Banu has been bunking for a while but the good news is that she has become a grandmother again. Of a ‘gori, gol gal, cute’ grand daughter in her words.
Thankfully Amit Roy (phone: 9870126912) of Peetuk had come over on Friday on Sankranti with some peethe and also a simply brilliant Calcutta mutton biryani, kosha mangsho and a delectable pabda curry.
This has taken care of my meals while Banu is AWOL.
To add to our woes, our gas got over yesterday. Thankfully it did after I made rice (to go with the creamy pabda mustard curry) and boiled some pasta for Kainaz.
The oven came to the rescue and I roasted veggies – carrots, capsicum and tomato with a touch of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil – for 20 min at 200 c and then added the pasta and some sea salt and crushed pepper and more EVOO and put it in the oven for 10 min at 150 C. The pasta was done and tasted pretty delicious too. You should try it some time.
For dinner on Saturday I had the kosha mangsho with left over rice which I added to the left over biryani rice. For K, it was the oven again and I grilled chicken drumsticks marinated in a finely chopped curry leaf, coarsely chopped capsicum, curd, honey, salt, and coriander and cumin powder marinade. I cooked this covered in a foil for 20 min at 200 c and then uncovered for 15 min at 200 c.
There was more fish curry left for lunch today but no rice. So I remembered my early days in Khar and called up Khane Khas and ordered one steamed rice (Rs110) which they sent. Thankfully even though it was just one item and the cheapest one at that. No fuss about minimum delivery amount and all that.
This to me is the beauty of Bandra if not Mumbai. It’s spirit of enterprise and will do spirit.
When we rented our first place in Khar in the early 2000s, we didn’t have a functioning kitchen. We just had a hot plate K’s mom gave us.
We would buy chicken and put them in Poonjiaji and Parampara ready to cook curry mixes and cook them on the hot plate.
How would one get the rice to eat with this? We could have toast of course but my Bengali bhuri (tummy) yearned for rice.
We would call Khane Khas and they would always deliver a single portion of rice even then without any complaint.
They had no idea of knowing on the phone that we were the couple who used to eat at their restaurant regularly till a few days back while dating. Nor was I a food blogger then (!)
For Khane Khas this was a normal thing to do.
Amit’s peethe reminded me of my growing up days in Kolkata. Every Sankranti my didu (granny) would make us peethes. Even as a kid I would watch awestruck as she would make the rice batter crepes and stuff them with desiccated coconut cooked in jaggery. The joy of having peethes straight off the pan was unparalleled. When we moved to our own place in Calcutta, Didu would make peethes for us and send them home and later even to Mumbai through my aunt or through me for my aunt.
Amit’s peethes made me call up my grandmom in Calcutta, who lives by herself now and who wistfully told me “now I have no one to make peethes for.”
My mom and my didu have a really tough time getting simple provisions in the suburbs of Calcutta. Calling some place to order just a plate of rice when they are unwell and not up to cooking is unthinkable for them.
I hope the spirit of Khane Khas reaches them some day.
Peetuk has outlets at Goregaon, Kandivli and Powai and caters too.
Khane Khas is at Bandra’s 16th road and deliver from 022 26004605 and 022 26006970