Lockdown means stay at home, be with self and introspect, and do the unlimited household chores.. Lockdown is also an learning experience for me. It has taught me many things. There have been many obstacles that has kept me on edge. But food has never be a problem at all. It has been available from day one itself. I am not talking about restaurant/hotel foods, not even street food that we love so much but it is about home cooked food. Ingredients were available almost everywhere, some of the shops had even changed their business. The kiosk that sold newspapers or fresh flowers were now selling vegetables. It is demand and supply mantra.
Many people, specially home chefs, have devoted their time in cooking meals and sending it across the city to many families. During this pandemic, with no helpers at home and the family member always hungry, home chefs have been a God-sent angels, their food, cooked with care, hygiene and love is reaching every home.
I am so happy to start this series on 'Home Chefs of Mumbai'. I have been thinking about this for a long time, we have so many talented home chefs in our city of Mumbai and still when we want to order food, we only select a few whom we know personally. Of course friends are always dear and we trust them the most, but I want to dig into the jewels of Mumbai city, the most talented home chefs, whose food is “Must Have, I don't Wish To Miss This” that kind of attitude. And I will be featuring them, their food stories, their recipe and some details with most honesty and sincerely, I promise…..
During my growing up days, I remember, there were always visitors in my house and food was plenty, mainly fried stuff to entertain the guests. Nobody cared about health issues, or the food they could eat or what they should avoid. Everybody cleaned off the plates, relishing good meals and the food was always tasty (or so because everybody enjoyed it) nobody really cared about jotting down the recipes and reproducing the same....a verbal information was shared and people cooked to their own preferences of taste.
Since food was always very tasty in my house (tasty meant spicy till the eyes and nose leaked) which I still enjoy But my first eureka moment ( the taste is still fresh in my memory) was when I was in Hong Kong about a century ago. I was having a sleepless night and I was restless. It was 5am and everybody was fast asleep. I quietly woke up, changed into decent clothes and decided to go for a morning walk. I walked down the streets and hopped into a bus to enjoy the ride..Dawn was slowly creeping in. I alighted the bus at the last stop and there was a big crowd, a small distance away.
That was a street food hawker selling a rice congee that was the most tastiest breakfast I had ever tasted in my life and its taste linger till now. It was a simple bowl of broth garnished with thinly sliced pieces of chicken, pork, fried eggs, spring onions and chiilie sauce. That was the day, I developed my taste for Chinese food....
I am no home chef, but I have great passion for food and I appreciate people who spend time in their kitchen cooking for their family and friends. From the little knowledge that I have about food, I happily share my recipes to the last detail if they enjoy my food.
Like I always say, the taste is not in the list of ingredients that you use, it’s the thought process and the interest that goes into the food to give it a real flavour, being in good mood is the best ingredient for churning out a memorable food. Rest is the normal recipe that you can easily get on social media or on u-tube.
But yes, recipe is also important. I will share a simple recipe that I cooked for me last week
Hara Bhindi Aloo (In english you can call it Okra Potatoes in green Masala) It is cooked regularly in every Sindhi Home. (In Sindhi, this dish is called Sayal Bhindi patata in saoo masalo)
Main taste in the gravy.
1. Grind green masala with 4-5pods of garlic, small bunch of coriander leaves, small bunch of fenugreek leaves, lots of green chilies, 1tsp of turmeric powder, 1tsp of coriander powder.
2. In a pan, use one tbsp of oil/ghee, fry the masala that you had prepared in step i.
3. Add 2 chopped tomatoes, cover and keep on low flame for 5 minutes
4. Mash the tomatoes in the mixture, add 250 gms of Okra and 2 medium sized sliced potatoes
5. Add salt, mix it well add 1cup of water
6. Cover and cook till potatoes are tender.
7. Serve with rice or chappatis.
if you don't like Okra, you can substitute it with cottage cheese or even with fish.
My journey with Home Chef is about to begin.....watch out for my next post......
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