By 4:30 in the morning, when most are still asleep, Prakash Bharati has already lit his wood-fired stove. By the time the sun rises over Rashin village in Karjat taluka of Ahilyanagar district, the mutton is slow-cooking in large pots, a deep red curry beginning to bubble. In a few hours, hundreds of people will queue up, some having driven 20 kilometres, some much more, just to eat a plate of it.But this isn’t a restaurant. There are no walls, no air-conditioning, no menu cards. Just a makeshift tent near a weekly livestock market, and mutton that has been cooked the same way for over six decades. Welcome to Rashin’s Palatla Mutton, one of Maharashtra’s most unusual food traditions.What is a Pala?The word Pala refers to the temporary tent-like shelters set up inside Rashin’s livestock market every Tuesday, the village’s designated weekly market day. The stalls open around 7:30 am and wind down by noon.The tradition began not as a food destination, but as a practical solution. Farmers and livestock traders who travelled to Rashin’s market needed a meal, and they usually carried bhakri (millet flatbread) from home. The Pala owners originally offered hot vegetable curries to go with it. “We started this service in 1992. I’m a third-generation owner now,” says Ganesh Kshirsagar, who runs a Pala at the Rashin livestock market. “The concept was to offer fresh, hot vegetable curry to farmers and traders visiting the market, as they used to bring bhakri from their homes. Gradually, demand increased, and we expanded the menu – fish, chicken, and mutton. But since mutton was most preferred, we eventually kept only that.”The Pala culture is older than Kshirsagar’s own family business. Shekhar Surwase, who runs the Annapurna hotel near Rashin’s ST stand, traces his family’s Pala back to 1962. “We had a Pala at the old livestock market since then,” he says, “but slowly realised some customers were uncomfortable with the open tent setup. So we started a hotel offering the same authentic mutton.”Taste of rural MaharashtraFor around Rs 250, the mutton thali comes with Tambda Rassa, a red-hot mutton curry, a mild yellowish mutton soup, dry mutton prepared with home-made spices, and freshly made Bajri Bhakri, the thick millet flatbreads.What makes it distinct is not the secret recipe alone, but the method. “Unlike in several hotels where the gravy is already prepared, and mutton is partially cooked and then finished as per the orders, we cook freshly sourced meat along with the curry, so it gives a much richer taste,” says Kshirsagar.Story continues below this adThe wood-fired chulha is non-negotiable. The slow cooking, often over several hours, makes the meat tender in a way that a pressure cooker or gas flame simply cannot replicate. “Even during the recent gas crunch amid the Middle-East conflict, we were not affected at all, since everything is cooked on woodfire stoves,” says Kshirsagar.Vitthal Kangude, another Pala owner, said, “It is hard work in scorching heat, preparing around 50 to 60 kilograms of mutton on wood-fire stoves. But there is no compromise on quality; spices are home-made. And even when mutton rates go up in the market, we don’t raise the thali price as our main customers are farmers.”Farmers to touristsFor decades, Rashin’s Tuesday mutton was a local secret, known to farmers across Karjat taluka, to traders who came for the livestock market, and to villagers from nearby areas. That has expanded to Lonand, Pathardi, and other areas, and changed rapidly in the last few years.“With Instagram reels, YouTube, and Facebook videos, the reach is increasing,” says Sunil Surwase, a Pala owner who has been running his business for over three decades. “Footfall is increasing and no longer limited to farmers and traders. There’s a waiting line of around 30 to 40 minutes. People from as far as Baramati and other areas visit, especially every Tuesday. Winter months see much more footfall than summer; on average, 500-plus people visit our Pala every Tuesday.”Story continues below this adRamesh Kale, a businessman from Baradgaon Sudrik, has been making the 20-kilometre trip every Tuesday for years. “It is so rich in taste that no hotel nearby can offer such a delicacy,” he says. “Everything is prepared before your eyes, freshly served, like home food. No taste enhancers, no prohibited additives. It digests well, and it is affordable.”From two to three Palas when the tradition took its current form, the count has now grown to six, and over ten hotels in and around the village now serve Pala-style mutton throughout the week.Part of Rashin’s growing popularity is geographic. The village sits at the border of Solapur, Pune, and Ahilyanagar districts, a location that gives it natural access to a large catchment of visitors. “Rashin, being located at the border of three districts, is developing rapidly, and so is our business, which runs throughout the year,” says Shekhar.The food economy has also created ripple effects. “The growing demand has been creating livelihood opportunities for many,” notes Kangude. “Several women from the village now earn a side income alongside farming, mostly from making bhakris for the Palas.”Uncertain futureDespite the booming demand, not everyone is certain the tradition will survive another generation. “It is very laborious work,” says Bharati. “My children today are more interested in IT and other jobs. And I’m unsure whether the next generation will take the business forward.”Story continues below this adIt is a tension familiar across rural Maharashtra: traditions that took generations to build, now facing the pull of urban migration and changing aspirations.