Home Chefs Of Mumbai - Part 13 – Shanti Petiwala

Sometimes food can be boring if we have to eat the same thing day-in, day-out. Everybody likes change and being creative in the kitchen is the best adventure one can have. You don’t need any talent to think out of box, you just need imagination and courage to try something new.

Have you tried sea food with pork? Or served mince Karela inside the pasta shell and coat it with sour cream? The idea might repel you. Imaginations can turn wild. Sometimes they just stay in our mind, refuse to emerge, but sometimes, you pick up your courage and try something weird.

The creativity sets in.

You start playing with ingredients, whipping them, curdling them, tossing them and the result is strange tasting sauces and dips. Sometimes experiments fail, but a successful one becomes your signature dish. Only you know the trick. You start using un-usual appliances and utensils for cooking, bake a soup with a loaf of bread in an egg shell, prepare spicy utappam in a waffle maker, or make seafood pies in muffin cones. The ideas are endless, some silly, some weird. But you are excused if you are able to conceptualise at least one original recipe of your own.

Creativity is having fun with intelligence.

And I love food creations of Shanti Petiwala.

Shanti Petiwala wears many hats. She is writer, editor, home cook, culinary blogger. Riot of Flavours is her canvas, and she celebrates food in all its glory. Food is very personal to her, so every dish that she cooks is made as though she would eat it all by herself.

On a regular basis, she shuttles between Mumbai and Dubai, writer and editor for business magazine in Dubai and home chef in Mumbai. The lockdown has kept her rooted inside her home and she is having the best of the time, planning, prepping and delivering meals since past two months.

Shanti specialises in home cooked Bohri food, Chitrapur Saraswat food and many of her own creative dishes.

Tomato Saar and Bhindi Bhaji, are the earliest memories of good food she remembers that was prepared by her mom, and continues to be her favourite.

She talks about many ‘first time’ memories of food

“The first time I had a real Italian pizza was in Verona. It was a mushroom pizza and it ruined all pizzas for me thereafter, after that no other pizza I had ever came close.”

She fondly remembers Surnoli, a sweet Indian pancake, known to be Saraswat Brahmin dish, it has puffy textures with holes and is traditionally eaten for breakfast “I vividly remember where I was and how amazed I was the first time I ate this Konkani sweet Dosa preparation way back in 2000.”

Being creative in kitchen, she loves to experiment with different ingredients. In one of her experiments, she used eggplant and Labneh (a smooth creamy yoghurt with no whey) and baked this amazing dish.

Shanti is happy to share her recipe of Roasted Eggplant with Labneh and Pistachio

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

2. Cut the 1 large eggplant into two halves, lengthwise.

3. Score them with a knife and rub some salt into them and keep aside.

4. In the meanwhile, in a pan, put in 1 tbsp oil.

5. Add 2 clove garlic (minced) and 1 onion (minced).

6. Mix it well.

7. Once the eggplant releases some water, wash it and pat it dry.

8. Marinate in a little oil and salt (adjust according to taste).

9. Put it into the oven for 20 minutes or till just done but it holds its shape.

10. Scoop out some of the meat from the middle (take care to not tear the skin at the bottom).

11. Cut up the pulp and mix it with the onion-garlic mixture.

12. Stuff the whole mixture back into the eggplant.

13. Put it back into the warm oven. Grill it.

14. Whip 1cup labneh well. Spoon gently over the grilled eggplant.

15. Sprinkle 2tbsp of slivered pistachios and 3tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.

She announces her menu every week and deliver over the weekends.

You can follow her on @riotofflavours for new menu updates Call on her WhatsApp no 9152292940 

Follow her on her Instagram handle @riotofflavours

 

Eggplant is Actually a Purely Vegetarian Brinjal

Yeah..there is no egg in an eggplant........hehehe

When I was writing recipes for my cook book I was always confused what name should I give, In Sindhi we call it Vaagan, in Hindi we call it beyngan,  but to translate it into English was quite challenging, should I write brinjal, eggplant or aubergine?  Or maybe garden egg?  Or madapple?  This fleshy edible fruit/vegetable is known by different names and as many names that it has, that much more versatile it is and it has found its identity in every country around the world.

During my growing up years I have seen mom cook brinjals in variety of ways. Mom was very creative in her cooking. Even if she cooked the same vegetable every day, it was always cooked differently, so if we had deep fried brinjals with dry masalas sprinkle over it one day then it baigan ka barta the next day, sometimes it was used in the mixed bhajji or in Sindhi curry and sometimes cooked with raddish and tomatoes.

I especially liked the brinjal dip that we have with salads. She would use hung curd for this purpose, roast the brinjal over fire, peel and mash it with hung curd, add chilies, garlic, coriander leaves, salt and mix it in the blender.

This is one vegetable that I never made a fuss because I liked its sweetest pulpy taste.

It was when I had gone through a different cooks book that I was surprised to see it being relished all over the world.

I especially like the way Chinese use it in the most innovative way. The brinjals are peeled, sliced and deep fried and then stir fried with other vegetables to produce a beautiful vegetarian dish. The pulp retains its firmness because it is deep fried and Chinese sauces are easily absorbed by this vegetable.

This vegetable is very nutritious and it has healing powers. 

The peel or skin (deep blue/purple varieties) of aubergine has significant amounts of phenolic flavonoid phyto-chemicals called anthocyanins. Scientific studies have shown that these anti-oxidants have potential health effects against cancer, aging, inflammation, and neurological diseases.(source)

However, it is not recommended for pregnant women......

I am always confused when I see several variety of eggplant in the market. There is green long one, then a purple round one, there is one with light purple stripes, then tiny round ones. Oh! There are so many different types that you need to have a recipe in your head before buying them, Its funny how our brain works, as you eyes scan the vegetables, the recipes flips in our mind with each vegetable, helping us decide what we would like to buy and what recipe you are going to use. 

Strange..isn't it?

But while buying I always make sure that they are shiny, plump, firm, unwrinkled and heavy for its size. They should not have any scars or bruises. If I press a bit, it sinks in but it should spring back quickly to its shape.  Its better to cut it with stainless steel knife because carbon steel causes it to turn black.

I normally cut it and salt it for some time, wash and pat dry before cooking.

This week I made brinjal pickle. This is a very easy recipe and very tasty, It can keep for a week in the fridge and can be enjoyed with all meals. I have with khichri, puri, bakri roti or even just for time-pass.

Step one

I picked up one kilo of small round dark purple brinjals from market. Slit them lengthwise and boiled them in salty water till they were soft.  Discarded the water. (don't want that bitter, salty water with floating nutrients)

Step two

Grind 50 grams of garlic, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp crushed mustard seeds, 1 tsp red chilie powder, 1 tsp salt, 50 grams dried red chilies into a smooth paste

Step three

In a sterilized jar, transfer the boiled brinjals, add the paste, add four glasses of water and 1 tbsp of oil. (you are drooling, right? I am too)

Step four

Cover it air-tight and keep it for two days, stirring occasionally, whenever you pass by the jar. Its like saying “hello, you okay?”  As you shake its tummy..er..I mean jar….

After two-three days you will see the color of the pickle change and oil begins to float. Take a spoonful to taste.

If it is spicy, sour and tasty, it’s ready to eat. To boost your ego, share it with friends………