Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part 9 - Roopa Nabar

Let us face it, everybody gets special thrills when they go to a restaurant that are infested with celebrities. Even if the celebrities may know nothing about food, the restaurants boast about them to increase their clientage and some of them may even become high browed in selecting who enters their premises.  

 You don't have to be rich or poor to know and appreciate the taste in food. A street corner Vada Pav guy will be equally popular as high-end Hyatt for that matter. If they have celebrity tag, their business blooms. Or so they believe.

 

So where are they now? Those celebrities? All those food lovers who puffed away the party hues every night??  Now during this lockdown, all of them have learnt to appreciate the real flavours of food, and have finally realised that the real quality of food is anchored on its nutritional value, the spices used and importance of local products cooked most hygienically. The new mantra is..Locals go Vocals

 

And why not? We will always have some authentic home chefs to bank on.

 

Roopa Nabar (of Kitchen Diva fame) belongs to the Gowda Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) community, who live across the Konkan coast of India. That means that they are Brahmins blessed by Gods and are allowed to eat fish, known as fruit of the sea (Samudra phal)

 

Beside being a good cook, she also is a life of a party, with a wonderful sense of humour, very vibrant and cheerful. If you hear a hearty laughter in a crowd, be sure that Roopa is there. Her cordiality reflects in the food that she serves.

 

When asked about her speciality, she says “Throw a fish to me and I can create wonders.”

 

Which I am sure she does.  She uses lots of coconut in her kitchen which are flavoured with very little spices, just chilies, pepper, kokum, ginger, garlic, coriander, she call them kalvan hooman. She uses lots of backyard vegetable like all the gourds and roots in her vegetarian preparation. She is very good at international cuisine too. When she travels, food is on the top of the list on the itinerary, she returns back with all that countries spices and ingredients and tries to replicate the same in her kitchen.

 

Her OMG Eureka moment was when she visited her Son Gaurang in London where he is a practising architect and is a food enthusiast.

 

“Mind you, when it comes to food we keep the religion aside and eat everything, so went to this place called L’Entrecote at Soho, this is a Restaurant run by a family that serves typical French bistro style steak frites, means steak and fries unlimited with a mind blowing butter sauce. It was the best French dish I had.” She said, talking fondly about those memories.

 

“It’s said that the family has their own secret recipe of the sauce and some say it’s made from chicken liver, fresh thyme, thyme flowers, full cream, Dijon mustard and butter ofcourse. It was a melt in mouth meat experience.” She added.

 
 She is a host in a food channel on u-tube called Coastal Kitchen , she does videos for Sanjeev Kapoor’s  Khana Khazana

 

She willingly shares her spicy, tasty recipe on Mutton Chops Rawa Fry.

 

 

 

1.    Roughly chop 1 cup Coriander Leaves

2.     Add in a grinder jar along with roughly chopped 4-5 green chillies, ½ cup fresh Mint Leaves, ½ inch Ginger and 6-7 Garlic.

3.    Grind into a fine chutney using little water.

4.    Take ½ kg Mutton chops in a bowl.

5.    Add ground Chutney (prepared in step 3).

6.    Mix well.

7.    Add salt, 2tbsp Kolhapuri chutney, 1tsp Turmeric powder and 1 1/2tsp Red Chilli powder.

8.    Mix well and set aside to marinate for 5-10 minutes.

9.    Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pressure cooker.

10. Add chops along with marinate and sauté for 1 minute.

11. Add 1 cup water and stir to mix.

12. Cover and pressure cook for 8-10 minutes.

13. Remove from heat and set aside.

14. Heat sufficient oil in a kadai.

15. Break 2 eggs in a bowl and whisk.

16. Spread 1 cup semolina on a plate.

17. Dip chops one by one in eggs and coat well in the semolina. Dust off excess.

18. Deep fry in hot oil till golden and crisp.

19. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve hot.

 Roopa has her fixed clients who regularly place orders if they want to enjoy a good  thikhad Maharashtrian food.

 

She takes corporate orders too but you can always contact her

WatsApp no 98330 67008.

 

She has made several U-tube videos as she loves to teach. You can find her Coastal Kitchen under Indian Food Network.

 

Find her on Facebook page Kitchen Diva

 

Follow her Instagram handle at roopanabar
 

 

Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part 8 – Sonal Saket Soni

Six months now and we are still stuck at home, with no clue as to when this pandemic is likely to perish. Family dinners, lunches and breakfast, are resurgent. Families have come together, closer  knit now, spending quality time, children more secure at home, happily embracing undivided attention. It’s kind of joyful amid all sorrows.

 It’s not that we are not relishing this togetherness, a purpose of sustenance, a purpose of literal communion, yes, we are - but that is not enough. We really miss our friends. Meetings on Zoom or Google-Meet was fun, initially, watching Insta-live has also raise the curve of our culinary skills, learning everything from the comfort of our home is the brownie point. But now, that’s become routine! Bored! We need change. We have begun to fantasize the other side of pandemic, when we can finally host a huge potluck at a private resort, may be out of Mumbai. An ideal post-Coronavirus feast maybe? What would that be? A huge bonfire with roasted meat sizzling away? Crackling, hissing, surrounded by smoke and wrapped in spicy fragrance?

 

I hope this pandemic ends before we forget what enjoyment really meant to us.

 

 

Sonal Saket Soni (of Astradelights fame) recounts about the celebrations in her childhood home at Ujjain. One huge hall was reserved for the cooking where 3/4 Maharajas prepared food stretched over 3 to 4 days and whole four-storied apartment would buzz with guests and relatives. Being a Marwadi by birth and that too in a huge joint family, her interest in cooking was developed watching them(maharajas) cook Gulab Jamun, Jalebis, Kaju Katlis and other Indian delicacies.

 

 

Sonal Saket Soni is passionate about baking. Her specialisation is sugar art and Eggfree/Eggless baking which includes Macarons, customised cakes, Brownies, healthy baked savoury  Cookies, Quiches and also does couverture Chocolates. She conducts hands on workshops teaching sugar flower and also Indian and International cuisines. She plans to launch an online workshops as well.

 

Sonal’s most cherished memory is of first Continental good food she had during her Honeymoon in '99 at  Manali at Hotel Ambassador, then and now Manuallaya, where they had stayed for a week.

 

“It was beautifully done, this Chinese Restaurant. It was my first taste of the most authentic and delicious Chinese food, truly enjoyed it as everything was simply delicious, from the hot and sour soup, to Dimsums, Noodles and Spring rolls. Breads consumption was considered a sin then.

 

Sonal fondly talks about her mother’s cooking skills, specially Matar (peas) Kachories, that was appreciated by whosoever tasted it. Her mom is her mentor and she has learnt to make Marwari and Malwa cuisine from her.

 

She is happy to share Eggless Pancakes Recipe.

 

 

1.     In a bowl, take 1½ cups of refined flour (Maida).

2.     Add ¼ tsp. Baking powder, 1tsp Baking soda, a pinch of Salt, ½ cup Sugar.

3.     Mix together using a whisk to combine all dry ingredients well.

4.     Add 1tsp Vanilla extract, 2tbsp Ghee/Butter, half cup Milk and mix well with the balloon whisk.

5.     Once combined, add another half cup of Milk and mix well.

6.     Then add the remaining ½ cup milk ( you may want to keep 2tbsp aside and add if the consistency is thick) to the batter.

7.     The consistency should not be very fluid.

8.     Pour the batter on the preheated Pancake griddle.

9.     Let it cook from one side on low flame.

10.  Flip after a minute.

11.  Cover and cook for another half a minute.

12.  Remove the lid and let it cook for 20 seconds till golden brown.

13.  Enjoy at teatime, preferably with friends.

 

 

You can place your order for cakes, macaroons and other baked specialities via direct chat on social media

 

Follow her on her Instagram handle at astraldelights

Facebook : Astraldelights 

Twitter : @astraldelights