Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork

Spotted Marathi posters all over the city announcing the Mahim Koli festival on 18th,19th and 20th November 2011 by the MNS.Having social commitments on the first two days,I went on the last day to be faced with huge,huge crowds.Good food is a crowd puller, no matter which part of the world you are in.This was a fabulous opportunity to experience the amazing Koli cuisine from fisherfolk from all parts of Mumbai(Vesava,Malvani,Worli,Mahim,Madh etc).It's unlike anything you eat in restaurants. At the centre was a stage where there were dances and songs and the milling crowd watched for hours, standing. In all, there were about 42 stalls.We had to jostle our way and wait for a few minutes to get our order, which we could either take home or have at the tables there.I do think they ought to have more tables cos a lot of people want to be in that charged atmosphere and relish their fish there.The fish here was cooked just right and was oh so fresh! The masalas complimented rather than d...

Daisy was and is one of the most cheerful persons from my class.She's now a teacher.She's an unusual Parsi cos she's vegetarian! She called us school friends over for lunch the other day.As she got married young, she learnt all the cooking from her mother in law.For herself, she usually makes vegetables Gujarati style, as that requires very little oil or masala.Parsi vegetarian dishes are usually combinations of vegetables and meat..Tamatar Ma Gosht,Pateta Ma Gosht and what not.Her folks ask if anyone is unwell when she makes only vegetables for them.Dal is very common in Parsi cuisine as are eggs. She made Veg Dhansak and Brown Rice for all of us that day as most of my school friends are vegetarian.Years ago,Daisy had made this for me and the taste got stamped indelibly on my mind.No wonder then that I searched for those flavors everytime I had Dhansak.Daisy grinds her masalas separately herself, specially dalchini,jeera and pepper.Dhansak consists of various dals(tur,maso...

Dosas are from the South Of India(pancakes made of mostly fermented ingredients) yet there is no place in India where you cannot find them,whether in the North,East or West.On my trip to USA,I found that dosas were popular there too, costing around 3 dollars! The best dosas are made at home but it's an art as we saw recently on Master Chef India when contestants had to make Paper Dosas! The right tava,the right temperature and the right accessories all combine to make this Indian pancake spectacular! I am lucky to know Mrs Suvarna who is a Maharashtrian married into a family from Mangalore, Karnataka.She made me Neer Talav or rice dosas.She soaked the rice early in the morning.Then ground it. She poured the batter on a hot tava and then transferred it onto a straw cover This prevented the dosas from sticking to the next one. Finally she arranged it on a large dish which looked like it had a whole lot of lace napkins on it. This morning I headed to Matunga for a quick breakfast.Came...