Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part24- Lynn and Jehan Hilloowalla

When we walk down our memory lanes, we encounter many incidents in our life and we ask ourself whether we really did that? 

For instance, we would neatly cut out the recipes from newspapers, file them and save it under our mattress. We would buy women’s magazine just to read few recipes and try them at home. We were star crazy and would get excited when we read about our favourite Bollywood stars and their eating habits. We would be thrilled to read that Rajesh Khanna always ended his dinner with Paan and would personally go to buy at Turner road in Bandra. That Sharmila Tagore liked to cook Bengali food but gorged on mashed potatoes, Salmon and fresh Cucumber.

Today, we hardly ever need to read everything in print, we can peep into everybody’s kitchen through Instagram windows. We giggled a bit when we saw Katrina Kaif’s meal that she cooked with her sister but couldn’t tell what it was. We watched Nina Gupta turn roti into sizzling pizza. Then there was Shilpa Shetty taking her son to kitchen garden and dancing away with the harvest of eggplants.

During lockdown, we have seen our film-stars cook up storm, some are baking, some are cooking and some are creating kitchen disasters. But its okay, Rotis does not always have to be in a perfect circle. They are just foodies, not gourmet cooks who will pay special attention to using fresh herbs and freshly chopped garlic. When they look into the kitchen cabinets they wonder why are there so many different shapes and sizes of knives (knife is only for chopping , right?). They compromise with a simple dhal and rice, a vegetable maybe, or bake a cookie, everything that is easy to cook. Follow a recipe from U-tube or simply ask a friend.

But, there are special treats for all. Even for those who have opted for gourmet food, specially the best cured smoked food that Jehan and Lynn Hilloowala cooks, the super bakes that makes you drool.

Lynn and Jehan Hilloowala (of Smoke by the Sea fame)  work in partnership and both are not professional chefs. Jehan runs a corporate training firm and Lynn works with contemporary art. They have passion for food from all around the world and love to cook. Jehan started smoking and curing meats and cheese a few years ago and started distributing to close family and friends. It was well appreciated.

They specialise in gourmet smoked foods  and  cured meats. 

They do smoked hams, burgers, whole roast chicken, Sous-vide Tenderloin steak, pork ribs as well as smoked cheese and nuts and a lot more! They also have weekly Parsi cuisine. They use a unique blend of wood and hot ovens and cold smokers for maximum smokey deliciousness and depth of flavours.

Lynn grew up eating South East Asian food  and lived in London in her twenties. 

“I loved shopping at farmers markets  a good Sunday roast at the local pub or Sushi and authentic Chinese food, good quality ingredients and simple uncomplicated cooking was the first taste of good food.” She says

Jehan has always loved eating well. “About 10 years ago I had good steak done medium rare , till then I was blissfully eating overcooked meat and not knowing what I was missing out on. On our honeymoon we traveled to remote  Papua and ate freshest fish: Carp and Lobster grilled on open fires with barely any seasoning and  it was possibly the best thing We have ever had!”  

Scones and fresh clotted cream with raspberry jam from Devon is the unforgettable food that Jahan enjoyed and still craves for it, while Rock oysters or Sea urchin (Uni) is Lynn’s favourite.

They are happy to share the recipe of Buttermilk Fried Chicken. 

1. Put chicken pieces in a salt water  brine overnight. 

2. Take pieces out and lightly rinse them. 

3. Soak in buttermilk and leave for another 8 hours. 

4. Make your  batter: flour, crushed garlic, thyme, and smoked paprika or some by the Sea smoked chilli powder, Sea salt and a pinch of baking powder 

5. Take pieces out and roll in batter and deep fry till golden brown.  

6. Serve hot with a squeeze of lemon

Call or WhatsApp at 98201 35406. 

Follow them on Instagram @smokebysea 

Website link www.smokebythesea.com