Salted Bombay Duck in the rains and the case for introducing Mumbai to its own East Indian cuisine.

Chicken khudi, Bombay Duck atwail, East Indian bottle masala.

 A: “The chicken khudi is not too spicy. I made it the way I have it at home.”

K: “Thank god for that. I do not like spicy food.”

A: “It is made with freshly ground coconut and roasted spices. Roasted. You can have it with steamed rice. Or pav.”

K: “I will make rice then. We get pav in the evenings when the pav-vala comes. The corner shop would have pav but the shop is shut these days. What about the Bombay Duck dish? The atwail? Tell me about it.”

A: “I went to Sewri the other day to stock up on dried and salted Bombay Duck and prawns. We eat that during the rains when fishing is paused. I roasted the Bombay duck till it was crisp. Cooked it in lots of onion and spring onions, kokum and coconut cream and topped it with spring onion. You can have this with rice too. These are dishes that we eat at home  I have got many recipes from note books of my aunts who would note down recipes.”

East Indian food from the home of chef Aloysius Dsilva. I used the platform built for the cat’s litter tray which they didn’t use and which gave me lovely lighting.

K: “I have not seen this on your menu though. That seems to be more roasts, grills and pastas every weekend. With the odd Parsi dish.”

A: “We have a fixed clientele. They are bored of their home food and love ordering ‘continental’ on weekends. I have sent you some bottle masala too.”

K: ‘That’s lovely. I still remember going over to your house the day they were making it a few years back. Do you retail the masala?

A: “No. It’s only for family.”

Tendli tossed in coconut oil, dessicated coconut, Aloo’s East Indian bottle masala, salt and finished with table vinegar.

 K: “You made some lovely dishes such as the salad with methi green and toddy vinegar, pork sorpotel, mango curry with white onions and fresh mangoes and crab curry with coconut and East Indian masala, that day. They are not on your menu?”

A: “No.”

K: “Why?”

A: “Who will buy it? Who will eat it? No one knows about East Indian food. We use local vegetables, seafood, meat, dried fish. I buy the head and trotters of a pig for myself. Who wants that…Wait, I will send you some the next time I make trotters in green masala.”

Chicken khudi was just the bowl of love that K and I needed on a manic Monday. It was all about slow living.

K: “No. You will retail it. The time for local food has come. People are appreciating local cuisines. Trying them out. That has been one positive fall out of the pandemic. In fact my wife, who like all Parsis likes conti, said “I have not had such lovely food in a long time” after trying out all the regional home cooked food that we have had in the last one year. Go for it Aloo. Even if its a once a week menu. You might not get the same volume to start with, but that is how you will really develop an identity of your own. And you are a chef. You have a kitchen. You understand portions. Who better than you to take this on? Plus people are now used to getting food delivered home. You do not have to bother about renting a dining place.”

A: “Hmmm. Maybe I will do it once a month. A full menu.”

K: “Full menu make sense. Once a month, not. You have to be more regular. At least once a week.”

A: “Let me think….’

K skipped this but I loved the Bombay duck atwail as she was not sure of salted fish. I liked it. Right up to the aroma it left on my fingers. Which made me popular with our cats! Maybe my east Bengal genes at work. Salted fish is the norm there too after all.

The person I was talking to was chef Aloysius Dsilva. He is East Indian. No, not from the east of India. The East Indians are natives to Mumbai. Fisherfolks who converted to the Catholic faith at the time of the Portuguese rule of the island. They are considered to be one of the original inhabitants of Mumbai.

The delectable and soothing chicken khuddi that we had this afternoon. The Bombay Duck Atwail which was heady and intoxicating, (admittedly not for everyone, but quite addictive once you go past your mental block about salted fish), convinced me even more that Aloo (as he is fondly known) should introduce these dishes to a larger audience.

Raise your hands if you agree and let’s make our case to Aloo to bring his East Indian food to Mumbai. The city that is its home.

Do read this post from when Aloo had invited me home to see the East Indian bottle masala being made.

Bandra boy Little Nimki, dreams of Alu’s Bombay Duck atwail while I write.

Chef Aloo’s number for deliveries; 9892352494