Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork

Celebrated Xmas eve by attending a Navjote at the Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy Agiary at Navy Nagar,Colaba.It was my second time at the lovely venue and the atmosphere was that of a Christmas party.There was a beautiful Xmas tree at the entrance and gifts for children.Songs that blared off the speakers were all of my generation!! Yeh!!! Laughter,clinking of glasses and dazzling diamonds everywhere! Navjote is the ceremony to initiate a child into the Zoroastrian faith.Here it was of the talented Hansotia children,a invitation which stressed on the presence of great food to entice me! The starters were outstanding......Sali Boti Tartlets and Tiny Egg Chutney Pattice were the best.Pepper Mushrooms,Arbi Rolls,Pepper Chicken were good.I don't remember how many I had.Must be the wine. The dinner was traditional Parsi mostly and catered by the one and only Tanaz Godiwala (whom you can see in the green shirt below).We headed for the first seating as I don't like waiting behind som...

Simply stunning!!! Never seen anything like this before! The Pathare Prabhu community continues to enthrall with their customs and beliefs.For over 100 years,restauranteur Rahul Velkar's home has had Ganpati celebrations.His is one of the most prestigious families of the Pathare Prabhu community. Every year on the first day,the Naivedya Taat is the same on the first day and consists of Ukadiche Modak (Steamed dumplings with sweet coconut mixture),Godi Batati (spicy potatoes),Shirali Watane (Peas and Ridge Gourd),Kale Watana Bhendi (Black dried peas with okra),Sambare (coconut gravy),Pathwad (colocasia leaves stuffed with dal mixture,rolled and fried),Shev (steamed rice noodles) served with sweet masala milk,steamed rice and dal (varan bhaat) and poories.At Rahul and Devika Velkar's home,the celebrations are for one and half days.You can watch the video of the celebrations here  We were given Mesoor (honeycombed sweet made of gram flour from Phutanebai) as pras...

Alibaug at this time of the year is gorgeous! Everywhere you look it's green.There are families working in paddy fields.Some catch fish and prawns there.Spotted a young boy selling prawns in a basket and they were so fresh that they kept jumping out! One can also see women selling fish on the side of the main road.They are there all day and then at night,they continue by candlelight.This time of the year there were Bombay Ducks (bombil) and Prawns as the large boats only venture out in the sea after Narli Poornima.Read here about Kolis and fish. We were strolling on Alibaug beach and we bumped into a couple I know through my work.They treated us to large coconuts with thick malai/coconut cream.They took us to the pretty Versoli beach .Each beach has its own character.Kihim with its angry sea and fast winds,Alibaug beach with its bhelpuri stalls and cows and Versoli with its tall trees,all were very appealing They told us about the Karmarkar Sculpture M...

Imagine being transported from the hustling bustling city of Mumbai to a simple village in Assam.That's what happened to us on a Sunday afternoon.We were invited to Gitika Saikia's home in Juhu to a meal that had untried ingredients like silkworms,duck,eel,fiddlehead fern and red rice.Gitika learnt much of her cooking from her mother in law who lives in rural Assam.Here the mode of cooking is slow and the ingredients farm fresh.A refrigerator is used mostly to store milk.Vegetables are plucked from the garden before cooking.Fish is caught from the ponds on their property.That's how the above Mud Eel Soup was made! Known to be useful in anaemic patients,this soup has a strong smell thanks to the Paduri Leaves but is delicious and leaves you wanting for more. Rice is a staple grain in Assam and is eaten for breakfast,lunch and dinner.At breakfast time,sticky rice is had with vegetables and many times the villagers are so full that they skip lunch.Gitika made us P...