The First Potluck Party

One day I was chatting with Zinobia Schroff and she suggested having a party where home chefs could meet and I thought why not.We decided to keep the number small,include people who lived close by and see how it goes,before making it a regular feature.Zinobia makes amazing Parsi food using less oil.She also makes pickles such as Lagan Nu Achar,Chundo and Fish Roe Pickle and these are taken abroad by many of her patrons.I have on many an occasion had her Berry Pulao.
In our group was Bela Gupta who runs a vegetarian gourmet service called Herbivore.The picture above is of the goodies she brought to the party.The Watermelon Feta Salad was of outstanding quality.She used Goccia Aged Balsamic.She also made a Three Layer Mexican Dip with Nachos and Amritsari Hummus with Pita-Kulcha

Then of course we had Subhasree Basu-Burman who runs the Hungry Cat Kitchen and makes regional and international food.Her pork dishes are a huge hit (Ginger Mirin Pork,Bhut Jholokia amongst others) and also her desserts like Swedish Apple Pie.She teams up with the young and spirited Perzen Darukhanawala-Patel (Bawi Bride) and participates in exhibitions as Bawi-Billi.She is the Billi as she is cat crazy.I am a dog person but I secretly enjoy the howlarious updates on her handsome cat Meowjit

Ananya Bannerjee is the most glamorous one in our group.She has written a book called "Planet Gastronomy" which covers food from all continents.Her cooking is superb.She made Alurdom for the party and we also tried her pickles....Chicken Silleybata,Prawn Kashundi and Dhanopatar (Coriander) Achar.All out of the world!

We had Anjali Koli with us....the only vegetarian Koli I know.She too caters her cuisine and writes a blog called Annaparabrahma.She sells dry fish and masalas via her e-store.Anjali has recently married a Parsi gentleman so I guess we can expect Koli-Parsi fusion food,given the common love for fish.

We sipped on Subhasree's Fruit Punch and chatted.

I made a Bacon-Egg Macaroni and a Peas one for vegetarians

Ananya's Alurdom was lipsmacking!

Perzen who runs the Bawi Bride Kitchen made delicious Kevabs....of mincemeat for non vegetarians and potato-cheese for vegetarians

Zinobia's Dhansak and Brown Rice was terrific!

She also makes squashes....like this one made of lemon and ginger

The sweet ending to the lovely meal was provided by Pia Promina Dasgupta Barve....an utterly light Kolkata Gateau who caters regional and international food.The Indian Dessert was Bhapa Doi...a baked custard with delicious lemon grass overtones by Ananya.
We plan to meet once a month for giggles,guffaws and great food!!