Mumbai’s Foodie Tribe

On my half of the table: Shouvik, Vernika, Rhea and Ruchi.
On the other side: Shanti, Jasleen, Kurush (many of our friends could
not make it but are equally a part of this table.)

I feel a bit uncomfortable when people write to me to say that they have been following my writing for a while and that they enjoy reading it. Let me explain why I say so.

Baby Loaf

They probably started following me because of my posts on food but

here’s the thing. I don’t write about just food these days.

I write about our cats for example. Baby Loaf and little Nimki.

Both of whom are lying beside me as I type this. My next book is going to be about them. ‘Food will only feature in it in the form of kibble!

Talking about life with little Nimki

My writing these days features self-reflective pieces. Like this one. I often indulge in nostalgia in what I write and a lot of that is not about food.

This is why I earlier said that food forms a fraction of what I write about.

There was a time when I’d write about every restaurant, eatery or street vendor I’d eat at. About every person who would invite me home for a meal. And about every dish, we’d eat when we travelled. Or the recipe for every dish I’d cook.

Then came Instagram and I posted a lot of this content there. Posts on my blog were reduced a fair bit.

This makes me wonder whether I’ve been fair to those who followed my writing on food.

But then I can not be true to myself when I write and I am sure that my readers know that.

These were the thoughts going on in my mind the other day when I headed to town (south Mumbai) from Bandra.

Jasleen cuts the BunditQueen cake made by
Rhea (whose brand this is)

I was invited to celebrate Jasleen Marwah’s birthday at Folk, a new restaurant in Kala Ghoda that she runs. Possibly the only restaurant helmed by someone who started off as a home chef.

The concept of Folk is interesting. Its menu features dishes from across India and not just Kashmiri food which one associates Jasleen with. The food is served in the form of plated meals and is aimed at the working crowd that frequents restaurants in the area. The idea is that they can get a complete meal even if dining alone. A take on the thali concept. My only suggestion to Jasleen was to reduce the amount of rice which came in the dishes which offer rice. It’s a lot!

Dishes flowed abundantly and generously that evening and amongst the smorgasbord of excellent food that I tried, the most memorable for me were the two mutton dishes.

Champaran mutton

Champaran mutton from Bihar and rogan josh from Kashmir. The former is fiery. The latter is demure (Jasleen’s version is sans onion and tomatoes).

What was common to both and what won my heart was the succulence of the meat.

My galauti kebab

My other favourites were the very tender galauti kebabs served on naans.

The yoghurt-based sauce in the gushtaba was perfect on a hot evening. I am not a fan of compressed meatballs such as the gushtaba and rishta of the wazwan of Kashmir or the fish balls of Singapore, so it is all about the sauce for me and this hit the spot.

Gushtaba

I tried two salads which were both very nice and crunchy and my dieticians would have loved the abundance of greens in them. The diabetic in me would have loved the dressing not to be so sweet but I am sure this could be customised on a regular day.

Salad man

Enough of being in the food reviewer mode. Let me tell you about our table from that evening.

It consisted of friends who had moved out of town, those whom one meets often, those whom one meets at similar dinners, and those whose social media pages one follows and meets once in a blue moon. There was lots of banter. And photographing of food. Of that of each others.It was a happy table.

These are my people, I realised. My tribe.

The foodies.

They would always keep a place for me at the table and in their hearts, even if I write more about our cats than about chefs, or more about the Kitty Blinders (my community cat friends) than khansamah.

Time to count my blessings, as we were taught to do in school.

Happy birthday Jasleen and thanks for bringing us all together for such a lovely dinner. Here’s to many happy returns.