How to create your own Bangkok to Bandra food festival while sitting at home in Mumbai

Seafood from Poonam cooked in dips from Seefah

Saturday breakfast

It was, and probably still is, a prevalent practise for my fellow Bengalis in Kolkata to go to work after having a meal of rice and fish curry in the morning. My mom, who is Delhi born and lived in the UK and Iran after marriage before moving into Kolkata, did not adhere to this. To her breakfast was breakfast and lunch was lunch and rice did not feature in the former. Which is why I never had bhaat maachh in the morning before going to school and then college while living in Kolkata, or office for the short while that I worked in the city.

When K and I went to Bangkok on our first international holiday together, on the back of a trip to Kolkata, we saw that having rice for breakfast at street cart stalls was quite the done thing there.

Leftover grilled pork and stick rice and boiled egg from Seefah put together for breakfast

It all came back to me when I put together my breakfast for today. Leftover grilled pork and boiled egg from what chef Seefah had sent along with our order from her restaurant Seefah (Bandra, Hill Road) yesterday, topped on the leftover Jasmine rice which had come with their char siew pork and with fish sauce & other dipping sauces. There was no soundtrack in the #finelychoppedkitchen as I used the micro to warm & put together the food and was done in a minute or two.

The pork had stayed very well overnight. Loved the understated smokiness to it, the texture and the flavours. Seefah told me its Belgian pork though I am sure a lot of credit goes to her, and her husband chef Karan Bane’s, cheffing skills.

I was thrilled with the end result and I think I made chef Seefah proud too! She saw the pic and said this is her favourite breakfast. What are the chances of that?!

Our Nespresso machine was bought in Bangkok too

Fun fact. Our Nespresso machine was purchased in Bangkok which made this a complete #BangkoktoBandra #loveyourleftovers #finelychoppedbreakfasts and I felt as if I was in Sukhumvit while having it, even if Sion or Saki Naka (in Mumbai) is the most one can travel to in these Covid lockdown days.

I feel fortunate to have travelled and seen so much of the world and of India in my life. There is so much more to see, but I am not restless. I am content where I am. With K. And the boys. The world has more pressing issues now and we will travel again when mankind gets on top of the Covid pandemic.

Friday lunch

From Seefah Bandra

Now let me take you a day back and tell you more about the food that we had ordered in from Seefah.

Ordering in is a bit of a rarity as we try to have home cooked meals as much as possible. Better for the health (and the pocket) and we enjoy them too! Yesterday turned out to be a #bunkinbanu day and I decided to order in. For last minute decisions it has to be restaurants and not home chefs for practical reasons.

When I do order in, I do so from folks we can always bank on. Like Seefah run by the very talented chefs Seefah Ketchaiyo (who is from Bangkok) and Karan Bane (a Mumbai boy). Calling in a Thai curry from them was a no brainer and the red one at that, as a good red Thai curry is rare in Mumbai and they ace it at Seefah.

I placed the order directly with Seefah so the spice levels were perfect for me as was everything else and the missus was thrilled too and could not stop raving about the curry. The prawns were nice and juicy and not overdone. The curry thin as it is meant to be. I feel that it was the best I have had from them so far.

Char Siew pork from Seefah

They had char siew pork on offer and memories of the ones I’ve had in the food courts of KL & Singapore made me order this Chinese roast pork too yesterday. When I’ve tried char siew in India in the past, I’ve felt that the chefs had entered the kitchen with the mindset of making gulab jamuns. No such issues here. The sweetness of the marinade was restrained, the flavours sharp and texture perfect. The pork was tender and yet had a bite and was not just all about fat.

Seefah kindly sent a grilled pork on the house. I loved its smokiness and kept a bit for breakfast. You know what followed from earlier in the post.

Grilled pork from Seefah

Friday tea

I kept the cucumbers to have in a sandwich in the evening and planned to use the dipping sauces to cook the pomfret and squids that were in the fridge. #loveyourleftovers and all.

Now let me tell you what I did for lunch today with the dipping sauces.

Saturday lunch

Lunch continued the impromptu #finelychoppedkitchen Seefah #loveyourleftovers food festival story that I had started this post with.

1. I marinated the pomfret I had bought from Poonam of Khar Station fish market recently, in the palm sugar and fish sauce dip that they had sent with the Thai grilled pork from Seefah, and bunged it in the air fryer for 15 min at 200 c and then 10 min at 100 c.

The timings are approximate and I had pre-heated the oven before that. I did not add any extra oil or salt and the fish came out intact! K had it by itself and the fish was so juicy and tender and flavoursome.

Air fryer pomfret

2. I had the with the leftover sticky rice that came with the char siew from Seefah yesterday with some of the fish sauce and bird’s eye chilli that I had asked asked for, drizzled in.

With Thai sticky rice

3. I tossed the squids, that I had bought from Poonam the other day, in hot oil for 30 sec and then another 30 sec with the fish sauce, palm sugar & peanut dip and the soy and chilli dip which accompanied the char siew and added chopped spring onions at the finish.

It’s criminal to overcook squids and I am happy to report that I got it just right today.

Wok tossed squids

Lunch was brilliant. I think Seefah’s sauces and dips and I make a great team in the kitchen!

As I told K after lunch, ‘I thought a lot about it and I don’t think that there was a single note that went wrong with the lunch.’

She raised her eyebrows, but smiled in agreement as we competed to finish the last of the squids and I made a mental note order 500 g next time and not 250 g.

From the #HouseOfCats

Here’s where you can hear chef Seefah’s story on my #foodocracyforher chat with her

Here’s Poonam’s no if you live in Bandra and want to order fish from her: 98674 02956

From the #FinelyChoppedArchives

1. When I had char siew in Singapore
2. When I had siew yoke in KL