Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part 5 Lipaa Ritesh Shah

Memories!! 

You may think that you have a good memory, but actually you remember only what is important to you. Unimportant memories fade away with time, superimposed by new experiences that we collect each day.

 But there are certain memories that never fade away, especially food memories. You will always remember that first tingling sensation felt while tasting something sensational. That really spicy dish that had raised the body temperature,  cheeks flush,  lips plump. Or that certain brand of Chocolate from a menu d’amour. But can food really have an aphrodisiac effect on us?

 

Whatever the reason, food that matter, memory clings for a life time.

 

 Home Chef Lipaa Ritesh Shah  (of Food Fiesta fame) remembers the rich flavours of a sweet dish that was prepared by her Grandmom. She was just 12 years old but fondly remembers her grandmom’s traditional Sindhi winter delicacy Khoya made of dates, dry fruits and coriander seeds.

 

She vividly remembers her lunch on a boathouse at Dal lake in Srinagar five years ago..  “I had two lovely Kashmiri dishes. One was baigan(eggplant) in kattha tomato and tamarind gravy and another was Lotus stem in mint curd gravy. Both so different but simply delicious. The Lotus stem was so so crisp and white as snow” she reminisces.

 

Lipaa specialise in Sauces, Pickles, Sindhi cuisine and Kutchhi cuisine.

 

Lipaa started cooking at the age of 12 inspired by her Sindhi Mom and grandmom, and by age18, she was cooking food for kitty parties. Early marriage landed her in a Katchhi home with Mom-in-law equally talented, who taught her Katchhi cuisine as well. Once the children were grown up, she started to write cook book for her daughter, it got published and sold 700 copies in first year itself. In the same year, (in 2015), she got her first smart phone. That opened Pandora box for her.

 

In 2016, she made Choonda (Sweet Mango pickle) for the first time, making 4 times the required quantity. She gifted the excess to her family and friends. They loved it and placed order for more. Out of excitement, she mentioned it on Social media. And Boom!! She was flooded with orders. She got connected to a lot of people from the food industry.

 

She is happy to share her recipe for Schezwan Sticks

 

 

1.     Mix 1 cup of finely chopped Carrots, Cabbage, Spring Onions, Capsicum

2.     Add 1tsp Ginger Garlic paste, 1 tsp Soya Sauce, 3/4 tsp Agnomoto(optional)

3.     Add 4tbsp Corn flour, ¼ cup bread crumbs, pinch of red food colour

4.     Add Schezwan Sauce (Food Fiesta product for best results) .

5.     The mixture should form a soft dough. If required add 1-2 tbsp of corn flour.

6.     Divide into 20 equal portions.

7.     Roll each portion into small finger size sticks.

8.     Deep fry till golden brown.

9.     Serve with chilly sauce and garnish using spring onion greens

Lipaa Shah was awarded Home Chef and Baker's award 2020 for the contribution to India's Home chef & Baking Industry in the category of 2-5years

 

 

Over the years, Food Fiesta has grown and evolved. Now she sells about 75 different products.  Recently, due to the pandemic, she has also ventured into weekly menus.

 

You can follow her on her FaceBook page Food Fiesta

 

Orders can be placed on her Watsapp number 9324195125.

 

Follow her on Instagram handle foodfiestabylipaa

Snacks and Finger Food Cooking Demonstration

Normally people enjoy finger food more than the actual dinner at social events. Most of the conversation takes place over drinks and one is not aware of the quantity one has consumed during conversation and drinks. Therefore making a variety of snacks becomes mandatory and involves lots of creative activity and playing around with ingredients to produce innovative dishes.

Making Samosas, bhajiyas and patties is become quite old fashioned, though they do appear on tables sometimes but a creative dish has a charm of its own. There are more dips and roasted snacks that are now preferred by diet conscious individuals and for people who want to spend more than two hours just snacking and drinking, the continuous supply of variety of snacks becomes important and is popular.

When I received an invitation to attend the snack and finger food cooking demonstration, it was one more opportunity to learn the same things different way. Since making a snack is a creative cooking, therefore one cannot actually learn but new ideas do crop up when we watch others cooking their own way. Chef Thomas Zacharias from Olive Bar & Kitchen was the host of this demonstration. I reached early and got to meet another food blogger who blogs on ingredients and does lots of research before blogging. It was nice interacting with her.

The table was laden with salt, pepper, mayonnaise, paprika and the different bowls that would be required during the cooking. There were four rows of four chairs each placed in front of the cooking station. A big LCD screen, ready with the camera focused on the demo-table occupied one corner of the small room. There were about thirty attendees, most of them house-wives and also some bloggers and food-writers.

The session began with Daredevilled Eggs

Chef gave us the tips on perfect boiling of the egg saying that eggs be immersed into cold water, adding salt and vinegar and then boiled till water bubbles, the fire is then put off and the eggs are kept covered for 14 minutes, then removed and transferred into ice-cold water.

He took 10 eggs and boiled them. The eggs are then sliced into two and the yellow is removed into the separate bowl. It is then combined with 1/2cup mayonnaise, 1tbsp spicy paprika, I lemon juice, 1 tbsp of mustard sauce, salt and pepper. It is mixed properly till it becomes creamy, then transferred into a piping bag and piped into the halved eggs. It is garnished with paprika and coriander leaves and refrigerated till it is ready to serve.

Boiled egg yolk combined with mayonnaise gave it a creamy feel and it melted immediately filling the mouth with its rich taste. I liked this snack because it can be made before hand and served cold; this gives us more time to spend with the guest.

This was followed by vegetarian Mushroom snack called Feta Mushrooms

This required large button mushrooms which can be cleaned in plain flour solution which helps extract dust from mushrooms. The stems are removed carefully so as to cause a dent for filling.

10 medium size mushrooms were marinated in the mixture of 1 cup Olive oil, 2-3 chopped Rosemary twigs, 2-3 chopped thyme twigs, salt and pepper.

A cheese stuffing was prepared by blending 1 cup feta cheese with 2 tbsp of Parmesan cheese.

Caramelized onions were prepared by sautéing 3 onions on medium heat till they become translucent. Salt, pepper and 3 tbsp of Balsamic vinegar is then added and cooked till all the water has evaporated and onions are caramelized.

Caramelized onions are used to stuff the dent in the mushrooms and is coated with mixture of blended cheese and baked in the oven till the top layer of cheese is browned.

Finally the Warrior Wings with Blue Cheese Dip

Blue cheese dip is made by mixing 1 cup of mayonnaise with ½ cup blue cheese, 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic, and 2tbsp of finely chopped celery, 2 tbsp milk, ¼ lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. It can be stored in the fridge till it is ready to serve.

 In another plateful of 2 cups of flour, 2 tbsp of paprika, salt and pepper is added and 2 kg of chicken wings are dusted with this powder and deep fried then dropped into the mixture of BBQ sauce and Buffalo wings sauce.

Most of the people liked this chicken wings preparation the best which was slimy because it was being coated with sauce and then served with dip.

What new did I learn? Actually nothing new, I have prepared these snacks many times, often creating new snacks on the spot, of which I have no clue when people ask me for a recipe, or ask me to prepare again and I cannot repeat the taste even if I use the same ingredients. Nevertheless I do enjoy these demo, because I get to taste and compare my cooking with the professionals and come back with feel-good-factor-clinging-on-my-bonnet.

Magazine Review - BBC GoodFood

Cooking is my passion. 


During my growing up years, there used to be a column in Mid-day called  ’Culinary Chat’ that featured 2 recipes per week in Chinese cuisine. During the week, I used to try both the recipes that were featured in the column. I learnt the basics, the correct method of cooking Chinese meal and became a Chinese pro. I learnt more cooking from another monthly magazine called ‘Cuisine’ which used to have the information about the regional dishes of India. Some cooking I have learnt from friends and family, but most of my cooking has been on experimenting and experimenting. I am grateful to my family and friends who have been very cooperative in risking my sometimes disastrous food.

Although I do have many recipe books but magazine is always better because it gives you the insight of more details in cooking. Therefore I was happy when I saw BBC ‘GoodFood’ on magazine rack at the store.

GoodFood India Magazine is published by Worldwide Media Pvt. Ltd under licence from BBC magazine.

I have regularly bought this magazine since November2011. Last month I even won one extra copy when I participated in 'Breakfast twitter contest'. I have liked this magazine so much that I have already gifted to four of my friends and they have been bright-eyed and very grateful.

Our cooking styles have changed a lot over the years, there is no more cooking just those common traditional dishes which our grandparents and aunts cooked when we were kids. Now-a-days, we have bigger supermarkets that have great variety of sauces and food stuff that we don’t even know how to use. I know a friend who bought an exotic sauce from supermarket but came home and ate with chapatti like an achar. Now this is not done. To relish the taste of the sauces and the ready packets one must know how to consume. 


I have travelled places and have developed taste for many different kinds of food and I am glad to see such bottles on supermarket shelf, which has now relieved me from over-weight luggage  that contained all food stuff, but what about those who have tasted those kind of food only in my house but want to try too?


Well here is the magazine that does just that. It educates you on use of those exotic dishes.

Good Food Magazine is the one which guides people in cooking different kind of food from different regions around the world.

The magazine is divided in 5 main sections that help you navigate exactly what you are looking for. This month features Italian Cuisine

Section one –First Bite.

This section brings out the month’s freshest food fuzz.  It spots light on local produce, some tips, and important food insights.  In ‘supermarket sweep’, they use ingredients from the supermarket shelf to create a full meal. In this month’s issue, they have combined rice, chorizo, bottle of sun-dried tomatoes and medium prawn packet to prepare rice dish for the family. In ‘Cupboard love’ they have discussed how to use the bottle of ‘Tapanade’ that you may have picked up from the shelf. The news, food trends and shopping of kitchen accessories are also discussed in this section.

Section two – Eat in

This is the largest section of the magazine covering all the recipes from simple to difficult recipes that can be tried by anybody who wishes to cook. This month’s most interesting recipe that I would like to try is ‘Tuscan bean soup’ which looks quite tempting in the photograph and has ingredients such as French beans, potatoes, pancetta ham and fresh oregano. I find this section interesting because 7 meals have been planned for Rs700, listing the grocery that needs to be bought and the stylish meals to been prepared over the seven days of the week - definitely a must-try treat.

Section three – Eat out

This section is about restaurant reviews. Whenever I get guest in my town, they are always asking me about new restaurant where they can try some new cuisine. This is the section which might help me decide where I might be able to take my guest out. In this month’s issue, there are 7 haunts for perfect Italian cuisine in different parts of India. I am happy that two Mumbai restaurants are reviewed - Vetro at Nariman point and Don Giovanni at Juhu – they seem quite interesting.

Section four – Eat away

This section covers places to eat out during our trip abroad. In this month’s issue, we go to Italy to try the local flavors, eat like locals and shop for must-buy-products that one can bring home. There is a local knowledge on the essence of olives, a postcard from Venice and local knowledge on food etiquettes while in Italy.

Section Five – Masterclass

This is the most interesting section of all. There is a cooking class directly from cooking master who shows the recipes, in step-by-step demonstrations , in such a way that one who knows to read and write, can never go wrong. In this month’s issue, there is a master class by Giovani Federico who demonstrates step-by-step cooking of Ravioli. Beside this, there is also a note on mastering the art of Risotto and the recipe of my favorite homemade pesto. There are also 5 homemade pasta sauces, 10minute wine guide on Italian wine and Indian food.

The magazine is packed with surprises and it is a perfect guide in understanding the different flavors in food kingdom.

Cooking for a Cause

During this Joy Giving week, Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal decided to celebrate the festival of giving in a different way and I was the benefactor (I chose to be), receiving the tips of her culinary skills through her cooking demonstration at Courtyard Marrriott’s Chinese restaurant ‘Red Sun’  that included some of the dishes which she has created herself by trial and error method and had been successful.

 This was the charity demonstration, proceeds of which would actually benefit the people affected by leprosy living in Baratapuram colony at Chennai.

We were a small group of about 20 members watching closely as she created four dishes in just two hours.

She started her session with cooking demonstration on ‘Tamarind Prawn’, A very simple dish and yet so tasty.

In a bowl she made the combination of sweet/sour/salty sauce by mixing lemongrass, fish sauce, brown sugar and tamarind till dissolved.

In a wok, she fried garlic till golden brown and added lemon grass, Thai chilies, till crisp, then in went the sweet/sour mixture solution to simmer till it was slightly reduced. The sweet aroma of lemon grass was stronger in the room but our attention was fixed on the aromatic fumes emerging from the pans. She added kaffir lime leaves and finally the prawns, stir-fried just for a minute on each side in the sauce and the dish was ready to eat. I shared this recipe with my cousin, who promptly cooked for her hubby earning a brownie point.

The other dishes that she cooked were Asian coleslaw, White sesame curry and Anise and Orange Chicken Puloa.

The cooking demonstration was followed by delicious lunch and the hotel had designed an edible miniature Marriott Home donation box where we could dare to care by helping those who needed our assistance.

Tummy was protesting and we all headed towards the dining room for yummicious lunch

Lovely afternoon where we ate, thought and talked about food.

Rushina is a food blogger who is passionate about her cooking. I met her the first time at Nature Basket, where I am a frequent shopper. And later I attended her workshop at Kala Ghoda Festival, and then there have been many other events where I do bump into her but she is a warm person and is always willing to share her culinary tips.

I have met her several times now and I hope to become good friends in future since we share a common interest and that is:
To cook for the people we love.