Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part 33 - Sonali and Sandhya Vyas

When you migrate overseas, what you miss the most is the food you are used to eating...your own city food...and also your mom home cooked food.

  In India, we love spicy and Masaledar food and find the food of our adopted country different. We find it bland, if there is zero Mirchi. We don’t appreciate noodles for lunch everyday, eating food cooked in Olive oil instead of desi ghee. It is all about getting used to it. 

 Children who never helped in the kitchen back home, will make endless calls to their parents, asking for traditional recipes. When their parents go visiting them, they will send long list of Indian food delicacies to get for them...which will include spices, papads, theplas and even paan. Parent on their trip are busy in the kitchen cooking Desi food for their kin, leaving less time to exploring foreign lands.

 The taste of India is what they miss the most and parents know it

 Home chef Sandhya and Sonali Vyas make yummiest savouries that people miss the most 

Sandhya and Sonali Vyas (of One For All fame) are the mother-daughter duo behind the brand. 

Sandhya has been running kitchen since 25years. She started as a tiffin service catering to various households and office going people. Steadily she saw the menu expanding as people started asking for more. “My passion and everyone's acceptance and love for my food are the triggers that motivate me and keep me going.” Says Sandhya.

Sonali loved baking and was always interested in trying out baking treats during various occasions. “Over time I realised this is something I want to grow and dive deep into it. Little did I know back then that my hobby will become my profession.” Says Sonali

Having been born and brought up in Mumbai like every Mumbaikar, the mother-daughter duo have a soft corner for street food and and the varied range of cuisines at restaurants. 

“It would be injustice to name just one item or one place. We are in awe for the specialities of every food joint as each has its own uniqueness, it could be Amar Pav bhaji or mithibai Wada pav or Ramu Dosa or WTC pasta or Elco chat to yautcha or hakkasan or suzettte  and the list goes on.”

They specialise in Theplas and are happy to reach them out to people to ease their work and at the same time not miss out on home food. Their Theplas are super thin and not to oily. They can be frozen and stored for upto 3 months without any change in taste. All that needs to be done is heat on gas or microwave it for few seconds before you can have them. For confectionaries, its their range of eggless brownies range that are freshly baked at all times.

‘Our brand name also defines our passion to cater to everyone and vision to be One ForAll. It gives us immense happiness to have a range of Savouries and Confectionaries that appeal to every palate.” They confirm 

They still have the clear memory of the food they had loved when they travelled to Delhi. “This would be either 2006 or 2007 when we on our encounter Delhi by road and we came across this dhaba that we stopped by for breakfast. The paratha platter served there was incredibly delicious! Since then to now we haven't come across a dish like that!”

Sonali  Vyas is happy to share the recipe of  Eggless ChocoChip Cookies.

1. Beat 1/4cup unsalted butter and ¼ cup sugar in a bowl till pale and light. 

2. Sieve ¾ cup All purpose flour plus1/2tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt. 

3. Add 1/2tsp Vanilla essence. 

4. Mix well with spatula. 

5. Add 1/4cup chocochips. 

6. Mix it well. 

7. Form small balls out of dough. 

8. Line the baking tray with butter paper. 

9. Pre heat oven at 180°C and bake for 15 mins . 

10. Cool the cookies. 

11. They are ready to eat. 

Call, Whats app,  dm 9870053098, 9920243098 

Follow their Instagram handle @Oneforall_mumbai 

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 27 – Tania Bhel

Somethings we take for granted. Home-cooked meals for example. Its delicious but nothing to rant about till somebody else comes visiting us and appreciates our cooking. 

Back then, cooking was for people who couldn’t score good grades in school. If you are intelligent then pay attention to studies, there is no need to waste time in the kitchen. “Go beta, mamma will cook for you.” Was the common phrase used for children who showed some interest in the kitchen. If you insist that you wanted to help, you would be given few raw vegetables and asked to prepare salads. Children asked too many questions and they had no time for that. “When the time will come, you will learn cooking, right now, there is no need.” They would say. As the results, many women would learn cooking only after they got married.

Cooking is a passion, there is no age for learning. You may learn from your elders, from your friends, or just from U-Tube. But for deeper knowledge and proper techniques, you have to learn from professionals. There are many short term cooking classes and many degree catering colleges too. The more serious one will go to popular culinary schools as distant as to USA, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, London. These school prepare chefs for mental discipline necessary to perform well under extreme pressure and stress. Once you pass out from Le Corde Blue, there is no looking back

Like Tania Behl, an artisanal baker, who custom bakes the most artistic and beautiful cakes for every occasion. 

Tania Behl (of TheDessertsCobyTania fame) used to be a production designer, she has styled and done the set design for several TV shows , her last media project was a feature film . After which she decided to take some time off as she had been working her entire  adult life. (although she was really passionate about her work as a production designer too). 

“Food for me is centre of all emotions. I packed my bags and took off to Le Cordon Bleu London to  do my grand diploma in French cuisine and patisserie . After coming back I’ve settled down to starting my home bakery , which has since been developing.” She said, expressing her desire to pursue her passion for food. 

The DessertsCobyTania specialises in fancy cakes and pastries, although her heart belongs to the good old fashioned pound cake, which she feels is the most versatile cake, can be eaten on its own, with tea or coffee  or drizzled with some chocolate or strawberries to make it fancy. “It never fails to impress.” She confirms.

Her most beautiful memories are of the times she spent with her grandmother, Biji, and the important lessons that she learnt from her during her growing up days. 

“My love affair with food started off when I pretty young, and it wasn’t any particular dish, it was with the process of cooking.  I used to watch my grandmother cook food and would always wonder as to how a vegetarian person like her could make the most amazing non veg dishes . “How do you cook without tasting ??” She told me that ‘You  don’t cook with only one of your senses, you use all your senses, touch  your food, don’t marinate with a spoon, use your fingers, put the spices in your food with a sprinkle of love, never leave your dish unattended, watch for that moment when the masala releases its oils , it will release an aroma, you’ll smell the flavours, you’ll look at your food and  know if putting dhania on it will make it more appealing, if little shreds of ginger would make a difference’ I was in awe !! Of course all of this was told to me in punjabi and it sounded even more poetic !! But it’s a good memory I live  by. Many years later, these exact words were echoed to me by my training chefs at Cordon Bleu and I smiled inside and gave a thanks to my Biji, for starting me out right .”

She is happy to share the recipe of Pound Cake 

1. Line a loaf tin with baking paper. 

2. Pre heat oven to 180 degrees. 

3. Sift 150 gms A.P. flour, 1tsp baking powder, 1/4tsp salt together in a bowl. 

4. Set aside. 

5. Place 3 large eggs(at room temperature), vanilla essence, 2tbsp milk in another bowl. 

6. Lightly whisk with a fork to blend the eggs and milk 

7. In a large mixing bowl , using a hand blender (or the bowl of your stand mixer ) add the 150 gms butter and beat for a 2 mins till a little pale. 

8. Add 150 gms sugar to this and beat for 3-5 mins until its nice ad fluffy . 

9. Slowly add in the egg mixture (from step 6) , in three turns , making sure to scrape down the sides and the eggs are well incorporated each time . 

10. Once all batter is well blended add in the flour and beat only till incorporated (do not beat this for a long time ) 

11. Pour the prepared batter into the loaf tin , using your spatula smooth the top of the cake .

12. Lightly tap the tin on the table surface to remove any air bubbles

13. Place in the pre heated oven and bake for 40-50 mins  or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake come out clean . 

14. Remove the cake from the oven , allow it to cool for 10 mins in the tin and then turn it out on a wire rack

15. Allow it to cool completely before slicing Into it 

16. The cake is best enjoyed at room temperature. (You can dress it with frosting for a special birthday)

17. You can store the cake in an airtight box for a couple day. 

Follow her Instahandle at thedessertcibbytania

Call her at Watsapp 98201 44330

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 – Part 23 – Sumitra Chowdhury

Back then, there were no refrigerators, vinegar and oils were used to preserve food. People lived in big houses with courtyards inside their gates. On sunny days, there would be something kept for drying on hand woven cots or on straw mats - raw Mangoes, Potato chips, Dhal Vadis (birds/animals were well behaved then, they rarely interfered). Varieties of Achaar would be prepared and stored in huge colourful jars. The amount of pickles that were made, lasted throughout the year. Many people lived in a joint families, although food was cooked in abundance but sometimes, when there were not much left overs,  just pickle with roti or Jowar Bakri would suffice. It was something people ate guilt free. Nobody complained about excess oil or too much salt.

Not that anybody is complaining now.  Pickles are enjoyed all over the world. In Korea, Kimchi of fermented vegetables, is the national dish and eaten with every meal. Sauerkraut was originally invented in China and soon became immensely popular in Germany too. L’hamd Markad, pickle of lemon rinds is popular in Morocco. In France, if you are hosting a party, you must have Cornichon, Isreal’s Torshi Left makes use of rich varieties of vegetables, they are really strong, they slap you around your face. Fukujinzuke is served as garnish on Japanese curry. Giardiniera pickle has travelled from Italy to Chicago and is used over salads and hotdogs. 

The United  States even has a National Pickle day in November.

Although big variety of pickles are available at the supermarkets, home-cooked pickles taste different because they bring essence of the person who makes it, has added the spices that they like it best.

To get the real flavours of pickles made with love, you must try Sumitra Chowdhury’s Creations.

Sumitra Chowdhury (of Su’s Kitchen by Sumitra fame) has done few pop ups, cooked for small parties, has participated in many cooking competition physically as well as virtually, and has won many prizes too.

Sumitra specialises in traditional Bengali Cuisine and in seasonal vegetarian and non-vegetarian pickles, chutneys, jams and masalas on pre orders. On rarer occasions, she also makes tea time cakes and cookies since baking is also one of her passions.  

She started to cook at the age of 12. Those days, she never missed the cooking shows on T.V.  and bonus point was that cooking was also taught in school as an extra curricular activities. There are many beautiful food memories of her childhood that she fondly nourishes.

“As a kid, I remember, during the school lunch break, me and my few friends used to run across to Parsi dairy farm to enjoy the Malai Kulfi, and there was another shop few steps away from Parsi dairy, where they had delicious Ragda Patties. I still remember whenever the shopkeeper saw us coming, he used to remove all the Chutney bowls kept on the tables., because we would to finish off all of the different types of chutneys kept in the bowls,.” 

As she grew up, her passion for cooking different types of dishes extended to making various types of pickles, like combination of vegetarian and non vegetarian pickles, chutneys and jams that she would share with her family and friends. After marriage, she pursued her teaching career for sometime but then resigned to continue her passion for cooking. To preserve the traditional dishes for future generation, she started to blog on the experiments made in kitchen with the easily available ingredients and has more than 890 recipes on her blog.

She talks about the unforgettable food that she ate long ago at R2O but still craves for it.

“I will never forget my experience at Rivers to Oceans  (R2O) where they served sea food from around the world. It was a fine dining experience with molecular gastronomy, but unfortunately the restaurant has shutdown.”   

Apart from food, she loves creative work like painting / crochet, gardening, travelling,  photography, enjoys old classical instruments and fusion music, she loves to spend time with children, teaches them art and is associated with a NGO. 

 She is happy to share recipe of Pepper Plastic Chutney.

As chutney is a part of a Bengali meal, here is an unique type of Bengali chutney which is served at functions and ceremonies with Papad Bhaja. It's very easy and simple to make with two main ingredients - green raw Papaya and Sugar. It's called Plastic Chutney because of its’ looks. The papaya after cooking in sugar syrup turns translucent and looks like plastic

1. Take pot or a pan. 

2. Add 1 ½ water and 2 cups papaya chips. 

3. Let it simmer on low medium flame for 10 minutes. 

4. Add ¼ tsp salt and ¾ cup sugar. Continue to simmer for another 5 minutes. 

5. Add 1tbsp raisins. 

6. Continue to simmer till papaya chips become transculant and syrup thickens. 

7. Add 1tsp lime juice and simmer for another minute. 

8. Switch off the flame. 

9. Its ready to serve, 

10. it can be stored in the fridge for a month

Sumitra Chowdary was awarded Home Chef and Baker's award 2020 for the contribution to India's Home chef & Baking Industry in the category of 1-2 years

People can connect with her through her Facebook page  or on her Website.

Follow her on Instagram Su’s Kitchen by Sumitra

 

Contact her on Watsapp at 97691 31674.  

She cooks all the items fresh on orders. * No artificial food colour or preservatives are added.  

For bulk order, seasonal pickles and jams she takes 15 days booking in advance and for the regular items she takes 10 days in advance.  

Orders are taken from all over Mumbai.   

Home Chefs Of Mumbai- Part 20 – Manju Mishra

You may enjoy cuisines around the world but the humble classic combination of dhal rice is always a winner. It is a comfort food for everybody. Each region has its’ own traditional way of cooking Desi food. Sweet sour Tuvar dhal of Gujarat, yellow dhal fry- Dhaba style, black dhal of Punjab, Sambar of the south. Hundreds of recipes are churned out in regional kitchens throughout India.

 Western cuisine on the other hand normally mix dhal with meat or chicken. French use lentils as garnish for meat dishes. Cassoulet is the combine of meat with beans. Italians have sausages with lentils. Some will add bacon for infusing lentils with flavour. Ethiopians are known for stewing lentils in various ways to cook thick enough to be eaten with Injera bread. In the US, Chilie con Carne of Tex-Mex cuisine is basically Keema and Rajma and the original Boston baked beans are made with pork. Currently it is common to see lentils in salad in high end restaurants throughout the US. 

Back home, although Parsi and Muslims do have meat combos with dhal, but for Hindus, it remains to be veg comfort food and a simple Khichdi is most satisfying meal on any lazy day. And Dhal is always included in every Indian Thali that comprises of assorted meal of vegetables, curd, chappaties, rice and sweet dish.

If Thali is what you like, then Home Chef Manju Mishra’s  food is not to be missed.

Manju Mishra (Of Hands to Heart Mumbai fame) started the tiffin service at the insistence of her daughter’s friends, who loved her food. Her food reminded the girls of home-cooked meals since they lived far away from their families. Now that her daughter has moved abroad and she is left with ample of free time, she decided to use it to provide affordable daily-meals for people living away from home and for those who’re tired of cooking on a daily-basis during these difficult times of lockdown.

Manju specialises in both, Rajasthan and Odia cuisines since she is born into a traditional Rajasthan family, and married into an Odia one. Her Mathris, Pyaaz ki kachoris, mini-samosas, burgers, cutlets and curries have received lot of appreciation. She is a quick learner and keeps introducing new menus regularly that includes Italian, Chinese, North Indian, among others. 

Like every Indian woman, her journey with food started at her mother’s instructions. She was raised in a middle class household with in house cook, but his sick leave always demanded her presence in the kitchen. On the rare occasions, whenever she cooked, there were always appreciations and she realised that she could train to be a good chef. She decided to develop her skills at cooking during college days and signed into cooking demos to learn a variety of exotic cuisines. 

Her opportunity to cook regularly began after marriage when her presence was required in the kitchen during maximum hours. Cooking took a front stage along with managing a family-life. Her husband’s job resulted into dislocating her home every few years to a new city, from Rourkela to Bairampur to Bhubaneswar to Pune and finally at Mumbai. She has endured long journeys of changing-businesses, uprooting life constantly and finally found stability in Mumbai 

Besides her passion for food, She is also associated with a charity organisation called ‘Giants Group of Mumbai One’ where she regularly donates food to the needy, especially during this pandemic. Manju is full of talents and sings beautifully, you could hear her devotional and Bollywood songs that she regularly uploads at U-Tube channel.

She talks about the memories of the food she had during her school days.

“I just can’t forget the taste of the Nimai ke Samose that we got after school. It was a small street stall, nothing fancy, but I can still recollect its mouth-watering flavours and many times, sub-consciously, I do try to replicate those taste in my creations of Samose.”

She is happy to share her recipe of Baked Vegetables

1. (To prepare white sauce), in an Iron pan, melt 2tbsp of butter, add 2tbsp of white flour, Add 2 cups of milk, stir on low flame till you get saucy consistency. 

2. Add salt, pepper and 1 grated cheese cube. 

3. Mix it well.

4. Keep it aside. 

5. Take1tbsp butter in pan. 

6. Add 1cup peas, 1cup chopped carrots, 1 cup chopped cabbage, 1 cup chopped cauliflower and salt. 

7. Cover and cook for 10 minutes on a slow flame. 

8. Chop 100gms Cottage Cheese and 1 medium potato into small pieces 

9. Deep fry. 

10. Mix the boiled vegetables, white sauce, fried veggies

11. Add 1tbsp tomato sauce. 

12. Transfer to a baking dish. 

13. Grate and spread 50gms cheese on mixed vegetables. 

14. Bake at 180 degree for 10mins or till cheese changes to brownish colour. 

15. Ready to Serve!  

You can contact her at Watsapp 93707 05450

Follow her on Instagram @hands&heartMumbai

Enjoy her devotional song on U-tube