Home Chefs Of Mumbai- Part 40- Smita Verma and Alpana Varma

Pandemic has opened many doors behind the closed doors. 

Social network helped every one to walk virtually in all directions, and so many different avenues have opened up. We have done virtual harvest tour and cook_along with Nancy Silverton sailing through 40 acres of Bledsoc farms watching pistachio harvest, (the tour organised by @foodbloggerai) We walked with @pikturenama and attended the Indonesian food carnival. We have travelled with @rushinamg and explored her stories on spice chronicles. We have visited ethnic kitchens with @historywali to far off rural areas and watched locals cook. We have received deeper knowledge on ingredients from Dr @Kurushdalal, heard food-stories from @thefinelychopped, and many more. The food knowledge during pandemic has been more than we can hold in one plate.

With restaurants receding into dark shadows, home chefs came to rescue, specially for those who had no help at home. The good thing is that the regional cuisines of India have come into focus. Our diet of Pizzas, Hamburgers, French Fries have got replaced with much healthier diet of home-cooked food, more nutritious and tastier. We have finally learnt to appreciate the food that we ate at grandma’s house during our trips in summer holidays. And Gosh! What a variety we have in our country! Same vegetables, same spices, but the cooking methods differ from city to city, region to region, creating plethora of food, tingling our taste buds, craving for more.

Thanks to home chefs, we now have variety of food in Mumbai from all over India, many of them specialising in their own family cuisine. Alpana Verma and Smita are friends who specialise in Bihari Cuisine

After a college reunion in 2016 , Smita and Alpana instantly struck upon the idea of bringing the richness of Bihari food to Mumbai. Both friends have long years of executive grade corporate exposure from HR to Banking and beyond . In 2017 they donned the mantle of 'Self Appointed Ambassadors of Bihar' and have not looked back.

 “By Eureka you mean self discovery. On that note Smita always knew she is a good cook . The pop up cafe initially was my idea and we served 5 course meals from our homes . What set us on this road was the confidence in our Ahuna Mutton Vegetable estews and Rohu Rassedar recipes . They are organic and Bihari in essence.” Says Alpana

Pop up cafes and online delivery have worked like a beauty for them. People from all over Mumbai & Thane have eaten their 50+ types of authentic Behari cuisine . 

“We thank them from the  heart. People from Peddar Road to Bandra, BKC to Thane , Mahim to Powai have eaten our food and every time it’s appreciated” says Smita

 Alpana and Smita specialise in Bihari cuisine and ‘Litti Chokha’ is their signature dish.

Art is another thing they are passionate about, specially Madhubani art from Bihar and now they offer free gifts on order above Rs1000 to all their clients, to make it as popular as Warli art. 

 “The breakfasts from our childhood were fit for kings and remain a cherished memory which we often recreate . We are doing the same for others now. Puri/parautha , Gobi bhujiya , bhuna kaleji, kheer, baingan ka saun maun is there on our menu.” Says Smita

They are happy to share the recipe of Pharul Masala

Pharui masala is a very common evening snack  in Bihar. Its also called Jhal Muri in some parts of Bihar bordering Bengal . It is very easy to make and tasty to eat.

Method

1. Take 2 cups of Pharuhi (also known as Murhi or Kurmure). 

2. Add one medium size finely chopped onions, 2-3 green chillies and half spoon Mirchi achar masala. 

3. Mix all the ingredients. 

4. Add 2tsp Mustard oil and 2-3 spoons of soaked Channa. 

5. Serve crunchy, crispy Pharuhi masala as evening snack

They can be reached on authenticcook.com or on Mytree.com, also on Zomato

Watsapp them at 75440 06053

Follow them at @tbis_thebiharistudio

Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part29 – Purnima Kanojia

Streetfood is the common sight everywhere in the world. 

Everybody will crinkle their nose, shrug shoulders complaining that its unhygienic and unhealthy but still, they all love it. 

Back then, the vendors used to make their rounds in narrow lanes with their Haat ghadi or a heavy basket balanced on their head and would shrill (in a musical tone) to announce their presence. People would speed walk outside their gates (bringing their own plates) and smack on the food which was mainly prepared snack (evening Chaat) that needed only garnishing like sweet and sour chutneys, some mixed masalas, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes (or curds), chillies and coriander leaves and was spicy and tasty.  They had their fixed timings and people would eagerly wait for them.  

Now you find vendors stationed at almost every street corner. They carry water in big (dirty) cans, that they use for rinsing dishes, the food is uncovered, exposed to dust and germs. Different vendor specialise in different chaat like Panipuri/Sevpuri, or Batatawadas/Samosas, or Tava fried exotic Dosas, or Chinese soups/noodles, or  fresh Sugarcane/fruit juices.  

Nevertheless, things are changing a bit (of course) and they are paying attention to hygienic issues too. Panipuri wallah have started wearing gloves, many are using paper plates, there are food courts at the mall, Dabhas at Express highways  have mushroomed everywhere for people making intercity tours and more recently we have seen food-trucks near the promenades/beaches.  

Purnima Kanojia really enjoys food, be it sitting on a car bonnet enjoying Pav Bhaji and Falooda, or travelling intercity and stopping to eat Dal Gatti with gud ka Churma at Jaipur, or Patiala glass Lassi at Punjab, or even Puttu and Kadla curry to Idiyappams in Kerela. 

Purnima Kanojia is adventurous in exploring street foods, both eating and cooking.

Purnima Kanojia (of MyFoodJourney Fame) is Pharma professional with twelve years of industry-experience; she is set all out to make a mark for herself in the culinary world too. She hopes to start a commercial kitchen soon.

Her journey with food started at seven years of age. She discovered the joy of doing a perfectly round roti on a Chulah, (back then it was by fluke). It took years of practice after that to do it perfectly. It was a kind of fun activity she did with her Bhabhi at her Nani’s house in Ghaziabad and it struck a chord.

“Food instills lot of emotion in me. Ever since I have understood the joy of cooking and feeding, its’ novelty has taken me up by surprise every single time.” She says

Purnima Kanojia specialises in Dum Biryani and Indian Cuisine. Anything and everything about food excites her including food photography. Food plating and food styling is another arena she wants to explore.

She believes that if love melts the hearts, Food is it’s glue to join them.

In the past, cooking was a need-based act for her, that included exploring randomly different cuisines. But her food passion took her to another level in October 2019 when she started her blog page _’Myfoodjourney’_, and set out on a trail to explore her talent. 

“My first experience with dishing out Lebanese cuisine was an amazing experience.. It was simply fabulous to realise how flavours and textures enhance your dish. I made Beetroot Fatey in a live, fun-filled cookery show  called ‘Kitchen ka Dangal’ of  Moms’ magic cooking. In this dish, the traditional Pita bread was replaced by Nacho chips from Cornitos. Such amalgamation of flavours, textures, colours in a dish, yet without love nothing taste better. It’s the emotion with which you cook counts and makes your dish stand apart.  I am keen to exploring the world through my taste buds, hence my tagline 'Exploring the zesty flavours of life.” Says Purnima while showing the photographs of her creation.

She is happy to share this recipe of this Lebanese dish called Beetroot Fatteh.

In a classic dish toasted pita bread is used. In this preparation you can replace with Cornitos Sweet chilli nachos. 

1. To prepare seasoned Curd – 

a. Whisk 400 gms Curd till it is creamy

b. Add coarsely ground 2- 3 pods of garlic

c. ¼ teaspoon of  Jeera powder

d. Salt  - ¼ teaspoon

e. Mix all the ingredients well 

2. To prepare seasoned chickpea –

a. Boil 250 gms chickpeas, add salt and cook till soft. 

b. Drain the water add ¼ tsp pepper, salt (a pinch) 

c. Add 1/4 tsp jeera powder 

d. Squeeze l1tsp lemon juice 

e. Mix well

3. Boil 250gms  Beetroot. 

4. Once done, peel, dice.

5. Season with salt, pepper.

6. Saute diced 3 tbsp yellow bell pepper in olive oil. Leave them crunchy

7. To prepare Tahini – 

a. Take 2 table spoon of Sesame seeds. 

b. Dry roast them till slightly brown in colour

c. In a grinding jar, add roasted Sesame seeds, a pinch of salt, and 2 teaspoon of olive oil.

d. Coarsely grind this mixture.

e. Fresh Tahini is ready

8. Now to Assemble the dish – 

a. In a bowl add nacho chips at the bottom

b. Add seasoned chickpea (of step2) 

c. Add seasoned beetroot (of step3)

d. bell pepper, (of step6)

e. 2 tbsps chopped onions

f. Add the seasoned curd mix (of step1)

g. Sprinkle a pinch of Jeera powder

9. Give a Final Nutty finish – 

a. In a small pan, add 1 table spoon of olive oil

b. Warm it, then add 5/6 slivered almonds

c. Put off the flame.

d. Add ¼ teaspoon of Kashmiri chilli powder

e. Immediately pour this over the Fetteh 

f. Drizzle Tahini  (of step7)

g. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander 

Enjoy crunchy, creamy, nutty, flavourful Beetroot fatteh.

Portion size – serves 2 people

Visit her Facebook to read her food stories at MyFoodJourney

Follow her Instahandle at  _my_foodjourney_

Order for Dum Biryani on Watsapp at  96193 13795

 

Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part 28 – Aruna Shetty

Everybody loves to celebrate their birthday. It is a day of pampering, a day to enjoy, a day to make the person feel special. 

Back then, birthday used to be to just to distribute sweets to class mates, wear pretty clothes, go to a photo studio for a picture with family and then have a small party with close loved ones at home. Menu was Cake, Wafers and Orange juice, sometimes Vanilla ice cream too. 

Now children, very rightfully, want bragging rights for their parties. Planning starts two weeks ahead, invites to be sent, venue to be fixed, menu, guest list, and cakes. 

Research bears out that a child’s earliest memory is often food related. The preparing and sharing of food can be perceived as an act of love, providing nurture, comfort, warm feelings and stability, “a safe place” which is so important in childhood.  

It is a norm now to have theme parties, by the beach, or at the pool, or in a private club.  Every child is invited with an attendant/helper and there is separate menu for attendants too. All children are given equally expensive take-a-way gifts. It has to be a memorable event. Cake is the centre piece of attraction, with lights, action, cameras.  

Aruna Rakesh Shetty make the best theme cakes for such parties, making emotional connection with the memories that will last lifetime.  

Aruna Rakesh Shetty(of kitchenshetty fame) is wrapped in many layers, a multi talented, cooking expert, not just in baking cakes but also in regional cuisine, each layer beautiful, each one innovative, from a fashion designer, to  flight attendant up in the skies with Jet airways and Daminya airlines, then enrolled in IHM and worked for Indigo Delicatessan and then planned to open a cloud kitchen, but Covid (an uninvited guest) visited every home, and the plans got shelved for some time perhaps, and Aruna got busy with baking and cooking. 

Artistic people move on to newer territories and an interesting one.  

Aruna specialises in theme based cakes that not only tastes good but are also visually appealing and children get very thrilled when they see her creations. Imagine a cake that looks like a garden with roses, sunflowers, butterflies..or cake that looks like a newspaper page, or a cake with Disney characters. Thats the kind of cake that not just children love but even adults.  

Aruna is fond of trying local cuisine while travelling. On one of the trips with her family, they landed at Madrid, booked a Eurocar and went city hopping. 

“At Granada, I had the streetfood speciality of Spain. Churro Chocolate. These are normally eaten for breakfast dipped in champurrado(chocolate based mexican beverage), hot chocolate, dulce de leche(sweet milk) or café con leche(coffee with milk). Sugar is often sprinkled on top. I wanted to settle here forever, after I had the churros with the Chocolate dip and coffee."  She said. 

Aruna loves pumpkins, because of its health benefits like it promotes weight loss and also lowers the risk of cancer.

 "I follow my mom’s cooking in an iron wok, because it does wonders to health benefits and the taste very rustic.  Also what I strongly believe is that it is your feelings which transfers in your cooking, so just cook with loads n loads of luvvv " she smiles  

She is happy to share her recipe of Pumpkin.

1. Chop the 200gms Pumpkins after cleaning and put them in water. 

2. In a wok add 3tbsp Ghee add a pinch of asafoetida, 1/2tsp cumin seeds and 1/2tsp Mustard seeds. 

3. They will start crackling. 

4. Add 7/8 curry leaves, then add chopped pumpkin. 

5. Add 1/2tsp Turmeric powder, 1/2tsp Chilly powder and Salt. 

6. Lower the flame, it will shed lot of water. let it cook. 

7. Once the water dries up a bit, add 1tsp Jaggery 

8. Add1/4tsp Pepper powder and 1tsp freshly grated Ginger, 2 finely chopped Tomatoes and 2 Green Chilies. 

9. Stir it for about 5 to 10 minutes. 

10. Finally add 2tbsp freshly grated Coconut and 2tbsp Coriander leaves. 

11. It is ready to serve. 

You can follow her Instagram ar Kitchenshetty

Contact her on her Watsapp no 90046 78289

Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part 26 - Marukh Mogrelia

Food is not just made with ingredients or spices, it doesn’t even depend completely on cooking methods or recipes. It solely depends on person who is cooking, their interest and their moods. The basic ingredient is always love. Have you heard anybody say that they don’t like their mother’s home cooked food? 

Although everybody loves variety in food, who doesn’t like to explore different taste, different cuisine, different culture, specially when they are travelling? In fact, Christopher Columbus made it his quest to collect spices from around the world, deeming it as worthy as gold. Thanks to these early explorers, cultures around the world have created exquisite dishes based on spices/herbs, both homegrown and imported, and its remarkable how often these additions can change the essence of the entire meal.

Spices/herbs have health benefits and everybody understands that. They bring magic flair to the cooking, same spices, but different blends. Indians use Curry powder, Garam Masala, Sambar masala, Panch Poran, Chat masala and the interesting thing is that the blend of masala also varies from region to region, city to city.

The Chinese Five Spice powder has a balanced hit of sweet, sour, bitter and savoury. A heady combination of spicy, bitter and sweet spices of Berbere is used in Ethopia and Somalia.  The seven Spices, Togarishi, that includes chili pepper, Citrus peel, Sesame seeds  is used as Japanese Condiment. Four Spices called Quatre Espices is French blend that includes ground black and/or white pepper, Cloves, Nutmeg and Ginger. Adobo, an all purpose seasoning that contains Garlic, Oregano, Pepper and other spices, is used in Mexican and other Latin American Cuisines. Dukkah is an interesting Egyptian mix of toasted Nuts  and Seeds like Hazelnuts, Sesame seeds, Coriander and Cumin. Adveih is a Persian mix of dried Rose petals and Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmeg, Cumin, often used in rice and stews. A dry rub from Kansas City has this sweet and smoky barbecue flavour that includes brown Sugar, Paprika and other spices.

The Home Chef Marukh Mogrelia  doesn’t believe in using too much spices. She normally uses seasonal fresh vegetables to her meat/seafood dishes. The fresh seasonal vegetable are mixed with fresh herbs and chillies and made into a paste that she uses in her cuisine. “The beauty of the Parsi cuisine lies in its simplicity and the secret of the magical flavors lies in marination.” She says.

Marukh Mogrelia  (of Marukh Kitchen fame) worked as a beautician all her life until one day, she randomly filled up a form that was circulated by now defunct company that would help to curate home food experiences, citing her interest in cooking regional Parsi food. They encouraged her to start home dining experiences catered towards people who would llke to understand more about her cuisine. She now works closely with a company called ‘Travellingspoon’ where they provide market visits, cooking and dining experiences to foreigh clientele.

Marukh Mogrella is a home chef specialising in Parsi Cuisine and conducts cooking cum dining experiences from her beautiful home in South Mumbai.

The very first meal that she cooked independently was when she was seven years old. The women in the house were either travelling or menstruating (in those days women were not allowed to enter kitchen while on their period) with the  help of her neighbour, she prepared a simple meal of dhal chawal, which her father relished.  “I remember the joy on his face even today. It was his encouragement that motivated me to hone my skill even sharper.” She beamed. Her father has been a great support in encouraging her to cook.  “I remember an incident where I decided to cook sweet doodh poha for my father. I made the entire dish well, but I had forgotten to wash the poha before cooking, as a result the doodh poha had turned greyish brown, but he ate without a single complain.”

Being a foodie, she  enjoys street food during her foreign trips, but her first memory of good food was close home at Snowmans, a pastry parlour at Breach Candy. “As a child, the first time I had Chicken Mayonaise Sandwich was at Snowmen, I was very happy.” she says.

She is happy to share the recipe of Khora nó Patiyo

This is like antidote for monsoon. In rural areas, lots of vine vegetables are grown in the backyard and pumpkin wines are commonly grown as leaves, flowers and Pumplin and are edible.

Prepare fresh Herb Condiment. 

1. Fry 2 green onions in pure ghee. 

2. Add 9 cloves of finely grated garlic, 

3. Add 5tbsp of ginger. 

4. Add 1 chopped chilli. 

5. Add 1 cup finely chopped coriander leaves, 

6. Add 2tsp turmerric powder and salt.  

7. Cook it well.

8. Cool and grind it into a paste. 

9. Store it in the container.

To prepare Khora nó Patiyo

1. Marinate 300gms prawns with green chilies, 

2. Add 2tbsp fresh Herb condiment. 

3. Add salt. 

4. Keep it aside. 

5. Heat 1tsp Oil, 

6. Add 2 onions diced and cook till pink. 

7. Add  2 cloves of finely grated garlic. 

8. Add 1tsp cumin seeds. 

9. Add 1tsp sambar masala. 

10. Fry nicely till aroma arises. 

11. Add 500gms mashed pumpkin and cook till done. 

12. Serve with Khichdi or Jowar roti.

 Follow her on Instagram  Marukhskitchen                             Call or DM on Watsapp no 98925 13577

Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part 25 - Priyanka Pani

Biryani looks beautiful in photographs because of the rainbow colours in it. Most of the food looks appetising because of the photography skills of the photographer. The angle, the light, the props and the composition is what makes it truly a feast to the eyes. Professional photography involves a team of photographers, food stylists, art directors, prop stylists and their assistants. To take one good shot, hundreds of rehearsals are performed and kilos of food are also wasted.

Back then, camera was a luxury that only rich could afford. People were very careful, kind of stingy on removing pictures, they would click only the important shots (mostly group family pictures on vacation to some place, or at important family functions). They bought film rolls to capture memorable moments and had to go to film studio to get them developed. Normally they clicked B/W photographs. Food products was only done by professionals, mainly for advertisements or for cookbook covers. Very obscure indeed. A round dish with the spokes of grains radiating from the central hub of sliced mixed vegetables/meat in different shades of grey in the bed of darker grey leaves, it was certainly not drool worthy at all. But if you still drooled then you probably had tasted the colourful Biryani at home. It suggests that, as far as everyday food tastes go, the past is a strange place.

Things have changed for the better. Thankfully. Food photography has improved our cooking skills. It offers us curious pleasures. By sharing our photographs on social media on blogs, Facebook, Insta, it inspires us to cook food, style them, it improves our aesthetic standards. Even though in reality, they might have tasted awful but still, our imagination plays wonders. We love colours and art.

But then, there is Home Chef Priyanka Pani, who not only clicks amazing pictures but also churns out colourful tasty food in her kitchen

Priyanka Pani (of MyDidi’sKitchen fame) is a business journalist by profession and an experimental cook during leisure hours. During Pandemic, she got a chance to pursue her passion for cooking. It all started with the new normal of work from home due to Covid lockdown. She started entering the kitchen more often and posting those pictures on social media. She also started doing Insta lives with food bloggers and entrepreneurs. This was when the entrepreneurial bug bit her and she started ‘MyDidi’sKitchen’ to serve clean and hygienic home-cooked meals to people during the pandemic. 

The venture was also created to help her house-help earn some extra bucks during the pandemic. She started on August 11, 2020 and the journey has been quite exciting for her. She has recently quit her job to largely focus on her home kitchen and to build a women-centric tech startup. 

Priyanka Pani specialises in cuisine from her home town Odisha. She also specialises in salads and restaurant style food cooked in a homely manner. She runs a multi-cuisine home-kitchen.

When asked about her first experience with something exotic in food, she is reminded of her food memories in Siberia. “I always thought Siberian food would be bland and would consist of meat, Vodka and Potatoes but I was utterly surprised with the use of plants and fruits in their daily staples! I had some really exotic berry based drinks (strangely not Vodka based). The food is quite flavourful.” She beams. “Most unforgettable dish that I have tried so far is a bear meat, again in Siberia. I wouldn’t eat it ever again but I tried just to gain experience.” She continued. 

Nevertheless, she still misses her mom’s food, who is a specialist in “jugaad” cooking. Her mom can use very simple ingredients and churn out something outstandingly delish. 

Her most unforgettable memory lingers around San Francisco when she was there, few years ago on her work trip. “I was in San Francisco on a work trip and outside my hotel there was a quaint little café, there was a huge rush. So I decided to explore it. The café was run by a Chinese couple and specialised in typical American breakfast. Initially I wasn’t very keen to try but was lured by a signage that said “buy one pancake and get unlimited coffee”. So I decided to sit there for a while and have some coffee. It was pretty chilly outside and I ordered one big portion of pancake, cream and scrambled eggs. Trust me, I have never had such good pancakes ever in my life. I ended by eating two plates and spend some good two hours reading a book!”

She is happy to share the recipe of vibrant Pink Curd Rice

It is a very simple, yet flavourful and colourful dish. Priyanka loves colours in her food and hence tried to give a twist to the plain Curd Rice

1. Blanch 1 medium size beetroot for 2-3 mins. 

2. Keep it aside. 

3. Take 1 cup of curd. 

4. Add grated beetroot to it.  

5. Mix it well.  

6. In a bowl mix 1 cup cooked rice and the pink curd. 

7. Add some salt. 

8. In a pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds, let it splutter. 

9. Add hing, dry red chilies, curry leaves and some ginger.

10. Saute it nicely. 

11. Pour it over the pink curd rice. 

12. It is ready to serve.

She will soon go live on food delivery platforms.       Follow her on Insta @my_didis_kitchen       or website link mydidiskitchen.in              

Priyanka Pani can be reached on her Watsapp at 96190 66627

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 

Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part14- Shilpa Seth Bhambri

Our parents and grandparent hardly ever went on diet, they ate everything, Ghee, Mithai, Malai, Samosas, Bhajiyas, Briyanis, Badam Puris, Kulfis. Kheer and celebrated every festival with a rich variety of food. No fuss, no guilt nor shame in choice of food, no restrictive food rules. And yet they were quite healthy, their skin glowing with happiness of life lived well.

Now these diet fad! So what is the difference?

It’s the sedentary lifestyle we live today. We have 24 hours live-in helper at home. All the bills are paid online, we get home deliveries at the dwindling of the thumb, and we always use lift to go upstairs. We tire easily because we have lay-back attitude, we are always on phone, checking endless messages and forwarding the silly ones, crouched on couch like a potato, ordering junk-food, watching endless TV serials AND we give big head ache to our parents, with continuous jargon of words like ‘can’t eat this’ ‘don’t want that’ ‘I am watching my diet’, ‘this is too fattening.’ and the endless ramble of the latest trends.

Poor parents, they love us too much, so they tolerate all our NaatakBaazi

But luckily, we have home-chefs, who care for our health and create healthy cakes/Ice-creams that everybody can eat guilt free. Bindass!

Shilpa Seth Bhambri is the home chef who understands it all.

Shilpa Seth Bhambri is baker and trained chef practicing her expertise over 28 years. She has mastered the craft of baking and cake decorating by learning from some of the best International and local culinary artists. She is founder of  ‘The Cakeline,’ a customised cakerie with extension to all things sweet. The recipes have been curated and developed with lot of research by her. She has added a healthy range of confections and desserts that are endorsed by her own philosophy of nutritionally enhanced eating. She also works as a culinary advisor to ‘Baskin Robbins India’ and has created a line of products in their range. (Remember the Icecream cake at Baskinrobbins?..Her creation!) She also works as a food photographer, stylist and recipe developer.

She specialises in cakes and desserts with a focus on egg-free, low calorie products. During lockdown2020, she is personally baking a limited range to offer all a safe and risk free menu, taking utmost care to prepare  clean and hygienic bakes.

She is always fascinated by her Mom’s style of cooking ‘Andaaz Sey’-the Indian way of weighing by sight method of cooking. Her Mom is a pure vegetarian, cleans meat/seafood with tongs but cooks wonderful dishes for the family. Her Mom’s hearty wholesome cooking forms the base and her large part of her food memories that include Doodhwalla Mutton, Pishori Cholle with Aloo Puri, being her classic favourites till now.

The best eureka food memories are from the corridors and kitchens of the Taj Mahal hotel, Mumbai.

“When I trained in its banquets and kitchens, I tasted some of the best culinary creations made by its senior chefs. From Pate de Fois, to Caviar on Blinis, hand churned Ice creams, Devils on Horseback, Baklava to the finest chocolate creations, Duck l'orange, Peking Duck with pancakes. Always encouraged by my mentor to taste what was cooked and served. My fine sensory palate was formulated in these initial years of my culinary school training.”

She is happy to share the recipe of Ragi Banana Cake 

(This is one of her oldest signature recipes which is “Maida free, Sugar free, Egg free”. She has replaced refined sugar with Jaggery and made this delicious ‘anytime healthy tea-cake’.

1. Sift both flours (100gms Ragi/Nachni flour) and (100gms whole wheat flour) with ½ tsp baking powder, 1 ½ tsp baking soda and pinch of salt. 

2. In the warm/melted 100gms butter, add 150gms Jaggery powder. 

3. Mix well with a spatula. This will help the jaggery to dissolve. 

4. Add 150gms whisked yoghurt and 120gms banana pulp(about 2 ½ bananas). 

5. Mix well. 

6. Mix the sifted flours into the butter mixture (of step 2).

7. Add 1tsp Cinnamon powder and 1tsp Vanilla extract. 

8. Do not over mix. 

9. Pour batter into a greased and lined 7x7inch tin. 

10. Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for about 35-45 minutes. 

11. Cool cake completely before cutting into slices to serve.

Shilpa Seth Bhambri was awarded Home Chef and Baker's award 2020 for the contribution to India's Home chef & Baking Industry in the category of 10 years+

Other than that she is also an avid food photographer and food stylist. Her new venture curates an expression of all her learning in the food world that is passionately expressed in the series of food tales in the form of mini video stories featuring home chefs, foodies and passionate cooks. You can view them all on her U-tube Channel at foodtaleswithShilpa.

 

 You can order her signature items on preorder; DM or call at 9930987989

Follow her at Instagram at Shilpasethbhambri

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

 

Home Chefs Of Mumbai - Part 7 – Shital Kakad

Have you noticed that the longest time we fritter away at the shopping mall is by the kitchen appliance section to check the latest gadgets? 

Sometimes, it can be hard to shop when we already have stocked our kitchen with latest and greatest appliances.  But still, nothing compares with the utensils and the tools that our moms and Grandmoms used in their kitchen. Maybe, that was one of the reasons that their food was tastier, healthier, sustainable, because they used their muscle power for everything. Kitchen was also their gym where all workouts were done while cooking - grinding, lifting, bending, squatting, cleaning, washing, churning, steaming, the list goes on.

 Luckily the retro is in. People have started using clay, copper and iron utensils. A lot of Indian homes have mortar and pestle in their kitchen, which not just personifies their rustic charm, but it also helps crush the ingredients, releasing essential oils and full-bodied flavours. Crushing is anytime better than grinding in a machine.

 

I am sure that one of the secrets to Shital Kakad’s cooking is in her use of Silbatta.

 

Shital Kakad is the multi-talented home chef. She has always loved to paint, embroider, crochet & reading was/is almost her shadow. She owned a Fashion Studio before she started food blogging. Her love for food brought her closer to foodie friends and she was encouraged to open ‘Shital's Food Cottage’ (her dream project) that has taken shape beautifully. It is her haven for creating new recipes, has some amazing ‘Food Events’ and she also conducts ‘Workshops’. ‘Shital's Food Cottage’ has a special Chai Masala, loved by many and is highest saleable masala!!! (This can be almost called her Heirloom recipe.) She has created signature Egg-free recipes and she takes orders for the same.

 

 She specialises in Indian Global Vegetarian food that has been highly influenced by her travels but her Forte is definitely her Traditional Authentic Gujarati Food like Gujarati Thali, Street Food specials, Mithai Jars, and also Teatime Cakes, Cookies, Dips & Appetizers

 

She keeps thinking about the food she had on her trip to Zurich.

“I can never forget Surat no locho, Amritsar Lassi & the handmade Pizza I had at a small café in Zurich which was owned by an Italian & who allowed me in his kitchen to show me how he makes it.”  She smiles.

 

But her First Eureka moment definitely is her Mom's food. She loved the special Batata nu Shaak that her Mom would make for her to take on school picnics, that till today she calls it as her picnic Shaak. Her mom has been her teacher in a true sense.

 

“The first thing my Mom taught me was making Gujarati Rotlis which are really thin Phulkas & I was only in the sixth grade when I used to make perfect Rotlis. I loved Cooking since I was child as my family on both sides are big foodies.”

 

She is happy to share Green Sprouts Curry that has the healthy Buttermilk & fresh Fenugreek leaves which makes it highly Beneficial as well as Delicious.

 

 

1.    Heat 2tsp oil in a kadai.

2.    Add  one onion (chopped length wise) & brown it a little.

3.    Add 1 tbsp garlic paste.

4.    Add 1 cup finely chopped fenugreek leaves(use less if preferred).

5.    Add ½ tsp turmeric & 1 tsp red chilli powder along with the salt.

6.    Add 1 cup green beans sprout.

7.    Add 2 tbsp of water.

8.    Cook for 5 minutes till they become slightly soft.

9.    Lastly add 1 cup buttermilk & bring to a boil ( if the buttermilk is curdling, just add in a teaspoon of besan / chickpea flour & mix).

10. The Delicious Green Sprouts Curry is ready to be served along with some piping hot Rotis or Rice or with some Jowar Rotis.

 

Lockdown gave her an idea to start her E MAGAZINE called Chai Shai Aur Baatein (She hosts a WatsApp group under the same name). Since she could not meet her group friends during these times, she launched the e-magazine so that they could share some amazing recipes as well as lifestyle articles.

 

 

You can order her food on 9821876249

Or by messaging her on Facebook page- Shital Food Cottage

You could follow her Instagram handle at ShitalKakad

 

You could visit her blog for more of her authentic regional recipes