This meal was booked thru Authenticook.com – they arrange very interesting home meals across india. To read earlier reviews of food that we had thru Authenticook.com , pls click here.

In a NUtshell:

A Garhwali home food pop up that we will fondly remember for long – a beautiful evening spent with fellow foodies (never met before) , a talk about Garhwali food & a lovely home cooked meal

Address & other details: Rushina

Insta handle : rushinamg

Meal for 2: ₹3000

Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian

Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews. YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.

I rate all the food items & then give a final overall rating which is a simple average of the individual item ratings. What the ratings stand for: 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Disaster

Short description- in case u r in a hurry

We met Rushina at a pop up by Pia Promina last year at Bandra and have been following her on insta ever since. So when she announced a Garhwali pop up, it interested us a lot. We remembered that she had talked about how she , a Gujarati girl, started relating to the world of great food, after her marriage to a Garhwali.

The pop up was held at her kitchen studio – APB cook studio in Chandivali , mumbai.

We drove 31 km each side to eat at this pop up & it was (way more than) worth the drive.

It was a table of 12 people seated around a table. The idea of these pop ups r to share a meal with new people & have great food conversations, in addition to great food.

Rushina started the evening by an introduction to Garhwali food. She also spoke about how she was introduced to the world of good food & cooking. She spoke so well that I am not even trying to replicate it. I have interspersed her videos in this short description section.

She also spoke about two organisations that are doing a great job at the grassroots level in Uttarakhand – Bakri chhap & the goat village. Many of the dishes she served us in the pop up, were made from produce sold by bakri chaap (available on Amazon.in) & some shops in major cities of india.

Rushina & her team of extraordinary ladies served us great food, with unbelievable warmth, as if we are guests at their home.

Detailed description – in case u hv the time to njoy reading:

We started with a refreshing nimbu Sharbat that had a good balance if sour, sweet & salt). Rate it 4/5

Jakhiya aloo – baby potatoes stir fried, tempered with jakhiya seeds (also called wild mustard). This looked innocent and over simplified but turned out to b a superhit. Perfectly done aloo, crisp jakhiya seeds, perfect seasoning – u believably good. Rate it 4.75/5

Jambu ke tadkewali arhar malka ki daal – arhar daal cooked with a herb from Garhwal called jambu. The daal had its grains intact, the flavors were great & it was very enjoyable. Rate it 4.25/5

Kafuli – a dish made from spinach & besan was very nice to taste. Loved having this with roti. Rate it 4.5/5

Malai Lauki was mildly spiced doodhi (Lauki/ gourd) finished with cream. Turned out to be real interesting. Super loved it. Rate it 4.5/5

Naal badi – arbi leaves (colocasia) & badi (lentil dumplings /vadi) was awesome. Rate it 4.5/5

Papawala mutton (mutton that papa used to cook) – flavorful slow cooked mutton with thin gravy was excellent. Polished off the gravy till the last drop and took a second helping. Brilliant. Rate it 4.5/5

Mooli Ki thinchwani – slow cooked dish of hand pounded (not chopped) mooli & aloo, flavoured with crushed sesame seeds. Super loved this. Rate it 4.5/5

Mandue (ragi/ nachni) Ki roti was the cereal for the evening – reddish in colour. We r used to eating this at home – so for a change it was not a novelty like most others.

Super loved the Garhwali red rice – found it to be one of the best among many red rice I have had so far. Texture was superb.

Kaddu ka raita was mind blowing. Flavors of kaddu was intact. Thick, creamy. Rate it 4.75/5

Bhune Tamatar aur dhaniye Ki Chutney was dark green in colour as Colors of dhaniya took over. Brilliant to taste. Rustic, robust, tangy. Rate it 4.75/5

Lal matth was cooked with onions that were crunchy as they were added towards the end. Good to taste. Rate it 4/5.

Jhangore ka halwa – a millet called jhangora that grows in Garhwal. This is not a traditional dish but something that Rushina had created. This had a nice texture, subtle flavors. Loved it. Rate it 4.5/5

Overall rating averages out to 4.5/5

Look forward to Rushina’s kacchi bhatia pop up in the next few months.