Mumbai’s local culture has drawn tourists for long and while heritage walks are already popular, for the past few years there has been a growing interest in a range of food tours. With the aim of giving tourists a taste of local flavours, walking tour takes them through the Lalbaug spice market, where they can witness the process of roasting and grinding of spices.

During the tour, tourists are taken through the colourful spice market, the vegetable market, Chivda Galli and a fish market.

There is a growing popularity of food tours.  After the walk through the market, they are taken to the homes of residents where they learn the use and significance of spices and also help in cooking some of the dishes on the menu. Residents prepare a few dishes for them while explaining the use of spices in the dish. The menu can range from daal vada, bread pakoda, sambar, dosa to lemon rice and coconut rice. The residents cook in front of them while explaining the recipe and answer questions, too. It is a three-four-hour long interactive session, where tourists can ask questions, learn to cook and make some dosas on their own.
 

There are a lot of questions about the local vendors from the curious tourists. At Lalbaug, you will see spices being pounded fresh into masalas, and no tour is complete without a sneeze.

The state government is all set to protect the famous 154-year-old Alappuzha Gujarati street under Alappuzha Heritage Tourism Project. To preserve the Gujarati street in its original look and attract all the tourists coming to Alappuzha to this street, the finance minister has started the steps for the execution of this project.

In the first phase of the project, as many as 40 buildings in the Gujarati street in Alappuzha will be preserved and protected. In the second phase, the worship places and memorials in the street will be protected in its original shape. Gujarati heritage museum and Gandi museum will be set up as part of this. Traditional style foot path to the street from the roads connecting the street to the town's roads. Information counters will be constructed, along with the shops that will supply Gujarati foods, Kerala foods and Kerala and Gujarati articles.

The ground works for the project have started. People, who have watched the Malayalam's evergreen superhit movie `Vietnam Colony' cannot forget Alappuzha Gujarati Street. This street was the Vietnam Colony in the film that was released in 1992.

It was around 154 years ago, the Gujaratis, who had settled in Alappuzha during the reign of Diwan of erstwhile Travancore Raja Kesavadas, kicked off a school for their community at the Gujarati Street of Alappuzha.