Traditional Cake Mixing Ceremony In Mumbai

When I got an invitation for cake mixing event, I didn’t know what to expect. I accepted it out of curiosity.

I was surprised to see many chefs, hotel guests and food bloggers at the pool area of courtyard by Marriott.

A huge table was set with 80kgs assortments of dry fruits like Golden Raisin, Dry Figs, Dry Apricots, Pistachio, Almonds, Cashew Nuts, Back Currants, Candied peel, Candied Cherries, tutti-frutti, etc, surrounded with bottles of hard liquor that included Beer, Red Wine, White Wine, Brandy, whisky and Rum. On another table there was a large bowl of mixture of ground spices like Cinnamon, Cardamom, aniseed.

While we waited for the ceremony to begin, Executive Sous Chef,  Amit Dash, told us that it is the ritual followed all over the world and is said to be a harbinger of good luck. Originally a family affair, it is celebrated with much joy and happiness. This ceremony dates back to 17^th century in Europe; it marked the arrival of the harvest season. During this time all the fruits were harvested and used in making of the traditional plum cake.

We were handed apron, gloves and cap and then led to the table. All of us stood around the table and began mixing the fruit. The big bowl of dry spices were added and mixed. Two bottles of fruit jam was added to it. The fun part of the ceremony was pouring the hard drinks over the mixture.

The plastic lining containing the fruit mixture was lifted off the table and the mixing continued. Sweet fragrance of spices, drinks and fruits filled the air. The mixture was then transferred into large bin.

 High tea followed after this ceremony with big range of street food on display. Samosas and Pani Puri was very tempting.

Chef, Amit Dash, informed us that the bin would be covered with an airtight lid and kept for fermentation at room temperature till Christmas. This would be used during baking, taking out the handful of this cake mixture to bake a cake.

He has promised to invite me again when he bakes the cake, using this cake mixture.

Food trail in the narrow lanes of Bohri Mohallah

Every city has their own food specialty to show off, a signature dish that is a must-have-when-you-visit and one must know what to taste and where to find it. Therefore it is wise to follow the food trail with an expert who knows the local people and is able to tell some history behind the food.

I experienced one such food trail this week, my first ever of this kind.

Invitation to foodtrail was hard to resist, it promised and delivered:

Live demos of how tava fries are made come up next – bheja (brains), gurda (kidneys) – ideas on how to cook these at home. Then chicken rolls…Karachi not Kolkata style. And then ‘Burma’ roti. What we call Moghlai Paratha in Kolkata. Martabak in Singapore and Malaysia. From the kitchen we would move down to benches for a ‘sit down’ meal. Plates and pieces of bread will be shared…that’s what community eating is all about The vegetarian option here is fried potatoes… the tava is common though

We then head to the kebab corner and stand by the coals and photograph as our kebabs are barbequed. My favourite, and that of all the folks I connect with, is the khiri (udder) kebabs. We could also try some beef koftas. If you really must then you could ask me to order a fried chicken. Chances are those that love the khiri won’t ask for it. I think they serve some paneer tikkas too. 

Appetisers and anitpastis done we head for the mains. Baara Handis. Slow cooked meat. Cuts of beef and goat.  Alchemised here over a century of cooking perfection. Served with a mix of daal broths cooked over six hours in the simmering handis. Topped with ‘josh’ or the fat that the meat gave out when cooked. They plate it with nihari…the soft marrow…and bits of coriander to give the textural and visual contrast. Many of us feel that this is one of the best meat experiences that we have had in absolute terms with no qualifiers. For cutlery you get huge, freshly tandoored rotis, which once fed armies…today it feeds what Soumik call’ food commandos’. 

To cool down we head for ice creams. Ice creams that are made in the manner it has been for 120 years. A formula which ensures that the cream is omnipresent in this ice cream at least unlike the modern pretenders. If you are a health nut, and if fruits are your thing, then you will be happy to find that not a single bite is not packed with fresh fruits here.

Kalyan Kamarkar has started a food trail and he hopes to do many more, exploring different zones of Mumbai.

His maiden food trail was started through the narrow lanes of Bohri Mohallah and I was only too happy to join his group of eleven persons. He walked so comfortably down the street, as if it were his second home, knowing exactly what to eat and which stall specialized in what kind of food. Over three hours, we walked on cobbled streets, chatting with the owner, stopping at some places for cooking demonstration, and tasting street food at every station, not realizing that we were eating beyond our capacity, so much so that it left us with very little space to squeeze in the last dish of the day…..a delicious ice-cream.

Kababs on fire

the kiri kababs just melted in the mouth, gone in flash

sweet rice

channa wallah made non-veg chana chaat, mixing chana with potatoes, liver, kidney, tamarind and dry masala, a dish to die for if u are hard core non-vegetarian.

The naan cooking in the clay oven (Tandoor), The best way retain its freshness is to fold it twice, this was so crispy that when dung in the gravy, it just melts in the mouth.

Farshan

 Feroz-Farshan guy educated us on the interesting things that he sells in his store. Whoever heard about a biryani without rice? well, he makes Biryani from patra.

Patra bhajiya, I bought some home

so this is the Patrani Biryani

Shabbir chacha who graciously let folks taste all his achars dropping spoonful of achar on our palm. 

chicken rolls fried on Tava

Tava Kidney

Tasted yum with bread

This bakery had egg coated toasts

The food price in this street is low but the taste is very exceptional

The chef coats the skewer with kababs

The kabad roasted on an open flame

Fresh garlic, that I brought it home, stir fried with chillies, added salt and lime and the family enjoyed it.

Mutton biryani, its grain separated, full of flavor of mixed spices and meat and with less oil 

Liver masala

Meat is doused in a mix of daal harisas, which were bubbling for more than 6 hours. He plated with sensuous marrow and meat and served it with the fresh roti taken out from tandoor, folded twice to maintain its crispness.

Chacha says he is the last of his clan who will do this food business like this, the younger generation will not continue, since they are educated and have different goals in life.

Finally at ice-cream hub where we went behind the shop to get little gyan on ice-cream making and then had a lovely chat with other companions over the cups of different flavors of natural ice-creams while Kalyan updated us on all the info behind the walks. It was nice meeting all the interesting people and specially kainaz (Kalyan's spouse) who made sure that everybody was comfortable and was having a good time.

Celebrating Mumbai Food Bloggers' Day

So now it’s official. November 6^th is declared as ‘Mumbai Food Blogger Day’. I am not sure what we will do on this day next year, or the year there after, but this year is celebrated by getting together at Khana Khazana studio to share the food knowledge with Sanjeev Kapoor at his Dhalia Estate at Versova.

Most of the Mumbai food blogger I know are through social media, and I do meet them regularly online, sharing thoughts and ideas, but meeting personally is a different experience. There is so much excitement and happiness around, each one is anxious to share their food experience. Some of them are great cooks, some good food-photographers, some good food critics and some just enjoy eating food. Just listening to their conversation, reveals  new strands of knowledge I often pick up to taste. This was a special meet, during this meet, all eyes are focused on Sanjeev, because we were to learn from experienced chef who has come a long way.

While sipping coffee, I look around the FoodFoodStudio that has interesting stuff. My thoughts begin to run. Maybe, I need this pasta machine, maybe, I too could set my kitchen shelf like this, I don’t like this color of the wall, brick ethnic look is not my taste, I would do this arrangement differently, various such thoughts float into visual arena of my mind while I survey each section.

The cooking station is all set with the ingredients that are required during the cooking session. There are serving plates and great variety of glasses of different shapes and sizes. Two bloggers volunteer to cook Rissotto and other two bloggers volunteer to cook stuffed Gahlawat kababs. All the ingredients are there, neatly placed in small bowl, the resulting dish would depend upon the creativity used by each blogger.

“Cooking is all about having fun with ingredients, one must just know the science of cooking” says Sanjeev Kapoor and thus begins the long chat by Sanjeev K, while the food bloggers are busy creating a dish.

It is an informative discussion.

 Did you know that salt, not the sugar, is the real cause of diabetes? I didn’t know. We can take care of our diet if we know the ingredients and their context during cooking. We normally associate ingredients with the dish, for example, we associate saffron with sweet dish, bay leaves with Biryani, It is important to know each ingredient by itself, remember its’ basic taste, and know its reaction during cooking. Except for salt, sugar, water and chilies (which has to be just right) all other ingredients can manipulated. Experimenting with ingredients brings in new taste.  If the dish goes wrong, don’t admit it, present as a new dish. Smart cooking is not about cooking complicated dishes, but it is about cooking with the first instinct that comes with the visual taste and doing the unexpected. It is easy to blend into the crowd, but to stand out, one has to do unexpected. You may be average cook but the most important part of your cooking is your presentation of the finished dish.

The kitchen begin to come alive with aroma distracting me from this conversation, and I look behind to see Harsha tossing the mushrooms in a pan. The Rissotto is served in the dish and she tosses the mushrooms on the rice and garnishes it with herbs.

Gahlawat kababs are ready too. They are stuffed with dry fruits. The green chutney looks yum!

But wait…..its time for presentation and surprises.

Sanjeev K walks behind the cooking station and bring out puffed puris. I watch in wonder, while he stuffs the puris with Risotto and places it on the top of tiny glass filled with tomato and mint soup (cooked earlier). How do you eat that? Simple.  a bite into the puri and a sip of tomato soup.

Innovative creation!

Next he prepares the buttermilk, adds mint and squeezes lime. Hmmn,! an experiment perhaps? He pours again into tiny glasses and covers it with the puri stuffed with Gahlawat kabab. This is new for me. Reluctantly, I stretch my hand to try the buttermilk mixed with squeezed lime.

It tastes good.

I am surprised.

The mood is set. I am now interested in what next he has up his sleeve?

He melts the chocolates in micro-oven, beats it and mixes it with cream. In another bowl, he mashes the motichoor laddoos, and mixes with the chocolate cream mixture. The mixture acquires a different texture of glossy brown pearls. In goes this mixture into another puri to be placed on another tiny glass containing the milkshake made from chocolates, coffee, milk and Vanilla ice-cream.

Stomach begins to growl.

Feasting the eyes is not enough, taste I must. Actually I am hungry. I take small bite and wait till the photo session ends.

image by: Sanjeev Kapoor

It is time to splurge on feast. The table is dressed with Thali Peeth with Kharda (chutney), American corn sevpuri, Tikka pita paneer, Tikka pita Chicken as starters. For Mains its Khullad Briyani (vegetarian and non-vegetarian) Mirchi ka sallan, Lulla Mussa Dhal with brown rice and for dessert there is Jamun Bappa Doi and Motichoor Golgappa expresso.

Goodbyes are made with impressive take-away gift that includes on ornamental diya, a jar of Pineapple and Raisin chutney and a personalized Rissotto recipe written in gold on a velvet frame.

A gentle note to PR if they reading this: 

Food bloggers are the group of people who have passion for food and writing, They love to write about food and share their experiences. They are NOT freeloader who are looking for free meals or for food discounts to promote your brand. Please do not appraoch them with a nice juicy carrot, asking them to review, invite them if you must, but only if you appreciate their love for food and understand their passion for writing.

Mumbai Food Bloggers Potluck Treat

It was a potluck party with a difference. All the food bloggers were invited by Rushina at her APB cook studio

I got interested to go for this meet-up chiefly because it had been quite some time since I had interacted with other food bloggers.

Also I was curious to see the newly opened APB CookStudio that I was following since many days on FB with series of cooking events conducted at regular intervals.

And this get together was to meet Alan D’mello and Aditya of Street Smart Organization.

Reaching this place was quite frustrating, especially since I was going for the first time and I had to find my way through traffic jam, with no clear cut landmarks.  The Google maps were of no help. After many U-turns and wrong turns, I finally reached the venue passing through the dirt path into a small lane behind the main road at Chandivili.

Once I reached the ABP Cook Studio, I was transported into a new world, surrounded by pantries containing exotic sauces, several cook stations placed side by side, ovens, fridges, and the shelves containing cook-books and kitchen accessories, the mouth-watering aroma of food hung in the air.

One by one, we tasted the dishes as were presented by the food bloggers, a five course meal, starting with soup, snacks, drinks, main dishes and followed by desserts.

Towards the end of the session, Alan D’Mello and Aditya spoke about Street Smart, a non-profit organization for supporting the street children. The restaurants that are partnered with this cause places a card with al logo of sweet smart at the dining table, that  indicates  a small percentage of the food bill is siphoned out to support children and elderly to lead a better life. This is very successful venture in London and has improved the lives of the street children; it is recently introduced in the metropolitan cities of India and hoping to spread awareness of this cause amongst diners and hoteliers.

It was a wonderful evening, I was happy to share my Mirchi Bhajiya (Chili Fritters) soaked in imli (tamarind) sauce and it gave me immense pleasure when friends took extra helpings and relished it. This is a typical Sindhi cuisine, served as a snack.

Chili Fritters in Tamarind Sauce.

Ingredient:

200gms tamarind

4tbsp sugar

1tbsp cumin powder

1tbsp red chili powder

2tbsp chopped coriander leaves.

200gms gram flour

1 pinch Soda bicarbonate

200gms large green chilies

1tbsp Mango powder

Method

Step One

Make the tamarind sauce by soaking tamarind for one hour. Squeeze out the pulp, add sugar, salt, cumin seeds powder, red chili powder and coriander leaves. Keep it aside

Step two

Make the gram flour batter by adding water to gram flour, just enough to make it a pouring consistency, add salt, soda bicarbonate and red chili powder. Keep it aside

Step three

Slit and boil the chilies, remove the seeds.

Step four

Stuff the chilies with mango powder, salt and red chilies

Step five

Dip the marinated chilies in the gram flour batter (step 2) and deep fry the fritters.

Step six

Transfer the fried chili fritters into the tamarind water (step one), soak it for 2 minutes

Step seven

Arrange it in the serving dish and Serve it cold.

DimSum at ChurchGate Station

Large crowd of people pass through Churchgate station at all hours of the day. During the peak hours, there is just enough space to walk in the same lane where the crowd is moving, it is not possible to stand or even to bend down to scratch your knee. However there are quite a few kiosks tucked on the side of the passage that sell fast food like Frankie, Batatawadas, samosas, puri bhajji and other fried stuff and there is also one tiny room that sells Dim sum, fried rice, noodles and some delicious soup.

Many years ago, on my visit to Cantonese restaurant in Hongkong, I was highly impressed by a waitress, who carted around from table to table with assorted dim sum, and we had the freedom to select our preference, and take as many as we wanted. “How do they bill us?” I had asked my cousin and she told me she counted the plates on my table and charged according to the size and the number of the plates. I will never forget that evening when I had the tastiest dim sums of different fillings that ranged from stir fried vegetables to minced meat, fish, pork, chicken and many other variety, that was the first time that I had ever tasted something so slimy that melted in my mouth leaving behind the delicious taste.

Image source

"Originally a Cantonese custom, dim sum is inextricably linked to the Chinese tradition of "yum cha" or drinking tea. Teahouses sprung up to accommodate weary travelers journeying along the famous Silk Road. Rural farmers, exhausted after long hours working in the fields, would also head to the local teahouse for an afternoon of tea and relaxing conversation.

 Still, it took several centuries for the culinary art of dim sum to develop. At one time it was considered inappropriate to combine tea with food: a famous 3rd century Imperial physician claimed this would lead to excessive weight gain. As tea's ability to aid in digestion and cleanse the palate became known, tea house proprietors began adding a variety of snacks, and the tradition of dim sum was born." (Source)

In Mumbai, people have developed taste for this dish mainly because it is nutritious and it is steamed. Many stalls just specializing in dim sum have sprung up in different parts of Mumbai, so it’s no surprise that there is one at Churchgate station too.

What attracts you is the sign outside the restaurant that says Dim Sum and more. Many people stop by the little window and pack the steamed Dimsum with garlic sauce for their long train journey, but for those who decide to eat inside the tiny room, there are high bar stools and tables where one can comfortably dine. It’s a tiny room which can seat just 10 persons, shoulder to shoulder and if you are lucky to find a seat, then it’s worth it, because you can sit and enjoy the hot delicious Chinese meal which is cooked in small portions just for you.

The menu card has limited dishes but they are worth it. At Rs50 a plate of 6 pieces of Dimsum and Rs28 for a bowl of soup, it makes a fair bargain. The place is quite clean and food quite satisfying.