Gor Papdi

Flash back to the days in Fort, there is a Jalaram Bappa and Ambe Mata temple in the building opposite my home. The bhajan is in full swing, me standing at the window and sticking out my head as a kid and there is a promise of Gor papdi prasad. Dad warns not go down at night. So I tell Ji, my grand old neighbor that if she goes down to the temple to get prasad for me. I tell Bharat to keep prasad for me. Ensure I get atleast one pudi of prasad (wrapped in newspaper).

Next morning we go to the temple and the potbellied pujari hands me a packet. Thrilled to bits I rush up and nibble the small piece. Then Ji asks if I want the prasad and I happily nod a yes. Bharat too ensures he drops in prasad at my home along with the milk bottle he drops everyday.

At another time Mom is discussing what to make as travel snacks for us to take on our yearly trip to Ganagapur-Akalkot-Gondavale and Kaki, Rajput suggests that we make khari puri and Gor papdi. So the two of them decide it would be made in the afternoon. Kaki would teach my Mom.

I would be pottering around and listening to Kaki's stories of travel. This image of gor papdi tied up in a cloth potli has stayed in my mind. Of the travelers eating it under the tree and drinking water from a kamandalu.

Flash forward to now. For our family trip to Gondavale besides many other things I made Gor papdi. This traditional sweet is made from pantry staples and gets done in less than 30 mins.

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup ghee

1/2 jaggery

1/8 cup water

5-6 cardamoms 

2-3 tablespoons poppy seeds

(This recipe can be doubled or tripled in all proportions very easily. I used 3 cups of wheat flour for the tray of gor papdi you see in the pics.)

First grease a plate and keep it ready.

In a kadhai heat ghee, once molten add the wheat flour slowly to it. Keep mixing and stirring till the wheat flour is browned and smells nutty. 

Meanwhile separately in a saucepan add the water and jaggery and heat till it dissolves completely. 

Pour the jaggery liquid into the ghee roasted wheat flour. At this point use the seeds of cardamom after crushing them. Stir till it starts leaving the sides of the kadhai and forms a mass at the center. About 5-6 mins.

Now transfer the mass onto the greased plate. Even it out with a katori. Sprinkle poppy seeds. Level it well. Let it set a bit and then cut up into pieces. Let it cool completely.

Once cooled pack it into a box. It stays fresh for 15 days. 

That's a healthy and nutritious snack for you better when you travel excellent for hikking trekking trips.

Kancheepuram Idli

Like a reader commented on FB, I am here with another 'divine recipe'.

I have recieved the Kacheepuram idli as prasad on couple of occassion. This variation in idli I have eaten was the Rava idli with a tadka, called as Kancheepuram idli. Only after tasting the real temple prasad did I know the difference. However recieving it as prasad meant I got the idli after 1-2 days in transit so not as a fresh one. I wasn't really impressed but then when you have a whole lot of Tamil friends saying praises of the Lord Varadarajaperumal and the idli offered as prasad then your curiosity peaks. 

The Sitemeter on this blog brings in loads of info and insights. One such was this link to an old article in The Hindu that explored Tamil Nadu and finally attempted to decode the Kancheepuram idli.

Of the recipes on that link I refered to the original temple recipe and since it did not mention the amount of Urad Dal I used my own experience from the memory of the taste to arrive at the quantity. This temple recipe is for a very large quantity in kilos so I have adapted it for cooking at home. I have gone for 2:1 ratio for Rice and Urad dal.

SRI VARADARAJAPERUMAL TEMPLE RECIPE

(To make 10 idlis)

IngredientsRaw rice 2kg, Urad dhal kg, Methi 25gm, Pepper 100gm, Jeera 100gm, Dry ginger 100gm,Asafoetida, Curry leaves, Ghee 800gm, Salt

Method: Soak the rice, urad dhal and methi for an hour. Grind to a rough consistency. Add salt and leave overnight. In the morning, add pepper, jeera, dry ginger, asafoetida (all without tempering), sautéd curry leaves and ghee. Mix well and cook. It takes about an hour to cook.

At home, in a cooker it may take only 15 minutes. Place pieces of mandharai leaves on the idli tray and then pour the batter.

I don't know what are Mandharai leaves. Hope you readers can enlighten me.

My Recipe 

2 cups Raw rice 
1 cup Urad dhal 
1/ 4 teaspoon Methi 
1 tablespoon Peppercorns
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon Dry ginger powder
1/ 2 teaspoon Asafoetida
1/2 cup Curry leaves
1 tablespoon Ghee
Salt to taste

Soak the rice and dal together along with methi for 1 hour. Grind to coarseness with enough water. Add salt and let it frement overnight.

The next morning. Crush the peppercorns and add to fermented batter. Add the raw cumin seeds, dry ginger powder, asafoetida into the batter.  Now temper the curryleaves in ghee and add the batter. Mix well. 

Oil plates and pour the spiced batter into the plates. Steam for 15-20 mins in the cooker. 

Demold. Cut up into quarters and serve with an array of chutneys. I made two, coconut cilantro and a tomato chutney to serve on my plate.

' The Aamti ' from Gondavale

A typical meal at Gondavale temple would be Bajarichi Bhakari, Bhaat, Brinjals with crushed peanuts, Aamti, buttermilk, salt on the side, Khuraasnichi chutney, Spicy lime pickle. The Kandi peda in the middle is a Satara special that is offered at the temple.

Gondavale is where my family's faith lies. It is a small sleepy village that comes to life only when there are certain festive days like Ram Navami, Gurupournima, Shree Gondavalekar Maharaj's punyatithi etc.

Shree Gondavalekar Maharaj is the saint who was born there and in his life time he helped people find the love of God through chanting the divine name. He propogated the "Shree Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram" mantra. Today there is a Samadhi Mandir and a trust that manages it. Read more about it on my travel blog, Swachchanda.

Shree's family was the Kulkarni of Gondavale. In his times whenever there was drought he would start some project in the village and provide food to the villagers. Most times it would be a Bajarichi Bhakari with spicy aamti. This aamti continues to be made in the Kitchens of Gondavale Sansthan and is served to 1000s of pilgrims every day along with the meal. There are many stories of miracles that people narrate on consuming the aamti. That is people's strong faith. We love the aamti so much that when we were kids we would drink dron-ful / Leaf cups full of it, guzzle it up when the volunteers came towards us to serve.

It is much later that we started making this aamti at home when we decoded the ingredients and were able to source the special blend of Goda masala from Gondavale itself.

This Gondavale Masala as we like to call is available on my E-shop. It is a fragrant masala and has a satvic taste that it imparts to the food. It can be used for curries and Masale bhaat but the best use is in this aamti. The sweet, tangy spicy aamti can liven up a simple meal. 

Not only the devotees and pilgrims who have tasted it but also many who have heard about it would like to have it decoded. While temple recipes never taste the same at home for two reasons, one the mass proportions in which it is made and above all the blessings of the Lord!

Yet I am trying to put down a recipe that I feel is very close to the original and that I make often in my own kitchen. 

Ingredients

1 cup cooked dal

4-5 kokum or 1/8 cup tamarind pulp

2 teapsoon oil

1/2 teaspoon mustard

1 tablespoon Gondavale Goda Masala

1/2 teaspoon red chili powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon asafoetida

2 green chilies slit

1 sprig of curry leaves

2- 3 tablespoons crushed jaggery

salt to taste

handful of cilantro for garnish

Heat a deep pan add oil and splutter mustard seeds in it. Add the asafoetida, follow in with the curry leaves and slit green chilies. Shake the pan around to avoid charring of the phodni / seasonings.

Now add the cooked dal to it. Add the spices red chilli powder, turmeric powder and don't forget the Gondavale Goda Masala. Top up with water, the aamti at Gondavale is very thin and watery. You may want it slightly thick so adjust the water to your liking. 

Churn the dal with a Ravi/ beater. This helps thicken it and liquidize the dal. 

Once the dal looks well blended and is boiling rapidly, reduce the heat. At this stage add the kokum or tamarind pulp and jaggery. Let it simmer for 5 mins after adding salt. Dress up the aamti with fine chopped  fresh cilantro.

Serve steaming hot. Drink it up. Mix with rice and toop/ ghee or crumble a stale bhakri and slurp it up!

Mango Chilly

Ever since I sourced Mango pulp for my E-shop I have not missed Mango through the year. It is available for me to use when I want and in whatever I want without much thought. That does not mean I do not enjoy the fresh fruit. The fruit will be enjoyed soon now is time it will start flooding the market. Until then I have my mango pulp.

Today I am sharing this lovely cooler that I made. Did you note the pun in the name, its Mango with chilli and served chilled!

A sip and you feel the sweet taste at the tip of your tongue, as the swig progresses on to the middle of your palate you taste the hints of salt and the lime. Then the chili hits the back of the throat and you hold the glass at eye level to say...hummmm...good stuff!

That's the kind of a drink it is, and ready in just 10 mins.

Ingredients

For a single drink

3 tablespoons Mango pulp

1 tablespoon sugar

1 small pinch red chilli powder

1 large pinch pink salt/ rock salt

1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/2 a lime

150 ml water

6-7 ice cubes

for decoration

1 red dried chili 

a sprig of mint 

wood skewer

In a drink shaker or a jar with a tight lid add the sugar, red chilli powder, pink or rock salt, chili flakes and water. Squeeze half lime into it. Shake shake shake till the sugar and salt dissolve completely. Add the mango pulp to it and shake well again. 

Pour out into a serving glass, I used a large tumbler. Top with ice cubes. 

Dress up the drink: On a wood skewer fix a chili and poke in the sprig of mint into it. Insert the decoration into the drink filled glass.

Enjoy sipping on it as you relax in your chair and look far away into to the  hot summer afternoon.

This Mango Chilly is excellent to entertain. Serve it up with Gol gappas. Let people dip the puffed up puris into their tumblers and enjoy the pani puri shots!

P.S: Will update the pani puri shots pic when I have a beautiful model for it. Yesterday I made it the 5th time again for family after we returned home from a 3 day trip into the country. It was an ideal hot summer treat after the entire day on the heated express way.

Gulkand Kulfi

Kulfi, Kulfi-yo~~ 

That was the call of the Kulfiwala. Every summer night he would roam the backstreets of the Fort, Mumbai that went silent after all the commercial activities closed and the locals would find their peace and go down for a walk and the boys and men gathered to chat at the street corners.

We as kids would go running to window and call out to the Kulfiwala, "Bhaiya upar aana" calling him up to our third floor home. There would be much excitement as he would climb the stairs and we would keep the change ready. He would put down the huge basket which nestled the large urn or matka on to the floor. The urn would be filled with salt and ice to keep the kulfi frozen. It would then be covered with a red cloth which he ensure was always wet to retain the chill. Barely would he have settled the basket down and each one of us would demand our own flavours, Malai, Kesar pista, Pista. These were the basic 3 flavors he carried. The Malai kulfi tasted the best. Simple with no artificialness. Then he'd pick out one kulfi mould cone and rub it between his palms to loosen the set kulfi inside and pop it out on a leaf, cutting it up into bite sized pieces. There was never a time when we did not lick up the last bits of kulfi from the leaf!

The Gulkand kulfi is a more sophisticated version that I had never tasted on the streets but in a fancy restaraunt. Any kulfi is pure joy but Gulkand kulfi is romance of the flavors of boiled down milk and rose petals. It transports you into the era of the Mughals. They who brought to India the Persian influences, the use of rose in cooking and what better way than in a Indian cool treat.

You will find many recipes of Kulfi across the internet and in books that include corn flour as a thickner or other modern adaptation of a quick fix recipe using condensed milk from a can. However I choose to go the traditional way. Making Kulfi is a love affair you cannot rush thru it. It is just not the same, it has to be done slowly and over time. I prefer to do it over two days savoring every stage of the making as much as letting the sublime flavors melt in the mouth with every morsel.

A great Gulkand kulfi need two things, full fat milk and good quality rose petal jam that gives the name "Gulkand".

First let me explain to you what is Gulkand after all. When the roses are blooming, the best are picked, cleaned and petals are separated. Then in a glass jar the petals are layered with sugar and suncooked. The suncooking pales the bright red color of rose petals but the sweet smell is encapsulated by the sugar and you get a lovely jam. You can make your own jam at home with this method if you have access to organically grown roses. Gulkand boasts of wonderful ayurvedic properties and it's best know for its cooling effect on the human body. It is either consumed as is in spoonfuls or had mixed in the daily glass of milk in the summer months. 

Stay away from anything that is bright red on dark pink colored and labeled as Gulkand. It would without doubt have artificial food color. A good Gulkand in kulfi lends a creamy shade to the kulfi. I succumbed to the pressure of making it colored to give it a rosy look as the name suggest the use of roses so I used a little bit rose syrup, yes the pink colored liquid from a good brand but I could have avoided it easily.

Are you ready to enjoy the wonderous art of making Kulfi with me?

Lets begin...

Ingredients

3 litres Full fat Milk

100 gms Gulkand

25 ml Kalverts rose syrup (skip this if you do not want the rose tinge)

100 gms sugar

10 cardamom pods

Day 1:

Pour milk in a large thick bottom vessel. Boil it and reduce the quantity to about half the amount. It takes about 1 hour on the smallest burner and on simmer. Ensure you are stirring intermittenly and the milk is not charring at the bottom. If it does there is nothing that can be fixed as it will smell burnt and affect the taste too. So stay close. 

Once the milk is reduced add the sugar. Now remove some milk into a different pot and mix the gulkand and Kalvert syrup into it. The pic below shows the steps and the difference in colors at every stage. Pour back the Gulkand mix into the reduced milk pot. Let it simmer for 10 mins. Peel the cardamom pods and separate the seeds. Add the seeds to the thickened milk and give a stir to distribute evenly.

Put off the gas and allow it to cool completely. I generally do this at night after I finish cooking and in a clean work area so there is no chance of any other flavors or smells affecting the purity of milk. Never do it parallely with other activity else its easy to spoil milk.

Day 2. 

In clean kulfi moulds fill to 3/4 capacity the cooled thickened milk, sugar and gulkand mix. I filled 6 kulfi moulds and the rest I put in 2 plastic containers. Chill for a 24hrs in the deep freezer. You can check in 2hrs if set completely and you are in a hurry to serve it. 

Serving

Each kulfi mould can be rubbed between the palm to warm up and then demoulded into a serving dish. It can be cut up into bitsized pieces or left whole.

To demould the kulfi from the pastic contains just dip them in warm water and invert on to a plate. Them slice up into roundels. Serve a slice on a nice plate.

So you see Kulfi making takes time but it has just 4-5 ingredients that make this cool treat a lasting memory.

Note: For a plain malai kulfi you need to skip the gulkand and instead increase the amount of sugar to your taste. Once you have the basic kulfi play around with flavors, colors textures using saffron, fruits and nuts.

ANZAC Biscuits

I started out on daily photo sharing on 365project.org though I haven't been very regular and am yet to try something exceptional with the camera. I am learning and will get there. What's nice is I have new friends with common interests. Rosie posted a pic of Anzac biscuits while she was baking and they looked so lovely that I almost complusively requested her for the recipe. She mentioned they are an Aussie favorite and has something to do with WWI.

(This teaset is my Aai's I used it more than she did. There are just two cups and saucers left now while the teapot, sugar pot and the milk pot are all in perfect condition)

I got curious and reading...

It's interesting that large no. of the innovations almost always have their beginnings in the military or atleast related in some way. The ANZAC or Australian and New Zealand Army Corps lends its name to these biscuits, because these were sent by the military wives to soldiers during the World War I. These biscuits transported well thru the Navy and had a good shelf life. They became commercially popular too later on. Even today these are made as a fundraiser item. 

The Anzac biscuit caught my fancy even more when I got to know that it is an eggless recipe right from the original times. When it was common to use eggs in biscuits and cookies the eggs found no use in these. That gave these biscuits their extra shelf life. It is said there was a shortage of eggs during the world war so skipping the eggs made it economical too. Mind you and you cannot call these cookies. The Australian and New Zealand law protect both the recipe and the name. You cannot change both. They are therefore the ANZAC Biscuits!

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons golden syrup or treacle (I used honey)
150g unsalted butter, chopped
1/2 teaspoon soda bicarb

Preheated the oven to 180°C. Measured out the flour, oats, sugar and coconut in a large bowl and gave it a stir to mix. I used desicated coconut powder this time, another time will try flakes for more texture.

In a cup microwaved the butter for 30secs and slowly blended in the honey and zapped it up for another 30 secs. I used honey this time next time I might use Jaggery syrup or molasses.

Mixed the soda bicarb with 1 1/2 tablespoons water and added to the liquid mixture while still hot. While it bubbled up kept stirring together. Poured it into the dry ingredients and mixed together until fully combined. Rolled tablespoonfuls of mixture into balls, flattened slightly and placed on baking trays lined with Al foil. Baked for 15 minutes till golden brown.

These biscuits are nice and chewy on the edges and deliciously crumbly in the centre.

You get about 24 biscuits of 2 inches size with the above proportions.

Inviting my 365project friends Rosie n Chris over for a virtual tea with this post and lots of conversation about our worlds.

Thank you Rosie for the recipe! I've already made them twice one small batch with your proportions and this one was 4X.

Sev Barfi or Singhar Ji Mithai

गुढी पाडव्याच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्या !

Does it matter if I post a Sindhi sweet recipe on a Marathi New year? Would it taste different if I tell you I made it in Diwali and am posting it now? 

No, naa. Then here is the recipe. You have one more sweet recipe to try at home.

Since I spent the first few years of my life in Colaba where besides the Kolis the Sindhis have their base, I grew up feasting on a lot of sweets from the famed Sindhi Mithaiwalas, whether it was Kailash Parbat or Chandu halwai. Then 20 years later Jhama's had us swearing with the hot samosas, juicy jelabis and a lot lot more. The sev barfi was brought home as an odd time treat, never for the religious rituals or naivedya. For the naivedya it has to be pure milk based sweets and this sev barfi had chana atta in the form of sev so was meant only for human consumption.

I don't know what made me think I cannot make it at home. Then I chanced on Alka Keswani's Sindhi Rasoi it sounded so easy so how could I not give it a try. During Diwali I was visiting friends when I made it as gifts for them and packed it into pretty boxes. It definitely is an uncommon sweet and people love the little surprise of a sweet made from sev. 

The key to making it successfully is laying your hands on Feeka sev! That's salt free Sev. The sev is usually savoury snack or topping that goes on the chaats but for this sweet the regular sev will not work.

Again I got lucky to  get Feeka Sev at Jhama's itself and I bought it on stealth lest my Dad who was with me asked me to dump it and buy the ready made Singhar Ji Mithai instead. That would have been easier but a blogger never takes it easy when it comes to food gifts, what say?

So there I was loaded with a kg of Sev and I mean that's a lot. I was home and in the kitchen boiling sugar syrup to make my own Sev barfi. I doubled the quantities as I need a large batch to be given to 3 families. I used vanilla and dropped the food color. My barfi was richer with more mawa.

Ingredients

500 gms Feeka Sev

750 gms mawa

500gms sugar

3 cups water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cashews and almonds for decoration
5-6 cardamoms peeled, seeds separated

In a saucepan measure out the water and add sugar to it. Boil it till sugar dissolves. Add the vanilla extract.

Keep a greased tray ready.

Add the sev to it and stir to mix. Break the mawa into chunks but don't crumble it. Add it into the sev and sugar mix. Stir to even out. 

Transfer the mix into the tray. Level it out. Score the barfi. 

Chop the almonds and split the cashews, decorate as shown or just the way you like. Sprinkle the separated cardamom seeds over the top.

I do not use Varakh or silver foil. Its a choice I make, here is why?

Shahi Makhana

Hi!

It's been a month since the last post so it calls for a special one. Here I am with a recipe of a restaraunt style dish.

We move on to this celebration worthy recipe of Shahi Makhana that you are eagerly waiting for. The gravy is familiar but the Makhana in it is unusual you think, just give it a try and you will tell me you love it.

Ingredients

1 cup Makhana

2 large onions chopped lenghtwise

3-4 medium tomatoes

1/4 cup cashew nuts

2 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

salt to taste

handful of chopped cilantro

In a kadhai heat the oil, fry the onions to transluscent. Chop the tomatoes and add to the onions. Cook till tomatoes are mushy. Let it cool.

Remove the fried onions and tomatoes into a wet grinder. Add the cashew nuts in along with the spices. Blend to get a paste. Use a little bit of water to grind. Keep aside.

Now toast the Makhana on heat till crisp. Pour in the ground masala paste. Adjust water to a consistency you like. A thick gravy is the best. Finally add salt and cilantro and bring it to a boil. 

This Shahi Makhana pairs well with a crisp Naan/ Kulcha or Punjabi Roti and its lipsmacking with jeera rice or a veg pulao.

There that's my balti of Shahi Makhana, what are you waiting for pick up the ladle and take a dig.

Fig and Ricotta Pizza and Tomato Black Olive Mozarella Pizza

I was looking at my label for Pizza and realized I do not post too many pizza recipes and I do not eat too many pizzas anymore. Yes like everyone else my generation I was hooked to all those Pizza brands but one that I most loved was Sicillian. It was a small outlet in our cafeteria at work and they knew how to really bake the pizza base and the topping perfectly this while others used readymade pizza bases.

Recently I was browsing thru two recipe books actually I was just enjoying the pictures when I spotted a recipe for a thin crust dough. I just need to try it and it was so good I though I'd share it with you here.

We, that's Dad and me insist on crisp pizzas, limp will not do for us. So this recipe looked promising. Also I decided to try new toppings along with a standard veggie pizza of Tomato and black olives, dependable as it is.

Ingredients

For the dough (Reference: The Taj Magazine)

100 gms flour

1.5 tablespoons olive oil

salt to taste

1/4 teaspoon yeast

40 ml water

In the magazine all it says is knead the pizza dough and roll it out into a round base. Put on pizza tray.

However here is what I do from my experience of making pizza doughs.

Warm the water for 15 secs in the microwave. Add yeast and sprinkle some flour over it. Let it bloom for 10 mins. Now in a bowl measure out the flour. Slowly add the bubbled yeast liquid into the flour and bring it together in a ball. On a counter place 1/4 teaspoon salt and pour the 1.5 tablespoons olive oil over it. Now remove the dough on the counter and knead together with salt and olive oil for 5 mins. Make a smooth ball and divide into 2 portions.

Roll out the dough into two bases. I made one 8 inch base and another rectangular base.  Line the baking trays with foil if needed and place the base in it. Some trays do not have textured surface and it is tough to clean so I always line with foil.

Toppings for Pizza I

2 Sweet fresh figs sliced

1 cup Ricotta cheese, mine is homemade

2 pinches dried Thyme

2 pinches dried chili flakes

1/8 cup Balsamic vinegar

Bake the pizza base at 300 deg celcius for 15 mins. Remove from oven and sprinkle ricotta cheese. Place the fig slices over the ricotta. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar over. Sprinkle the thyme and follow in with chilli flakes. You can either put it into the oven for another 10 mins, till the ricotta bubbles or eat it straight once topped. 

The flavours of this pizza are amazing. Its not your everyday pizza and we loved it with the standard tomato black olive pizza. One was a main the other a wonderful dessert pizza!

Toppings for Pizza II

1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup grated mozarella and processed cheese mix
2 tomatoes sliced
a handful of olives sliced
2 teaspoons Itallian herbs
1 teaspoon dried chili flakes

On the second pizza base spread the tomato sauce, top it with cheese. Lay the tomato slices and spread evenly the olive slices. Dust with mixed Itallian herbs and chili flakes. 

Bake the pizza at 300 deg celsius for 20 mins or till desired crispness.

Enjoy the two pizzas!

Koli Food and Culture Experience

As it happens on the Internet Meera Sodha stumbled on my blog and messaged me through my FB page. Meera born and bred in England was here in India to research on Indian food. The food and culture that her grandparents took with them to Uganda and later to England. She herself was however brought up on Indian food with British influences. Her first book Mother India is infact under print right now in London and it captures that transition of recipes from India to Uganda to Britain.

Her message said, 

"I would love to talk to you about your community, Koli food and with any luck, ask you for a cookery lesson and a few recipes."

A few messages and calls later we decided to meet immediately the next day itself. Our meet up point fixed, outside the Colaba telephone exchange at 9 am. Both excited to share and learn from each other. I was to realize at the end of the day, we both are doing similar work, she in England and me in India.

Our plan

1. Shop for Seafood and other ingredients.

2. Go to Meera's place and cook up a a fiery storm.

3. Lots of talk on Koli food and culture thru the day.

4. Sit down to an authentic Koli meal.

Menu:

1. Coconut based curry

2. Fish fry

3. A Stir Fry

4. Rice roti

5. Steamed rice

(I chose the seafood for the menu based on Meera's preferences of what she wanted me to cook.)

Armed with the magic Koli Masala without which this day would not be the same and in tow my sous chef, Mad. Meera was there at our meeting point before me, we had started our day early to commute to Colaba so it was only natural to begin our meet with a chai at a nearby restaurant. Over with introduction and setting the expectations of a relaxed day and lots of chatter, we did not realize it was over an hour we sat there.

Meanwhile the Colaba market was all set to welcome visitors and buyers. This is one of the oldest and smaller markets in SoBo. The location is the oldest as it is in the Koli heartland of Colaba Koliwada however the premises have been renovated a decade ago to make it a Municipality run market. We went straight to S a relative of mine who sells fish there, confident that she would be able to help us choose the seafood according to our planned menu. It meant bringing in variety in a single meal, a challenge for the eater not the cook. One really must have a BIG appetite for fish!

There was Halwa (Black pomfret) and there was Saraga (Silver Pomfret) on display, the obvious choice was Halwa for the fry. A lone Mushi (baby shark) on the selling board was calling out to us so we picked that up too for the fry. We were told to wait till the fresh tiger prawns arrived from Sasoon dock, they were for the stir fry. Just then along came my childhood friend B and we bought some medium sized Suke Bombil (dried Bombay duck) from her, she curiously enquired what we had on mind. Ofcourse a Bombil Batata curry I told her. She smiled approvingly, saying "Khobra lavun?" to which I nodded back for she guessed it right.

While we looked around the fish market for more, Meera went crazy clicking pictures of customers haggling with the fisherwomen, hunting for a woman dressed in the traditional Koli garb and even spotting a blacksmith outside the market sharpening the cleavers for the fisherwomen. How mesmerised she was yet absorbing everything like a sponge in her last work week in India.

A Koli woman draped in 12 yards saree and wearing the traditional jewelry.

Sparks flying as he sharpens the cleaver.

S meanwhile got busy cleaning up and prepping the Halwa and Mushi for the fries with a very surgeon like precision! The Kolbi (Tiger prawns) arrived and the Maushi deshelled and deveined the prawns with deft fingers as we watched her amazing skills.

We shopped for rest of the ingredients like rice flour, oil, onions, garlic, chilies, lime and fresh Cilantro. Unfortunately we could not get our hands on Ambe mohor rice that I insist for a meal like this. Meera mentioned she had kokum in her temporary kitchen and I was not surprised as she was here to explore the various community cuisines of Mumbai. Read further to know what adaptation happened by accident in that kitchen.

Laden with the bags of seafood, grains, flour and greens we hailed the yellow black Mumbai taxi and drove off to Meera's place. On the way passing thru familiar sights, by my school, along the Marine drive, up the winding roads of Malabar hill coming to a stop in front of our destination kitchen.

Suddenly we were excited with the challenge of cooking in this really basic kitchen. All it had was a small mixie, an old enamel coated gas stove and aged pots and pans. Both Meera and I agreed that is the way to cook in the real world in real India. Far from the conveniences of her hotel kitchen and my well equipped home kitchen. Infact some of these appliances are not available in the tiny villages in deeper country.

We started by washing, draining and then marinating the Halwa and Mushi with the Koli masala, turmeric and salt for the fries. The Kolbi  for the stir fry. Mad, my sous chef who played hesitant when she was helping me with the Catering order was showing considerable confidence on this day, it came from years of watching her Mum and Grandma cooking the Koli way. Even before I could instruct she was moving smoothly chopping onions, peeling garlic and selecting a pan for frying the fish.

In went the slices of Halwa and inbetween carefully flipping them, I broke the coconut and got Mad to wedge and slice it up for the masala. She was amazing at this point and did not require my guidance she made it all by herself. I felt quite proud of her and let her do the Suke Bombil Batata curry, ofcourse as I watched.

Later I chopped up a large amount of onions and got going with the Kolbi. This is a Koli favorite and is loved at any time of the day, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. Yet when I cooked it for Meera, I adapted not just the look but cooked it keeping in mind that her palate was more British even though Indian. Now was the moment when I needed the kokum and out came the packet. I almost looked at it in disappointment! It was not Kokum at all it was the Coorgi Kadampulli in the dried fruit form. I stayed clear of it. Instead thought a squeeze of lime would be lovely against the sweetness of the onions and prawns. So you see the traditional Tallele Vale Sode got a completely new twist. So close yet new!

Meera was in a clicking frenzy handling 2 cameras, hers and mine and also helping us with finding things in the kitchen, which was hers during this stay. It was not the most comfortable ground for us both. She had this wonderful portable digital scale on which she carefully weighed each ingredients. The meticulous chef that she is was noting down the exact timing of when the ingredients went into a particular dish and at times correcting quantities as I adjusted my recipes to suit the international audience of her upcoming book to which I was contributing these recipes.

Once the fish was fried and the aroma of boiling curry filled the entire house we decide to take a break. Meera is a caring host, she ordered vegetarian food for us from a nearby cafe, as she knew I am vegetarian and even Mad was observing vegetarian Tuesday. We sat down to enjoy the chutney sandwiches and cheese toast and a lovely chocolate mousse too. She gave us company as she sampled the fish fries, Moi recommending to her to start with the center piece of Halwa, move on to the head piece and finally the tail, yes in that ordered. The girl loved the tail and that made me happy.

Post the break, She was kind to clean up the tiny cooking platform so that we could start making Chavlachi Roti and Dhaan, to be specific we made Yelnicha dhaan. I demoed the traditional method of making the rice roti on water and a quick trick to get a similar but not the same roti by rolling out on a floured surface. The patting method too for authenticity. So there one roti three ways, results were very close. Soft, gluten free rotis. Up for a switch to the Koli healthy diet?

Done in 1 hrs 30 mins. It's no mean achievement to cook up a meal right from grinding the masalas, making the rotis, steaming the rice and cooking seafood 3 different ways! We did feel accomplished.

We were now waiting for the moment of truth. Both Mad and me agreed that since Meera is a chef herself we would love to see her plate up the meal. She happily did, and here it is Tadah!

When she sat down to taste the complete meal it was interesting to hear what she had to say. It was a lot of seafood on a single plate, completely authentic Koli meal, I reminded her. She has grown up as a vegetarian and switched to non vegetarian due to her profession so she obviously prefers only one seafood dish at a time included in a veg thali meal but she was sure that those who have grown up on non veg would completely love this.

The curious researcher in her asked me why there was no dessert in the meal. Simple because Kolis never eat dessert at meal time. Plus there are very few sweet dishes mostly associated either with some ritual or are offered as naivedya.

It was fun to watch her pressing the steamed rice between her finger to check if it was cooked thru the grain. As she picked the morsel of rice roti and wrapped it around the stir fried prawns, she commented, "Nice sweet and sour." I would have loved her to try them tinged dark with the kokum juice but for that Kadampulli. Lime on the other hand is easiest found substitute for sourness anywhere else in world for this recipe that she wants to take back to England with her.

She found the dried bombay duck curry nice with rice for its coconuty flavours but the bombil was chewy for her preferences. There is a trick to eating Bombils which I missed warning her about before she dug her spoon in. One need to press the bombil between the fingers to expose the centeral vetebrae and remove it before eating, else you end up chewing on the bones than the flesh. Also remember that dried fish even after soaking and cooking is still chewy in texture unlike fresh fish which has delicate texture. Tell a Koli or a Saraswat that there is Suke Bombil Batata Kalvan for lunch, I swear they will come following the aromas to get a taste. You just cannot hide the aromas of dried fish cooking in your home so be prepared for polarized reactions from neighbors; either they will come asking for their share or they would be disgusted with the smells emanating from your kitchen. You are treading volcanic grounds here be warned!

Finally we concluded the day with tips about the work we are doing and  promises to keep in touch. Really both of us are doing the same thing she in England and me in India, documenting the food and cultures of are ancestors and how it has evolved to this day.

Here's wishing Meera success with her first book, Mother India. Can't wait to see it in print even though I got a glimpse of it on the computer.

Hope to see you again soon, Girl!

P.S. June 29, 2014
Meera's book Mother India has been renamed and is being published as Made in India

__________________________________________________________________________

I am doing Customized packages of Koli Food and Culture Experience

Write to annaparabrahma@gmail.com to get a quote.

The things we do together:

1. Learn to select and shop for seafood and other ingredients for Koli cuisine.

2. Learn Koli style cooking and ofcourse feast on it that too in the comfort of your own kitchen and home.

Free with this package 

250 gms Koli Masala

While we are together you will be treated to stories about the Koli community, what they eat, how they celebrate, who they worship and much more. A complete Food and Culture experience.

To keep this experience intimate a small group of 4-5 people is best.

A Mango Mousse And My First Catering Experience

A week ago after my music class as Chitra, Sangita and Me walked back home together, Chitra reminded me to block my calendar for 1st Feb as it was her son, Anurag's birthday. I nodded and almost did not believe her request, "Won't you help me with the party?"

She was uneasy the next few days, then on 30th Jan, Sangu asked me what's my suggestion for the dessert for the party. I suggested mango mousse or bhapa doi and this order just fell into my lap.

Chitra called up and told me that I have full freedom to decide the menu and also the flexibility to cost it out! Only friends allow you this kind of freedom, I know! I grabbed the opportunity and went shopping to my favorite market for the ingredients and the serveware for the party.

 

That evening I called Chitra over to my home to show her pics of the menu I was going to make for Anurag's party. There would be only 5-6 close friends of his but most adults were Chitra and her husband's friends. She was suggesting pav bhaaji but Sangu recoed continental to her. Sangu is my all time guinea pig hence the right person to veer Chitra to a good menu.

We finalized all the recipes from here itself!

Penne In Arrabiata

Grilled Herbed Baby Potatoes
Hasa Al-Khadr Maa Hummus (Chunky Veggies and Chickpeas Soup)
Pull Apart Garlic Rolls
and 
Mango Mousse 

You can recreate this entire menu in your own home for your families.

Chocolate truffle cake was bought out as I did not have time for baking and decorating the cake.

Drink was plain water as majority of the people were singers and were to perform at the party. 

Chitra doing the Aukshan for Anurag

She started counting at 20 people, then after the menu was finalized she added 5 more then on the 31st Jan she made it 30! I added my 10% grace to it. So the entire menu was made with 35 people in mind.

Meanwhile I informed my neice M who has chosen culinary science as her career to come over to help me. Her grandma, my aunt decided to join in. So I had three Sous chefs to help me including Dad.

I began the day with chopping the tomatoes and pureeing them on the 1st Feb. That's the advantage of evening parties it allows cooking thru the day at a relaxed pace.

Pressure cooked the chickpeas and as the whistle blew I sliced the carrots in the FP for the soup.

M and Gopi aatya arrived around 8.30 am and immediately started helping me out.

I boiled the baby potatoes and cooled them under running water in a colander. Then set the colander filled with potatoes on the bay window seat. Setup a stool for my Aunt, Gopi aatya and let the bro-sis duo yap as they peeled them. 

The onions were done is two ways too, for the soup and the pasta sauce. The food processor did a fab job and in mins my prep was done. M did the peeling the skins.

Once the seniors were out of the way, I got the yeast started. Used the FP to knead the dough. As I worked I was training M in all the nitty gritties after all this is going to be her future career. I want her to learn things at home that no one will ever teach her at the institute!

The potatoes were peeled so we tossed them in olive oil and herbs and lined single layers of them on a tray and grilled them. We stopped short of golden as they need to be redone in the evening before serving.

The soup was set for cooking in large tapela. I used the entire bottle of Za'atar that Manisha gifted me when she visited (Ok I have to tell you the story, yet!)

The pasta sauce was cooking and boiling over, so divided it into 2 pots. I'm learning to handle larger quantities of food now. Learning #1

While this was happening the dough proofed and doubled so before we took a break for lunch I rolled out the dough and made the pull apart buns and filled one tray and 3 springform cake tins. Letting them sit for the second bulge on, we sat down to a lunch of masale bhaat that M made with papads on the side.

The afternoon saw us baking the bread and whipping the mascarpone for the mousse side by side and filling up the cups. Shoved the cups onto a tray and into the fridge for chilling.

I used both my ovens to finish off the baking quickly. Pasta was boiled and kept ready for final mixing. Cheese, two types Mozarella and Processed, shredded in the FP for the pasta.

We had a very long cooking day starting from 6.30 am to 7 pm. Finally at 7 we reheated all the food before Chitra's hubby came to pick us up and transport the food. 

Even though the drive was just 5 mins the soups spilled a bit. Next time I will transport it in a steel bin with a tight lid. Learning #2

Chitra insisted I buy the serveware myself for the party as I would know what's best for the menu. I bought Thermacol plates for the mains, thick paper cups for the soup, plastic cups for the mango mousse, dessert spoons and large spoons.

As soon as the cake cutting was done there was a round of singing and then the kids were served first. Later the adults were served. M and me were serving so another girl came to help. I don't like this part at all. I'd rather lay everything on the table for a buffet but Chitra wanted us to serve so we did!

Here is the recipe of the mango mousse which was a hit in the party besides the other favorites of pull apart garlic bread and grilled potatoes. 

Ingredients

Serves 10 people

1 kg Mascarpone cheese

1 cup milk

300 gms icing sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tin Mango pulp

First remove Mascarpone cheese, milk, vanilla extract to a mixing bowl and on slow speed add  icing sugar little by little,whisk till stiff peaks are formed. 

Open the mango pulp tin. Use a ladle to portion out the pulp into each cup. Swirl around the mango pulp. 

Scoop or pipe neatly into the cups the whipped creamy mousse. The mango pulp will give a marbled effect on the sides. On top add a drop of the pulp and run a stick thru it to give it a design.

Chill till you are ready to serve. This picture was taken today but for the party I used smaller cups and stuck a chocolate wafer stick in the cups for effect.

Decadent dessert for the 11 year old Anurag's party. 

I owe Chitra and family for having the faith in me and giving this order and complete flexibility to execute the menu; A Big Thank You!

That is the menu: 

Chunky soup in the cup, cake, Penne in arrabiata, grilled herb potatoes, pull apart garlic buns.

Most of the guests came up to tell me they loved the food and that they were stuffed to the gills.  I have a happy customer and happy guests. Especially I loved how my friend Snehal's daughter Sakhi went 'HAW!' when she got to know I baked the Garlic pull apart buns too besides all the other stuff on the menu!! Every one was gushing about the mango mousse, the bread, grilled herbed potatoes too!