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 

Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part 19 – Karishma Nanavaty

Lockdown.  Had it occurred 40years ago? What then? 

Most of us lived in joint families, cooking food was a regular thing to do but who cooked cheese-cakes or chocolate walnut fudge, or cakes with dripping sauces? Or ordered food from home chefs, to try out different cuisines. Machar Jhol of Bengal, Korma Biryani from the land of Nawabs, Kababs and Aadab, or fermented Bamboo shoots of Nagaland or any such food comas? Yes, work was of equal magnitude, no live-in helpers, people rarely went out unless there were festivals or family gathering. They consumed normal traditional food, but experimenting on strange recipes was never an option. Why would they? There was no social media to share their food creations, no Selfies for clicking different expressions, no artistic desserts, they ate quietly and moved on.

Today, although we live in a prison of fear, leave our home only if it is important, but most of us are adventurous in our kitchen, churning out new recipes, exploring the food stories of foodies. Look at the brighter side, we have adjusted after few claps, whistles and clanging of utensils from our balconies in chorus, and have used our time honing our talent, exploring and nurturing whatever we are good at - music, art or cooking.

And many professional have hung their regular career on a hook of anticipation and are concentrating more on their traditional food and sharing their cuisine with city folk. It is a win-win situation.

And why not? If you share your passion with your Mom and have her support, you make a great team and Karishma Nanavaty is at her best.

Karishma Nanavaty (of Karrylicious Kitchen fame) is a full-time psychologist by profession, now specialises in traditional iconic and authentic Parsi cuisines and as well as continental cuisines. 

Her recipes are passed down from generations which are handmade with lots of love and hence in every bite you feel the authenticity of flavour and taste. Some of their well known Parsi dishes are lamb chops, Salli chicken, prawn Patia, chicken minced pattice.  

The mother-daughter food journey started just recently in June 2020. Their main purpose of starting Karrylicious Kitchen was only to sell chocolate walnut fudge, because Karishma’s friends and colleagues used to relish on it. Then within two weeks, they started getting orders for Parsi cuisines and that's how it all began. 

Now it's been 3 months and they are very delighted to serve all the communities with their cuisines, which is so rare and all the personal appreciations keep motivating them, especially during these difficult times when safety and personal hygiene is of the prime importance.  

The best traditional food that one can enjoy is at the wedding and Karishma talks about the food that she enjoys.  

“The food spread was lavish with all authentic Parsi dishes and the memories do not fade even after years. Yes. There were three different types of chicken dishes, dry and gravy based, two different types of fishes, flavourful prawns, Mutton biryani, two types of mutton gravy and loads of starters and varieties of desserts. I felt as if I was in heaven. This was twelve years back and it was such a great feast.”

She is happy to share the recipe of her delicious Lamb Chops

1. Wash and clean 500grams lamb chops thoroughly. 

2. Marinate the Lamb chops with 1tsp Ginger Garlic paste 2 tsp red Chilli paste 1 tbsp Coriander and Dhana-Jeera powder  3 tsp Kashmiri red chilli, 1.5 tsp Turmeric powder  1 tsp Biryani masala.  

3. Let it rest for 2-3 hrs.  

4. In a pan, fry 2 large onions and some khada masalas . 

5. Add in all the marinated chops. 

6. Add salt to taste. 

7. Let it simmer for sometime. 

8. Add some water and pressure cook for 15-20 mins. 

Customers can place an order 48 hours prior, as they always buy fresh stock. All the dishes are hygienically prepared and packed.  Delivery is all across Mumbai. Delivery charge is as per actuals. No minimum order is required

you can contact her at 88791 32817

You can order food through Instagram handle at Karrylicious_kitchen

Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part 18 – Manaswee Sahoo

Vegetarians go through lot of torture when they go travelling abroad, unless they are carrying their own tiffin of home-cooked food, or vegetarian soup packets that can be boiled in an electric kettle in the hotel room. Although much has changed over the years and you do find exotic salads or stir fries, but the safest vegetarian meal you may get is french fries or a block of cheese.  You learn to explain your dilemma in multiple languages, stressing the fact that you need food that contains no fish, no egg, no bacon, no meat, no chicken, just vegetables cooked in pure seed/vegetable oils. You explain that vegetables colonise your taste buds and are careful not to attract attention of meat eaters.

Luckily, if you are travelling in India, you have no such complications, there is vast variety of vegetarian cuisine available all over India, even in the remote places. Lentils, vegetables, milk products, innovation is plenty and cooking methods differ from region to region, the masalas, the sauces, the stew, you don’t have to question the chef. Only in India, you can safely enjoy pure veg diet.

Manaswee Sahoo makes some interesting vegetarian bakes, such that you will not miss non-veg at all

Manaswee Sahoo loves baking tea cakes and brownies along with breads. 

Her most loved baked dish would be New York style Baked Cheesecake with Mixed Berry Compote. She prefers her bakes to be moderately sweet. She is also planning to develop a Healthy treats menu which would use alternate flours, no refined sugar etc. All her baked treats do not contain any preservatives or artificial ingredients. She  feels it’s important to use best quality ingredients to ensure the end product is of good quality. 

Until 2019, she was working as a Management Consultant in Financial services sector. She always found baking as a way to reduce her stress, even though throughout her childhood she has been a foodie and was always fond of experimenting with new cuisine. She was never a person to help her mother in the kitchen. She learnt to cook only after she had to live in a shared apartment during her MBA days since she didn’t have a cook at home. After starting her corporate career, she used to bake for her family, friends and colleagues on any of the festive occasion following recipes from baking books and food blogs. Post her wedding, she moved to Mumbai and ever since she has been experimenting more in the kitchen cooking and baking. 

She started her blog “Meraki Delights” in July 2018 to share her kitchen experiences with the world. In 2019, she got an opportunity to turn her dream into reality by enrolling into Diploma in Baking and Pastry and life has taken a complete turn post completion of the course. She got a chance to work with her Mentors at SEP until the pandemic set it’s foot in the country. 

She has recently started taking orders from her home bakery “Meraki Delights Patisserie”. 

She has good knowledge about different cuisines from having travelled widely.

“My father was a banker and had a transferable job. As I result I had the opportunity of exploring food of different states. During our stay at different places  we interacted with people of different cultural backgrounds and got to share their traditional food items. This is how I got to eat food from Garhwali cuisine, Bengali Cuisine, Rajasthani cuisine apart from Odia food (I belong Odisha). I really feel my food style is immensely inspired by my exposure to different cuisines found in India. Maybe, for this reason everyone in my family and friends prefer me ordering food for everyone when we are dining out.”

She still craves for Ghevar, that her father used to get specially for her.

“Even though now I am a pastry chef, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I eat sweets very rarely and selectively. I have stayed on northern part of India most of my childhood. I clearly remember during the Shravan month, my father used to buy  Ghevar only for me as it’s availability is restricted to that month only during our stay in Rishikesh, Dehradun and New Delhi. Even though ghevar is plentily available in Rajasthan, but other states it’s not found easily. It’s the only thing which I haven’t eaten in the past 3 years ever since I moved to Mumbai after my wedding.”

She is happy to share her recipe of Quick Mushroom Broccoli Filo Pie

1. Thaw the frozen 12 Spring roll Sheets for at least 20-30minutes. 

2. Once they are at room temperature, separate the sheets from one another and keep them covered with a damp kitchen towel. 

3. In a pan, add 2 tbsp butter and let it heat. 

4. Ensure that the butter doesn’t burn.  

5. Add 1tbsp minced garlic and sauté till the raw smell goes away. 

6. Add 200gms finely chopped Mushroom and 200gms Broccoli and sauté in high heat. 

7. Season it with Salt and 1tsp Black Pepper.  

8. Once the veggies are cooked, add the f1tsp all purpose flour and sauté well. 

9. Add 2tbsp milk and stir continuously to form smooth sauce without any lumps. 

10. Add the 1tsp mixed herbs, 1tsp tandoori mayonnaise (optional) and 2tbps of processed cheese. 

11. Mix until the cheese melts. 

12. Take off the heat and let the mushroom and broccoli filling cool down to room temperature. 

13. While the filling is cooling, pre heat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius.  

14. Cut the Springroll sheet into 4 squares equally. 

15. Grease the muffin tray or moulds lightly with oil or melted butter.  

16. For the pie, arrange the cut Spring roll Sheets one on the top of other diagonally  up till 4 layers by brushing the top side with little oil. 

17. This implies each pie will have 4 layers of small Spring roll sheets placed diagonally. 

18. Add this layered Spring roll Sheets in each of the muffin mould. 

19. Add 1 tbsp of mushroom and broccoli filling and top it with some grated cheese. 

20. Bake the Creamy Mushroom & Broccoli Filo Pie at 180 degrees Celsius for 12-15 mins until it crisps and the cheese melts. 

21. Once baked, serve it with your favourite dips or sauce. 

22. You may eat it alone as well.

She is  currently doing her research and recipe trials for diet foods

Contact her on Instagram, 

Or on her watsapp  9540362224.  

She also has a virtual storefront on ChefBuddy app which is clickable link wherein anyone can order themselves online.