ArchaeoBroma, 5-6 May 2018

The first ever Conference on the Archaeology, Sociology, History and Ethnography of Food in India is slated for the 5th and 6th of May 2018 at the University of Mumbai (Kalina) thanks to the Instucen Trust and the Centre for Extra Mural Studies, University of Mumbai

A huge line up of some really great people and papers has been scheduled to bring out the history and culture within food.

Write in to archaeomaha@gmail.com for details

____________________________________________________________________

Can you feel my pulse? Yes, I am all excited to present at #ArchaeoBroma. Who would think that a passion for food and my heritage as a Koli would have brought me here?

I will be returning to my alma mater to speak on FOOD! This after studying Environmental Pollution Control Technology at the Mumbai University at the Kalina Campus. Funny that my scientific paper on 'Preliminary studies on the adsorptions behaviour of Chromium on fly ash' which was published in the prestigious Chemical Engineering World XXXII, ; 1: 81-82 did not get me such an opportunity.

When in school, I aspired to have a degree in Home Science but my Dad discouraged me saying it was meant for rich girls marrying into Business families. We were middle class and a girl of the future so I had to study Science, Medicine or Technology. So I did. 

Life comes full circle though. FOOD, CULTURE and TECHNOLOGY dominates my life as an entrepreneur. 

Mirchi & Mime

Finally the day arrived to check out what the hype was all about?

Veena told me to pick a place to meet somewhere on her route to the western highway from the eastern highway, Powai suits best in such a case and Mirchi & Mime is right next to JVLR. Though if you take the main entrance of Hiranandani it is difficult to find the place.

Veena and Shantavi were already there when I reached and exactly at 12.30pm they opened shop. We had booked a table so we got a choice and as food bloggers do we chose the one with good day light.

The manager came to tell give us instructions on how to order as this was a restaraunt run by special people so the name Mirchi & Mime. We were welcomed by a server by miming as the manager quickly instructed on how we should order from the menu and that we could call him if we found difficulty. The menu is specially designed and limited to keep it operation friendly for the staff. 

After scanning thru the menu we were thrilled to see some originality in the dishes and we decided to try out everything that stood out as unique. We were tired of the regular stuff. So we decided to just settle into our chairs and relish the experience. We chose or drinks first so we could leisure over the selection of the mains. Masala lemonade was really nice with a generous black salt and jal jeera masala. The berry pomegranate granita was lovely leaving a desirable astringent taste on the tongue. Peach and pink peppercorn tasted lovely but I could taste pink guava juice in it instead of peach. We agreed that the natural colored drinks appealed to us instead of the neon colored ones that are paraded in so called cool restaurants.

Before this meet up Veena had come to my home for a Koli yet veg cooking class however I was meeting her sister Shantavi for the first time. As we talked we found out our sensibilities were very similar not just in food but our outlook to life too. We talked about how we weighed honesty above everything. We are women very sure about ourselves and decisions we make. We have the capacity to stand up and face life and look in the eye of all that it throws at us.

The three of us were hungry so we chose Suran sarson pasanda a delicate tava fried tikki that is melt in the mouth. The second starter was Shakarkand ki chaat, nice chat masala spiced smoked sweet potatoes ladled with sweet dahi, green and mithi chutney and shreds of fried sweet potato, charchteristically stringy yet beautifully crunchy. 

Moving on to the mains excited by the promise of Paneer methi kofta in a roasted tomato kurma gravy was promptly ordered besides the Nilgiri green curry of makhana cooked with fresh veggies like matar, babycorn and carrot in a cilantro based gravy. Both were outstanding the roasted tomato gravy was smooth and sun-kissed. The paneer koftas just crumbled into the gravy with just a prod.

The curries were wiped off with hot tandoori rotis and Paratha choori which is bits of crisp paratha with generous amounts of black pepper and dash of chat masala. We munched on it.

After such beautiful food the grand finale with the desserts just made us sing! What we devoured, Srilankan jaggery pudding what is popular in its native land as Watalappan. Unanimously voted the best dish! 

Srilankan jaggery pudding Watalappan

A subtle sugarfree Sitaphal panacotta

 and a Bakewell coconut tart without the crust served with a scoop of icecream 

The food is outstanding. Ambience bright with lots of daylight and a happy busy vibe . Yet there is a silence in the service that makes eating there a pleasure. The server uses placards to explain the dish. Effeciently the dishes are served and cleared with every course. Attentive yet non interfering. By the time we are ready to leave we have got a hang of the Mime and though we did try hard to use signs language while ordering saying Thank you was easy!

We would like to rate the food outstanding and service smooth as it should be. You don't feel the hype of Mime in the service and that makes it a dignified restaurant that is run by special people with hearing and speech challenges. It is not a show of their disabilities at all and it should never be. Go there to eat because though a limited menu we loved every dish that we ate and I am sure you will too.

Update: While we enjoyed all the vegetarian food the Non veg food on the table next to ours looked stunning. They were having some kind of a tandoori chicken and a purdah biryani. My husband requested that I mention this, as he is keen to try the Non veg there after I described this to him.

This review is for Veena who pampered me and Shantavi on this day. Thank you for your generosity!

All pics clicked d by Veena

Powai

Koli cuisine: Adding tadka at fisher folk weddings

Splashed ! across publications. Where I talk to Press Trust of India (PTI) about the Koli weddings and traditions.  Where food especially fish is a big deal.

PTI is the the largest news agency in India. Here is the original link.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/9439986_Koli-cuisine--Adding--tadka--at-fisher-folk-weddings.html

You can also read on Outlook India, India Today, Medium, Business Standard etc.

Further Reading

Ghari

The Yellow Glow Of The Turmeric and my Halad Menu

My wedding posts: A Koli Weds A Parsi

The most important ritual for the Kolis is the Halad and so the meal following it.

Discovery: Marayoor Jaggery

This write up was first published on FB. It got appreciation from a lot of food lovers so bringing it here under a new label "Discovery"

Marayoor jaggery has always fascinated me. In South Indian temple paysams I wondered how they achieved the rich dark color? Why was it more sweeter than our Maharashtra's golden jaggery? Answers to all these I found out only last night on google. I bought a 1kg of these stone like balls only because a shop in Munnar mentioned on its front that they were selling Marayoor jaggery. My intuition told me that it must be special. All the research has me smitten. This jaggery has 97% sugar content. The sugarcane is grown in the Marayoor rainforest region. I think we drove thru this region  on our recent road trip through Kerala. The pH of the soil makes the wonderful molasses and ofcourse it is unbleached and may be organic. 

Last night I had pressure cooked Chana dal with the aim of making Parsi chana ni daar. So divided the dal into two portions and made the savory chana ni daar to go with our rotlis and made an impromptu payasam too. With Parsi dairy ghee drizzled on it. The meal was so satiating even though simple. The finicky bawa loved it too.

Besides the jaggery I was floored by the history of Marayoor which dates back to stone age and relics of the past. Hope to visit this region again.

The First Sankrant

The sugar bead jewelry made by Kavita Dhuri Kadu

Sankrant 2016 came fast. It was the first festival after my marriage in Dec 2015. My family brought me gifts of a black saree for Sankrant and the sugar bead jewelry as is the tradition in most communities in Maharashtra. This is not a Koli tradition but we accepted it in our family as my SIL Mangala Vahini wanted to do it for me as is her Maratha family's tradition. It was done for my Nephew and his wife Dipti too. Haldi kunku is traditionally for women but we included the men too. The sugar bead jewelry for both me and Dipti was made by our dear friend Kavita Dhuri Kadu. 

The tradition of a black saree is practiced in Maharashtra as on the day of Sankrant the sun starts its movement to the Northern hemisphere and marks the end of Winter solstice. It is the coldest day of winter.  It is believed that wearing black on the Sankrant ensures that the rest of the year is a bright one while it keeps the body warm. 

I had ordered this Bengali kantha work saree from 'Suryabartta' owned by Sayantani's  Mother but I was unable to wear it on the day as I had left it in Dad's place and funnily brought just the blouse to my sasural. So my bro Vijay had to rush to Dadar market to get another black saree for me which you see in the first pic.

That's Dipti my nephew's beautiful wife in all her Sankrant finery. 

 

Dipti & Sujal

The Parsi vegetarian dinner I had cooked up for the family on that day that year.

Such a memorable day it was!

How Khichdi Cooked Up A National Dish Buzz, Bombay Times Nov 4, 2017,

Read it here.

http://www.bombaytimes.com/lifestyle/food/how-khichdi-cooked-up-a-national-dish-buzz/articleshow/61487354.cms


The original recipe post is here on this blog.

Narakchaturdashi 2017

फराळाला या

Come join us for the feast

In our Parsi and Koli household it feels complete when Marathi faral fills the heirloom crockery.

The tea-set is from 1860. Probably it belonged to my great grandmother inlaw. It is manufactured by Bengal Potteries.

The birds on an Almond tree plate is the only one remaining and the lid of the bowl which I use with a different bowl from another set. This is a #staffordshirepottery collection.

This bowl is Made in England, specially imported by F.M. Bharmull & Co. Bombay

These two serving platters don't bear any manufacturing stamp. These belonged to my grandmother inlaw

ll शुभ लाभ ll धनत्रयोदशीच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छा ! Wishing you prosperity this Dhanteras!

 ll शुभ लाभ ll धनत्रयोदशीच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छा !

Wishing you prosperity this Dhanteras!

Landed in Paradise

You read this...Back In Fort For Navaratri After Decades.

After it we went to Gateway of India enjoyed the sea breeze a bit and then the husband mentioned he wanted to try out Paradise. At around 10 pm we landed in Paradise literally and pun-nily.

As the husband parked the bike I rushed in knowing that we were late and it was time to shutter down for the day. I pleaded with Jimmy uncle that we were hungry and need to be fed and that I am their fan. He smiled big when I mentioned we both featured in the same episode of The Great Indian Rasoi with Chef Ranveer Brar. Immediately he instructed his boys to serve us.

I seated AC first, asked for the menu and then looked at Jimmy uncle and asked 'anything veg?'. Like a true Parsi he mocked in response, 'who is veg?'.

We settled for salli boti and rotli for the man and veg fried rice with gravy for me. 

While the order was brought to the table we discussed about common old friends who have an office in the same building. It was such a lovely feeling coming back to Paradise with my husband and discussing old and new times even though he didn't know me and we were the last customers so an almost personal service. Even the staff is lovely, they believe in feeding and did not grumble even though it was closing time.

Homey Parsi food is the characteristic of  Paradise. The salli was so fine and the husband was happy with just that.

I enjoyed my veg fried rice with the gravy. This was Parsi Chinese, the gravy I mean. But so comforting like Mom's cooking.

Oh yes there was Pallonji raspberry to wash down the food. The servers know to ask the right questions to especially the Parsi client with a twinkle in the eye.

Jimmy uncle chose our dessert for us. He said,'Share a lagan nu custard'. We did not want to eat dessert but he knows how to tempt. AC being the finicky kind asked me to make a taste check and these days he trusts my newly developed palate for Parsi food. When he saw my face light up and signal a superb. He immediately wanted a full piece for himself. Its different from the usual Lagan nu custard in that it is served chilled and ladled with warm sugar syrup over it. I could taste a little bit of semolina in it but it worked well to make it grainy in the right way and for me the best thing was it was not eggy at all. The cardamom and nutmeg notes are subtle. The custard is outstanding, living up to the name!

Address: Sind Chambers, S. B. S., M, Causeway Road, Apollo Bandar, Colaba, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400005, India