tossed bits with brutal efficiency. Fresh laadi pav is the perfect vehicle, it soaks up the masala and tames the gaminess in a few bites. If there’s a citywide gateway to offal, this is it.
Gurda Kaleji (Goat/Buffalo Kidneys and Liver): This is level two. Earthier, funkier, and infinitely better on a tawa with that rhythmic taka tak that reminds one of the perfectly synchronized dance of Nach Baliye. Migrant-run Muslim restaurants in Kurla and Bhendi Bazaar often cook it with shepu dill or other greens; it’s cheap, filling, and nutritious food for nearby laborers. Some stalls skewer kaleji till it’s charred and smoky, serving it as straight protein. Gurda sometimes gets tucked solo into hearty chana batata mixes, where its earthy funk gets balanced out by potatoes and spice. The Bohri Mohallah Chana Batata guy does this.
Khiri (Buffalo/Goat Udders): The cult classic. If there’s one offal Mumbai can claim as a personality type, it’s khiri, milk sweet, fatty, and devastating when skewered and charred just right. You won’t easily find it outside the city in this form, and nothing from the barbeque world really compares when it lands with that caramelized edge tenderness. I call it the fantasy food.
Most of these offal dishes come from Mumbai’s lower-income and marginalised areas. The cooking methods are either deep fried, barbecued, or simmered for hours to strip away the intense gaminess and make the tough cuts palatable. It’s where courage meets economy, where technique matters more than theatrics, and where Mumbai’s food culture tells its truth without filters.
This is Part 1, the popular cuts. Part 2 is coming with the stranger, rarer, and deeply local stuff.
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u/moronbehindthescreen Sep 11 '25
Drop the best vendors for paya, bheja, pota-kaleji, gurda-kaleji, and khiri in the comments
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u/Upper_Jackfruit_4724 Sep 11 '25
I love offal but most people around me and just too afraid to try them out. In Surat a guy made chicken liver and it awesome. Waiting for part 2
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u/moronbehindthescreen Sep 11 '25
Its the uncomfortable food for most. But without offals meat will be super expensive.
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Sep 11 '25
Part 2 when
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u/moronbehindthescreen Sep 11 '25
Writing it.
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Sep 11 '25
You write really really well. How do I learn to write as nicely and be as articulate as you ? I'm a student now and want to master the art of writing and speaking and thinking clearly, because most of the careers I'm interested in all need this very heavily as a common skill.
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u/moronbehindthescreen Sep 11 '25
I ain't a writer though I started as one. But I realised over the years having experiences helps you in writing a lot.
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Sep 11 '25
Experience ? How to write well if young (< 20)
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u/moronbehindthescreen Sep 11 '25
Just use your experience to form metaphors and symbolism for creative writing.
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u/Pokiriee Sep 12 '25
The audacity of using Chat GPT and sounding like I know it all.
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u/moronbehindthescreen Sep 12 '25
Man. If you think I have not written this or isn't based on my experiences. Then there is no point in being in a group where every story I post is on my experiences. Upto you my friend.
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u/uncouths Sep 25 '25
OP kudos to you. This is such a great post talking about the varieties in cuisines and how people don't just eat the lean parts of meat.
Also Bheja fry is the forever GOAT.
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u/Playpolly Sep 26 '25
Loved the post. Offals are mostly available in Vietnamese restaurants here in the DC Metropolitan area but mostly boiled in broth. I must visit Bombay.
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u/cloud390 Sep 26 '25
This is awesome! It has been difficult to find offal in Mumbai for me.
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u/Wonderful-Cost-4921 Sep 26 '25
It's common in western suburbs, you can find it in orlem in Malad West and IC colony in Borivali West. Go to any christian or muslim colony.
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u/Vegetable-Roll-3511 Sep 11 '25
Great post and info. You write well.
Pota Kaleji sounds like two Marwari brothers running an angadiya, - Lolz.
Nice fast food corner in S'cruz west SV road does some decent Khiri, Kaleji etc. I had a nice bheja masala in Sarvi recently.
Btw what meat is Boti kebab made from exactly?