Mangaluru: Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra is a great cook, who has been hosting a cookery show on her YouTube channel. However, when in Mangaluru, she did not want to miss the chance to relish some of her favourite Mangalorean dishes and the Bollywood Diva yearned for some ‘Pelakaida Gatti’, during a programme organised at TMA Pai Convention Hall on Thursday, September 26.
Pelakaida Gatti is a signature Mangalorean dish- a rice cake with jackfruit as its key ingredient. The rice and jackfruit mixture, sweetened with jaggery is then packed in teak leaves and steamed. The dish is specifically cooked during the monsoons.
However, Shilpa Shetty, who was in the city to unveil ‘woman and child centre’ at KMC Hospital, located near Ambedkar Circle said that she was yearning for the dish. After the inauguration of this new unit, she attended the prize distribution ceremony of a unique contest ‘Wow Mom’ organised by KMC hospital for the pregnant women. When the master of the ceremony (emcee) introduced Shilpa Shetty as ‘daughter of Mangaluru’ and brand ambassador for Tulu Nadu dishes like Pelakaida Gatti, Shilpa Shetty instantly said that someone should serve her some ‘Pelakaida Gatti’.
When the master of the ceremony said that the season of jackfruit was over and hence serving her ‘pelakaida gatti’ was not possible, Shetty said that she would then settle with the ‘Kori-rotti’. The crowd lauded Shetty’s simplicity and connection with the Tulunadu delicacies, despite having been born and brought up in Mumbai.
Shilpa Shetty announced Nafeesa Malik as the winner of the ‘Wow Mom’ competition and Monisha D’Souza as the runner-up. While winner received Rs 75,000 cash prize, the runner up was given Rs 40,000. A total of 350 pregnant women had registered for this contest and 10 women were shortlisted for the final competition. All finalists received prizes worth Rs 3,500.
Sunday is my son’s day
Meanwhile, contestants of ‘Wow Mom’ interacted with Shilpa Shetty on the same occasion. When a woman wanted to know how she strikes a balance in life, keeping the sync between her professional and personal life, Shetty said that one needs to adjust to the changing environment.
“When I go to the sets, I put on the actor-mode in me, but I reach back home, I am a perfect housewife. I strictly reserve my weekends for my family. Sunday is always my son’s day as I reserve all my time to my son only,” she said.
When a woman asked her about her secret for weight loss and fitness, Shilpa said that she had touched 82 kgs during her pregnancy and after her delivery, she reached 58 kgs within four months. “If you are willing to do anything with consistent efforts, you will achieve it,” she said and asked the women to download her fitness app which is available on playstore and subscribe it.
