From scouring supermarket shelves for sauces and cheeses and meats while on holidays or work trips abroad to buying and getting back spices from trips across India these days, our shopping patterns while travelling have changed quite a bit. Partly because of the easier availability of international products in the metros of India today and largely because of a renewed interest in Indian food for many of us today.
Giving company to the leftover brown rice vegetarian (sans saffron it seems) paella that I ordered from Yoga House in Bandra last night today, were bhindi (okra) made with a lal maas masala from Jodhpur that our friend, Irin Chatterjee, had brought back from a family holiday and surmai (king fish) in the ghee roast masala that I had bought on a food trip to Mangalore.
Irin had warned me of the fiery potency of the red chilli based lal maas masala. So I used just a pinch of it and balanced it with some dahi for tartness and chopped red bell pepper for sweetness.
The fish ghee roast was made in a grill pan so the ghee did not really stick to the fish but infused it with flavour.
Loved this little tour across India during lunch at home in Mumbai.
(This post first appeared on the Finely Chopped channels on Facebook and on Instagram)
