Konkani Muslim Ramzan special (3rd to 9th June 2019, neel tote on the turf. Mahalakshmi , mumbai)

In a NUtshell:

A super refreshing, very different, excellent ramzan dinner that will remain in our memory for long.

Address & other details: Authenticook

Meal for 2: ₹2800

Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian

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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 have been going to different pop ups being conducted by Authenticook in the last 2 years. Read more about then in my first post on a pop up that we attended – koli food

So when I got a notification from the site, the menu sounded very interesting. So decided to drop in. Mumtaz & Sameera were the home chefs in this pop up.

The food was almost like home cooked, even though it was made in a commercial kitchen

The service folks were good but a tad faster than I wud hv liked. I guess had they not hurried, we wud hv sat & slowly enjoyed the food for another 30 minutes.

Most ramzan food I remember having in shops in Delhi/ Kolkata/ mumbai/ Bangalore/ dhaka are greasy, very high on spice paste levels (that the flavours of meat are lost). This ramzan food from Konkan belt was very different. Flavours ruled. This was one of the most memorable ramzan food that I have had in a decade.

Unlike most ramzan meals where gosht is the hero, here it was others who grabbed the spotlight, including some vegetarian dishes.

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

Drink

Kokum sharbat – A sweet .and tangy drink made with kokum (a fruit found in the Konkan belt), with the right amount of salt in it. Refreshing. Potent. Perfect balance. Excellent. Rate it 4.5/5

Starters

Bangde kelyachya paanat was bangda fish (mackerel) marinated with spices, cooked in its own juices in an earthen pot , on slow fire, wrapped inside a banana leaf. The fish itself was fresh & good. The spices were nice. Texture of the fish was excellent. The marination had sub optimal salt. Added some salt & the fish literally jumped out of the plate!!! Rate the fish 4.5/5 after the salt but 3.75/5 as it is.

Chicken cutlet was a revelation. I am usually not a chicken person & generally keep away from deep fried food. This one was both of those but turned out to b outstanding. Cud not stop munching on it till the end, as it is & also with the lovely chutneys.

The cutlet had a crisp but thin outer layer & juicy flavorful minced chicken inside. Just perfect. Rate it 4.5/5

Chana batata was a mix of black chickpeas & potato with a bit of mint leaves & lemon. It’s a dish that I have eaten at many places in the subcontinent during Ramzan. Nice. Rate it 3.5/5

Chatniche bhajiye – brilliant onion fritters. They were so good that we broke our habit of not eating deep fried things & asked for extras. Just the right amount of seasoning, cooking, crispness …. everything. Rate it 4.75/5

Khatoni, a hot drink was served & refilled thruout our meal. We were told it’s a palate cleanser. It did its job very well. It was made from residual water left after boiling black eyed peas. Kokum & some spices were added. Rate it 4/5

First course

Akhni gosht was a dry mutton dish that had been cooked in roasted whole masalas. The flavors of the meat were retained very well in this. The texture was suboptimal. The meat was chewy, not juicy (probably not supposed to be). The taste faltered due to suboptimal salt in the dish. On adding salt the taste prepped up. Rate the dish 3/5

Sukhi kolbi prawns masala retained the texture of prawns brilliantly, while exuding superb flavor of both spices & prawns. Taste was so good that we licked off every drop from the bowl. Rate it 4.75/5

Kavtacho bojar was an egg dish in which a curried Chutney was placed in the middle of a sliced boiled egg. It was insanely good. The taste overall, the flavors of spices, the sweetish taste coming from onions ….. just outstanding. Once again polished off every bit of the Chutney / dry gravy. Wud b better to hv farm eggs instead of poultry eggs though. Wud hv been happy to pay the extra for the right egg than almost tasteless poultry eggs. Rate the dish 4.75/5.

The above dishes were served with chawrachi roti – a roti made from rice flour, shaped by hand, cooked on a tawa, no oil. These rotis were super thin yet soft & nice. Liked the mild grainy texture. Rate it 4.5/5

Second course

Dum cha mhaura – this was fish marinated in spices & slow cooked in dum. Excellent ince again. Flavours of the fish were robust & that complimented the flavours of spices. The fish was great to taste. Rate it 4.5/5

Kombi cha salna was thin gravy of chicken – home like. Excellent once again. Loved every bit of it. Rate it 4.5/5

Hirwya masalyat maas was mutton cooked in a green masala – it was again a bit chewy. The taste was good but did not stand any close to the other rockstars of the evening. Rate it 3/5

It was suggested to us to have this with khichadi & Soloni.

Soloni was a super thick solkadi made from kokum & coconut milk – the best we have ever had. Rate it 4.95/5

Khichadi was very good. Rate it 4/5.

Loved the whole masoor daal that had robust flavours of garlic. Rate it 4.5/5

Accompaniments

Limbada cha loncha was fresh lime pickle. Loved it. Rate it 4/5

Green coconut chutney was simply outstanding. Once again, i am not usually a fan of bottled chutneys but this one was a class apart. Super loved the texture & taste. Rate it 4.5/5

Dry red chilly chutney was made from desiccated coconut, cooked with onion, chilled & spices. Loved this one again. Refreshingly different. Rate it 4.25/5

Desserts

China grass was like a sweet custard. Loved the subtle taste & the contrasting texture of dry fruits on top. Rate it 3.5/5

Pelve was a crepe made with rice, eggs, scraped coconut. The coconut of course was in the filling. Reminded me of the patishapta that the Bengalis eat. Once again, the pelve was not over sweet. Rate it 3.75/5