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 22 - Richa Dorwani

Many of our food preferences are built during our growing up days. Everybody loves their own home cooked food, specially the one cooked by their mom, or grand-mom. Back then, we hardly ever went travelling to exotic places, going to Nanima’s house during summer vacation was the ultimate destination . Time was spent playing with cousins and enjoying home-cooked food. Normally we copied/aped the taste of our aunts or cousins. If our favourite aunt liked spicy mutton and was enjoying the taste, we liked the expressions on her face, her relishing of the food, we got curious to taste it, we loved it too. The first time we tasted, we cried, sniffed through leaky nose, but then we liked it. our taste buds got conditioned to eat spicy food. 

Then there are many families, who eat completely bland food (even half a chillie is too spicy) but that’s the way they are conditioned to.

People who grow up in a non-vegetarian home will never understand how others can enjoy the food without meat. Many times we are conditioned to hate certain kind of food without ever tasting it (that too is a copied emotion).

Its only when we begin to understand the flavours and their nutritional value, that we finally start to develop our own taste buds and decide what is best for us. We get exposed to new food on our travels abroad, or at pop-up meetings or at social parties. We experiment  different cuisine at friend’s homes, in restaurants, and even on the streets. Our food journey begins.

But desserts are mostly enjoyed by all, and Richa Dorwani’s cakes are artistically prepared and truly amazing.

Richa Dorwani (Of Desserts Dreams N More fame) is a cake artist.

She specialises in baked goodies like tea cakes, cream cake. Healthy cookies are some of the other items she specialises in. Few of her hot selling items also include evening snacks like Ragda Pattice, Chole, Dahi Vadas.

Her love for good food grew at a very early age watching both, her maternal and paternal grandmothers, cook up yummy finger smacking dishes. She enjoyed entertaining people and loved spending time in the kitchen. Having lived in a joint family most of her life, a large part of her childhood was spent in the company of her cousins. Being surrounded by many people brought about the fun, chaos and a multitude of flavours to taste. 

Her family is located in Mumbai and Pune. So every summer vacation was spent with her family in Pune. Along with her family and cousins, they would try all the eating place around the city and experiment with all kinds of food. She fondly remembers one quaint little Iranian café that they loved to frequent.  

“One such experiment was a quaint little Iranian cafe - Marz-o-rin. They had a little sit out area and the beautiful aroma of a fresh bakery. Their wafer thin chicken sandwiches were a sensational hit amongst all of us cousins. The smell of those delicious baking, the familial inspiration of my grandmothers cooking along with the joy of feeding people, drove me to choose being a Pastry chef and inspired me to push my own start up - Dessert Dreams N More.”

She shares her recipe of Eggless Banana Chocolate Walnut Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 160Centigrade. 

2. Blend 3 medium bananas in a mixer or mash nicely with hands. 

3. Mix this pureed banana with1/2 cup milk, ¼ cup brown sugar, 2tbsp yoghurt, 1tsp vanilla essence, 4tsp rice bran oil, and salt. 

4. Keep it aside. 

5. Sift ½ cup wheat flour, ½ cup maida, ¼ cup Ragi flour, 1tsp baking soda and ½ tsp cinnamon powder for even mixing. 

6. Add wet and dry ingredient gently and evenly. 

7. Add 1/4cup chopped walnuts. 

8. Add 1/2cup chopped dark chocolates chips. 

9. Transfer in a baking dish

10. Bake in pre-heated oven for 35-40minutes. 

11. Check with knife or toothpick, if it comes out clean then it is done.

P.S. - Prices may change depending on availability of raw materials. 

A day's notice would be preferable to whip up your order :) 

Customised cakes are available at an additional cost.

Follow her on Instagram @richa_dorwani

Contact her on Watsapp at 83694 63490

Home Chefs Of Mumbai – Part 21 – Nupur M. Verma

If you are a foodie, you might probably have one big bookshelf of cookbooks in you kitchen cabinet. (most of us flip through photographs and drool over it). Every trip you make oversees, you will pick up a copy of an authentic cookbook from that city. (You promise yourself that you will learn from that). If you have a friend’s cookbook launch, you will surely collect their autographed copy. (but how many of those books have you read back-to-back?) You will ask for recipes, whenever you taste food at friends house (even though you know the recipe). You will enjoy food related TV reality shows or go to U-tube to understand the procedure in detail. (but how many of those dishes have you tried on your own?)

Nobody became a chef by doing just that. 

Cooking is all about pride and passion. It is about experimenting new dishes and treating each party as a personal challenge. It is about getting your hand dirty, spilling oil, powdering face with flour, slipping on vegetable peels, scrubbing the turmeric stains off your dress. It is the process of actual cooking. To understand the technique, it is important to have a Guru. Some-one who can inspire you, guide you patiently, it could be your granny, or your mom, your dad or even a friend. Or you will need to attend some cooking workshops. Only at the live-demo, can you actually learn the basics methods, it's then you see the food created in front of you,  smell the aroma, feel the texture and can taste it too.

If you have attended Nupur Varma’s cooking workshops, you sure to reach half way there.

Nupur. M. Varma (of TheWoodenSpoonbyNupur fame) is an artist, a baker and a home chef.  She also holds workshops and teaches an array of food and bakes. 

She personalises birthdays/celebrations cakes and also wedding cakes. She is known for desserts like Tiramisu, baked Cheese Cakes and glutton free Chocolate cake.

At the Wooden Spoon, you not only get trained in dishing out the unusual mouth watering delights, but also learn to create the perfect ambience for the evening party by using the right crockery for serving, eating, and making your food visually appetising and so on. It is all about experiences of dining out in your own living room

“The wooden spoon is the manifestation of a dream,” she admits, “a dream that there be the world in every kitchen. Food speaks volumes to me, it has always fascinated me. The exploration of the different parts of the world. Their culture, their heritage, their culinary delights.” 

She pursued this throbbing interest at the Merit Swiss Asian school of management in Ooty for 3 years, consequently, during her training at Oberoi hotel in Mumbai, she felt the need to popularise the world’s cuisine and bring it to people’s home, so after extensive research and endless trials, she developed a collection of simple to use recipes of delicacies of exotic places as far flung as Switzerland, Burma, Vietnam and also grandma’s secret recipes from different parts of India. 

“I have preserved the authenticity and unique flavours of every preparation while keeping in mind the Indian vegetarian palate, the recipes have been improvised where necessary, to suit the needs of the modern kitchen and the time constrained office goers.” She informs

The wooden spoon is now 15years old. Her two beautiful daughters and her spouse love to eat everything that she makes and are her official tasters and also biggest critics. Her specialities in the kitchen are Khow Suey and Thai Curry.

Her frequent trip to Seattle is always about Thai Cuisine.

“So this happened 12 years ago for the first time..... in Seattle we went to a small Thai restaurant and they served us a Thai Peanut Curry with Pumpkin and Potatoes in it and every time I got back to Seattle (which is quite often) I must visit that restaurant.” She adds

Nupur loves travelling and trying the local food,  she loves feeding her family and friends with something always new. Baking and cooking is her prime passion.

She is happy to share her recipe of Amritsari Chole and Amritsari Kulcha 

Amritsari Chole

 1. Soak 1 cup chickpeas overnight. 

2. Make a spice bag of 2” cinnamon stick, 4-5 black cardamom, 2 bay leaves, 2” ginger and tie it up. 

3. Similarly make another bag of 5 tsp tea bag, ot take 3 tea bags.

4. Place the soaked chickpeas in the pressure cooker along with spice bundle and tea bags. 

5. Add 2 tbsp black salt and 3 cups of water. 

6. Pressure cook the chick peas upto 3 whistles. 

7. Strain out the water and reserve it for later use. 

8. Heat 2tbsp oil. 

9. Add 1tsp cumin seeds. 

10. Once it splutters add 1tsp of ginger paste and 1tsp of garlic paste. 

11. Add 4-5 slit green chilies. 

12. Mix and cook for a minute. 

13. Add 2 finely chopped onions and cook till golden brown. 

14. Add 3 finely chopped tomatoes and cook till mushy. 

15. Add 2tsp coriander powder, 2tsp cumin powder, 2tsp pomegranate powder, 2tsp chole masala/ Garam masala. 

16. Add the boiled Chole. 

17. Add reserve water as per how much gravy you wish to have. 

18. Cook the Chole in masala for 15-20 minutes. 

19. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with Amritsari Kulcha.

Amritsari Kulcha

1. Mix 2cups flour, ½ tsp baking soda, 1tsp salt, 2tsp sugar and 2tbsp sour curd. 

2. Make a soft dough adding the required amount of water. 

3. Once the dough is ready, add 2tsp of butter. 

4. Knead the dough until it is soft and smooth. approx 8-10 minutes.  

5. Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes. 

6. Once the dough is rested, spread it out approx 1/2” thickness with the help of your finger tips. 

7. Apply 2 tsp butter and sprinkle some dry flour. 

8. Fold 1/3 of the dough, spread the dough once again to ½” thickness with the help of your fingertips. 

9. Apply 2tsp butter and sprinkle dry flour . 

10. Fold it into half and divide into 6-8 portions.  

11. Roll it in round, shape, flatten it a bit and fill it with stuffing (of yout choice).

12. Gather the sides and mold into round ball.  

13. On the rolling board, dust some flour, place the stuffed round ball and start flattening it with your finger tips, 

14. Apply some water on the surface and sprinkle coriander leaves, mint leaves, kalonji seeds, sesame seeds, etc. 

15. Apply water on the bottom and stick this side on the walls of your pre-heated cooker, 

16. Let it cook on medium heat and once done, place a burning coal in the cooker. 

17. Put few drops of oil for the coal to smoke. 

18. Let the kulcha be in the smoke for couple of minutes and remove. 

19. Apply butter to the hot kulcha and sprinkle some amchoor or chat masala on it. 

20. Crush the kulcha slightly with your hand. 

21. Serve hot with Amritsari Chole, and chutney

Follow her on Instagram  @thewoodenspoonbynupur

Contact her on Watsapp at 9820042978

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. 

Home Chefs Of Mumbai- Part 17- Rashmi Ahuja

Back in 70s and before that, most of the people hardly ever went out to a restaurant unless there was an occasion to celebrate. They enjoyed home-cooked food and were happy eating traditional food cooked by their elders at home. They did enjoy food at their friend’s house, (who belonged to another community), but they hardly ever played with ingredients in their own kitchen. Food lovers would pluck out a recipe from magazines and try out a leaf or two, but it was not a regular thing to do. Recipes were passed down within the family members, many of them remained undocumented and were considered as signature cuisine of that community. They never used any measurements, everything was ‘andaaz sey’, pinch of this and a fist of that. They did not taste the food while cooking (because it was first offered to Gods) but could understand the taste by its fragrance. A stew with no salt had different aroma, with less spices, meant it was bland. It was all about experience, they knew the taste of every ingredient and understood the resulting taste. Vegetarian people could cook the tastiest non-vegetarian food because of their experiences of knowing the techniques of cooking.

It was unimaginable for anyone to eat raw beef or raw fish. And then, there came the sophistication at the top end of the food market. Things like Sushi, Rissotto, Cappucino tingled the taste buds. Travelling became easier, people got exposed to strange foods. They shopped for rare ingredients and brought back home. Interest grew, cook-books flooded the market and traditional cooking took a back seat. The new version of food was available, most of them junk version of the real food. 

Indians became adventurous.

But there are still some families,  who have clung to their own traditional cuisine and are discovering the value of home-cooked food, and have realised that our family ate  food that was not only nutritious but also had a scientific reasons for healthy living.

There are some families where three generation of joint family still live in harmony, and all enjoy the food cooked by elders specially like at Rashmi Ahuja’s home.

Rashmi Ahuja was always a home-maker till she entered food reality show at ‘Sanjeev Kapoor ke Kitchen Khiladi’ on Sony TV and was announced as ‘Chef Rashmi Ahuja’ and then she got second chance in life as a participant of ‘India’s Digital Chef’ where she was the finalist. That was the day, at the age of 58 years, she got  her wings to fly. Rashmi believes that cooking is about creating something delicious for someone else. She nourishes the dream of writing a book some day.

Rashmi Ahuja specialises in Vegetarian Sindhi Cuisine and also in Indo-Chinese cuisine. She works only on pre-orders and the rates are fixed according to the availability of the ingredients. A set menu is fixed for Sundays that includes snacks, main course and dessert. Her service spans across western suburbs from Lokhanwalla (Andheri West) to Bandra.

She fondly remembers the taste of Aloo Paratha she had many years ago on her way to Vashnudevi Mata Temple.

“I don't know whether it was the cold season or was it the  taste of that particular Dhaba- that the crispness of Paratha still lingers -and mind you, it was not on a Tava, the half done paratha are roasted in kadai with Amul Butter then flipped on both side till light brown and is served hot with curds, little sugar is added in, it is accompanied by Papad and Achar. That taste I can never bring  it at my home and I still crave for it. “

She also talks about her MIL (now no more) who would prepare ‘Malai Ki Sabji’

“We all used to collect Malai (the cream) from the surface of the milk and make ghee (which we do it no more, because we now use Tetra milk packets). Some times my MIL would make  Malai Ki Sabji instead of preparing ghee. She would take one spoonful of oil.  In a thick bottom pan, sauté 2 or 3 chopped onion for few minutes, add chopped green chilies, chopped ginger, two chopped tomato, salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder, red Chilli powder and lots of coriander leaves. She would then add one big bowl of Malai, keep the kadai on tava, cover it for 5 mins and the delicious ‘Malai Ki Sabji’ was ready to eat with hot hot Sindhi Phulkas.”

She is happy to share her signature dishes Smokey Veg Galouti Kababs

1. In a heavy bottom pan, add 1tbsp of oil or butter. 

2. Add 1tsp Shahi Jeera and 1tbsp ginger, crushed green chilies. 

3. Add 50gms French beans, 50gms carrots, 50gms peas, 50gms capsicum, 50gms cabbage, 50gms Cauliflower. 

4. Add salt, 1tsp red chillies, 1tsp Garam masala, 1/2tsp jeera powder. 

5. Mix well. 

6. Cook till vegetables are tender. 

7. Add 100gms boiled and mashed potatoes. 

8. Add 4/5 tbsp roasted besan,  2tbsp crushed Kasuri Methi and 1tbsp Coriander leaves. 

9. Remove it in a big bowl. 

10. Make a well in the center. 

11. Keep a smaller bowl in the center.  

12. Put hot charcoal and pour oil. 

13. Cover the bigger bowl, so that smoke is trapped inside. 

14. Keep it for 10 minutes. 

15. Remove the smaller bowl of charcoal. 

16. Mix it well. 

17. Shape into round Tikkis. Shallow fry.

Rashmi Ahuja hopes to train youth who can succeed to follow cooking as a career.

You can follow her You Tube channel at RashmiAhuja

Follow her on Facebook

Follow her Instagram handle at rashmikitchenkhazana.rkk

She cooks on request (pre-order only)