The Piquant Prawn Pickle That Stole This Bawi’s Heart!

Lots of people these days cook items at home and sell them. One such post at a food forum, on Facebook, grabbed my attention. That post mentioned three magical words, 'Goan Prawn Pickle' and after that there was no looking back! I contacted the party concerned and voila! 2 bottles of Prawn Pickle were promptly sent to my residence that afternoon. The price for a 250 gram bottle was 300 rupees and as I'd ordered two bottles, I paid 650 rupees in all (Rs 50 delivery charges).

The bottles came neatly wrapped in a plastic bag with a rubber band on it. The packing was simple, yet neat and effective. I say 'effective' because the oil from the pickle hadn't leaked through while making its way across town, to my home. 

Even through the sealed package I could get a whiff of the pickle. 

I took photographs of the sealed bottle, then took a few more photographs and finally opened the lid of the bottle. I spooned out some pickle in a bowl and of course, clicked a couple more photographs.

Now, I'll have you know I'm battling a viral relapse and have been told to steer clear of cold, spicy, oily and sour stuff. But those prawns in the bowl looked at me with such cute 'puppy dog eyes' that I had to give in and sample some. How can one not give in to 'puppy eyes'?

I grabbed a spoon, scooped up a prawn with a bit of pickle masala, slowly chewed on it and.... WHAM!! I was blown away, Bollywood style. Imagine the hero standing on the cliff, on the Greek island of Santorini. There is a gentle breeze blowing - He turns, faces the lady he is wooing, arms outstretched and... the climax! (Don’t get me wrong with this word dammit! :P ). I meant the Karan Johar-Yash Chopra kind with the lady falling into the arms of her man and the screen lighting up with words, 'and they lived happily ever after because (prawn pickle) love conquers all'. (What can I say, I like their movies, don’t you dare judge me! :P ) That pickle made me sigh in bliss and believe all was well with the world just like in the movies. Also, it transported me to the late 80's/early 90's when a grand old lady, Achamma, made a pickle very similar to this, for me. To have experienced those flavours again after so many years felt so good!

The pickle is the kind one can write ballads about. The flavours are spot on. Keeping the price in mind, I’d say, the quantity of prawns are very adequate. It is oily but then most homemade prawn pickles are, more so, if they have no added preservatives. I cannot wait to make dal-chawal because I'm going to give the Parsi patio a miss and instead opt for this bottle of deliciousness as accompaniment.

This pickle is Leena and Benjamin Joseph’s pet project; it’s their baby. The bottles are sold under the brand name ‘Bombay Fresh’ and they come in two sizes; 100 grams for Rs 150 and 250 grams for Rs 300. There is free delivery to Camp (Pune) and a charge of Rs 50 for places around Camp. They also have a pick up spot at Amanora Mall. Order it, savour it; you can thank me later. ;)

To Order call Nikeeta Jagallo: +91 9975283719

Sunday Seafood Fest – The Goa Saraswat Authenticook Pop Up at Tvum

I usually turn down invites and/or catch up requests for Sunday afternoon. Waking up just a tad before noon, lounging in my PJs and doing absolutely nothing are my ideas for a 'puuuurfect' Sunday. But there are 'evil' people in this world who decide to host Goan Saraswat (read: non-veg and seafood) pop ups on a Sunday afternoon and the pull towards the event is so darn magnetic that one cannot help but be the first to make a reservation. That is exactly what I did when I first read about this festival on Face book. 

Fish, crabs, prawns, sol kadi, et al will get this Bawi out of bed, early, on any Sunday morning. Not only did I get out of bed early, I roped in a few crazy foodies to join up for the pop up. After all having friends at the table is always more fun! (angelic, docile smile: read: evil grin)

The Goan Saraswat Authenticook pop up was held at Tvum. The terrace section of the restaurant was set to host 105 hungry carnivores. The home chef who co-hosted this pop up was Soniya Goankar. I had never heard of this lady hence I had no clue how this meal was going to turn out. I do believe, though, that one must take a chance on new people coz you never knows when you may encounter a gem and that is precisely what happened; I took a chance and discovered a gem!

Our server, Nikhilesh, (I hope I have the name right but in case I haven’t he is the Virat Kohli lookalike.. psssttttt, I told him so and he blushed to the colour of a beetroot) offered to bring us beers and mocktails. I opted for a strawberry mocktail while the others chose Kings, a Goan brand of beer. The mocktail was extremely refreshing and perfect with regard to sweetness. 

We were then brought a glass of Tival (a kokam based drink). Ideally the drink should have been served cool but they served it warm; also, it was too sour. That hint of sweetness was totally missing. This was a bit of a letdown.

The Sol Kadi was served after the Tival and, unfortunately, that too was served warm. Again, the temperature at which it was served was a letdown but, only with regard to temperature; with regard to taste, I have to honestly admit, this was one of the best Sol Kadi ever! Now if only it had been served cold.. if only.. sigh!!

The pre-prepped thalis were brought to our table and each thali consisted of, Rawa Fried Halwa (black pomfret), Sungta Sukhem (Prawns Sukkha), Tisryo Sukhem (Clams Sukkha), Crab Xec-xec (Crab Curry), Sungta Hooman (Prawn Curry), Chicken Xacuti, Bhenya Bhaji (dry Orka preparation), Mulya Bhaji (dry Raddish preparation), Sukhe Sungta Kismoor (Dry Prawns Kismur), Goan Polo (better known as neer dosa), red Goan Rice (steamed) and Koshimbir (a onions tomato salad).

The Rawa Fried Halwa was fresh and fish was fried to the correct texture. I found absolutely no fault which these delicious babies. I, of course, did not touch the salad because I am highly allergic to raw food. That’s my excuse and I am sticking to it! :P :D

The masala for the clam sukkha and the prawn sukkha were different and both were excellent in their own way. It was the same with the prawn and crab curries. The chef had ensured that no two flavours on the thali were the same. This says so much about Soniya as a chef. It tells me she doesn’t believe in taking short cuts just to put food on a thali. The rice, the kismoor and the okra bhaji were very well made! The neer dosas were brought to our table straight off the stove; it doesn’t get any better than that! I ate rice with those luscious curries and that superb sol kadi. I mashed the sol kadi into the rice and then once the rice absorbed the sol kadi, I added some more kadi and hogged on it. The perfect way to eat sol kadi-rice! Such simple pleasures of life always bring a satiated smile to my face!

Lastly, they served us Serra Dura, a layered biscuit crumbs and cream dessert. It was a simple dessert but it was quite nice. As rightly mentioned on the popup menu, after such a heavy meal this was a light dessert to mark the end of an extraordinary meal.

Except for the tival each and every dish served that afternoon was stellar! Each dish was a rock star and shone in its own way. Could Tvum have made arrangements for marrow spoons to be placed at each table (for the crabs)? Yes they could have. Did they? No, they did not but, they should have. I hope the next time, if ever, I am to eat crabs at Tvum, they provide marrow spoons. The next time the excuse of ‘we tried to procure them but were unable to’ may not work as well as it did this first time. I say it like it is, I prefer not to sugar-coat!

Was this thali, this food, these dishes, the same as those served commercially at restaurants in Goa? Hell no, and thank God for that! This was authentic Goan Saraswat home cooking hence in no way can it be compared to food that is commercially served/sold in Goa, at Goan restaurants. This thali would, in every way, win hands down. The only place one may find such food in Goa would be at a home stay. This meal was Goan Saraswat cooking at its very BEST! 

10 Chefs 10 Plates: Conrad Returns With The Best - Culinary Excellence Of 2017!

Over the course of the year, Conrad has quickly become a hot favourite of mine. It hosted many festivals last year and having kept an eye out for them I had the chance to attend quite a many. Having excelled at those festivals, the chefs at Conrad decided to give their patrons one last glimpse of all that we tasted last year and with that concept in mind was born Conrad’s first festival of year 2018: ‘10 Chefs 10 Plates’. 

They selected the ‘best dishes’ of the festivals and favourites from the regular menus of the existing restaurants and decided to present them as a ten course degustation dinner. When they extended an invite for this festival via Team #FoodProwl, as it is with most festivals that they host, I simply could not stay away!

I ordered a mocktail, the Berry Blast, to sip on while I waited for the meal to begin. This mocktail was a combination of Cranberry, Strawberry, Raspberry, Soda and Lime Juice. It was sweet and tangy! Ideally, I would have preferred it to be a bit tangier but the sweetness toned down a bit as the ice in the drink began to melt. 

The server brought the first ‘plate’ to the table. It was a Mango Chili Ravioli; an amuse bouche. This was a smooth orb of mango and chili created by a culinary process known as spherification. As soon as I popped the silken orb into my mouth it burst in a flood of flavours on my palate. The mango flavour dissipated while the chili flavour retained its boisterousness a tad longer. 

The dish that was served next was one of my favourites; so much so that I am secretly hoping they will add this dish to their regular menu. This was the Wild Mushroom and Truffle Kulcha; a culinary gem from the ‘Culinary Turns Black’ festival that Conrad was bold enough to host last year. 

The kulcha is stuffed with seven varieties of mushrooms. Blackened gyoza skin is used for the outer covering of the kulcha and the black colour is achieved by using powdered black trumpet mushrooms. It is then garnished with a couple of black garlic cloves. These tiny garlic cloves are soaked in balsamic vinegar for 15 days. I remembered the deliciousness of these garlic cloves and unlike the last time when I was hesitant to put them into my mouth, this time I happily munched on them. To comprehend the beauty of this dish one must truly put a morsel of it in one’s mouth. They say the deliciousness of certain dishes moves one’s soul; this one will do just that! 

Our third ‘plate’ was the stunning Prawn Kataifi; one of the best dishes by Chef Tenzin at the ‘Dim sum Discovery’ pop up. The thought process of a dim sum chef merging Middle Eastern Kataifi strands to create a fried dim sum had intrigued me and I was ever so happy to know it had made its way to this current pop up menu. The prawns were wrapped in fine wisps of kataifi and deep fried. The fried dim sums were then drizzled with a gorgeous chilli-orange sauce. The prawns were succulent and the crisp kataifi with that sauce was an incredible combination! As always, the Kataifi was light and non-greasy on the palate.



Miang Kham (Thai Paan), was our fourth ‘plate’. The word ‘paan’ clearly implies a raw leaf which yours truly refuses to munch on hence I greedily ate the yummy filling of the Thai Paan and sneakily gave the leaf a miss.



The Spanish Patata Bravas by Chef Ashley Nunes was our fifth ‘plate’. These delicious babies were potatoes cut into 1 inch hollowed tubes, fried and served with dollops of aioli and a medium spicy, smoked paprika tomato sauce. I could have easily polished off a dozen of these. Sigh! 

For our sixth ‘plate’ they served us Braised Lamb Shank with Khow Suey. The braised lamb shank was divinely succulent and robustly flavourful. The Khow Suey flavoured polenta mash served with it was delicately flavoured and balanced the luscious shanks beautifully!

Before serving us the mains, they brought us a palate cleanser; ‘Chyawanprash Foam’ was our seventh ‘plate. 



I’ve never been very fond of Chyawanprash as a kid. It was usually forced down my throat hence I was a trifle apprehensive about this ‘plate’. Luckily, the foamy Chyawanprash was gorgeously subtle in taste and served as a perfect palate cleanser. 

Our eighth ‘plate’ was Malwani Sukka Chicken with Thepla Taco. The name says it all but I have to add that the chicken and the thepla with a squeeze of lime was like a well orchestrated symphony in the mouth; only difference being it was orchestrated by Chef Atish Pawar and not Zubin Mehta. (Bawi hu, kisi Bawa ka naam lena toh banta hai ;) ) I loved these stuffed theplas!

For our ninth ‘plate’ they served Tartar Gunkan; I opted for the non-veg variety, but of course. I am very allergic to cucumber and Tartar Gunkan were ribbons of cucumber stuffed with blobs of sushi rice topped with diced Yellow Fin Tuna, garnished with Salmon Caviar and served with a pipette of soy. Instead of Nori wrappers the chef had chosen to wrap these babies in cucumber ribbons. I would have loved for them to be done up in Nori but then that is just me being mean. I have gotten to love Nori but still cannot handle cucumbers. I did not want to miss out on the delicious that snuggled within the cucumber ribbons hence I unrolled the cucumber ribbons, kept them aside, squeezed a few drops of soy from the pipette and put that yum morsel of rice, tuna and caviar in my mouth. (Greedy evil grin!) 

Our dessert, the tenth ‘plate’, was Red Micro Cake, Strawberry Chocolate Ganache, Moët Rosé and Strawberry Sorbet. Atop the White Chocolate Mousse was perched a quenelle of tangy Moët Rosé (champagne) & Strawberry sorbet with chocolate mud, strawberry jelly and champagne soaked strawberries strewn around. 

Surprisingly, the red micro cake proved to be a vital part of the dessert. When had by itself it was dry and bland (please note: it is not to be had by itself; I did because I am wacky and weird) but when all the elements were eaten together, the micro cake melded beautifully with the rest of the flavours to bring out a perfect balance of sweet and tangy. I don’t usually eat fruits but I did bite into the champagne soaked strawberry and loved its freshness. 

The '10 Chefs 10 Plates' festival at Zeera, Conrad - Pune, is on until January 28, 2018. (Dinner only) The meal is priced at Rs 2000 AI. If you want your taste buds to come alive, if you want to experiment with flavours that blow your mind and warm the cockles of your heart then do not miss this festival. And, as it is with all Conrad pop ups/festivals..... prepare to be amazed!!