Home baked pizza

I find it very hard to stop myself from binging on pizzas and I have had some of the best and the worst that Mumbai can offer its gourmands. But one thing I have realised that it is quite pointless spending a bomb on some exotic pizza at a fancy restaurant if you can make a healthier one at home at a much lower cost. And it makes much more sense to do it if you happen to be a pizza-holic like me.

Generally, on weekends I go out and eat and for all the meals in those two days, I turn up at one or the other restaurant dotting Colaba, which is where I stay, and areas surrounding it like Kala Ghoda, Fort, Cuffe Parade and Marine Drive. But this Sunday I was at my dear friend, Meenakshi's house and we decided to bake some fresh pizzas. She is another foodie at heart and also a good cook. We would have loved to make the dough at home but we had little time on hand and so we skipped some thin crust pizza bases from a bakery in her locality. I have always wondered if it would be sensible to replace the white flour dough with a whole wheat or a multigrain one. If I come up with a convincing answer, you will find it here.

One mistake that I have usually seen people committing while preparing to bake a pizza is not paying much attention to the base sauce, which forms the basis for the overall flavour to develop. Instead of going for the bottled ones, try to make it fresh at home and you will avoid any harmful preservatives and unnecessary vinegar from entering your body. For the base sauce, we decided to go for tomato and basil, and for toppings, we included some mushrooms, capsicum, onions, baby corn and green olives. The mozzarella pizza cheese was a usual pick and we kept the seasoning simple, adding just a hint of oregano. We were happily satiated with the end result and could taste the goodness of vegetables and cheese, and keeping the flavours uncluttered was indeed a good idea.

Preparation:

1. Base sauce: Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan and saute the finely chopped tomatoes. Add fresh basil leaves and a pinch of salt and pepper when the tomatoes turn soft and mix well.

 

2. Chop some veggies for topping.

3. Dab the pizza base with some olive oil or butter and spread the freshly made tomato sauce on it.

4. Grate just a little bit of mozzarella cheese, covering the entire area of the base (including the ends) and nicely place the toppings on it.

5. Add a pinch of oregano (and just a bit of salt if the oregano you are using doesn't have) and grate more cheese over it, as per your taste.

6. If you are using a microwave, then put it for around 3 to 5 minutes and if you are using an OTG, then you need to put it for roughly 10 to 15 minutes and keep a watch. 

7. Sprinkle some oregano and devour!

       

Best Bakes at Yazdani...

When you come to Mumbai as a tourist or a settler, one of the most essential things to experience is eating at an Iranian or a Parsi joint. The southern part of the city, which is better known as town, is where these age-old cafes, some of which are historic, are located, charming visitors with their balmy wooden interiors, a modest display of savouries, a nonchalant air and an old staff with a friendly demeanour. In this city, which is bursting at its seams with a plethora of restaurants, often the identity of a restaurant blends into the other and then you really can't differentiate one from the other, and this holds true for the food they serve. And when you need a welcome change, you step into an Iranian or a Parsi eatery. 

Yazdani Restaurant and Bakery in Fort was opened by a Parsi baker, Meherwan Zend in 1953, and has been delighting the palate of its patrons ever since. I had discovered it on my way back from college one evening in 2009. I used to walk from St Xavier's College, which is very close to the famous erstwhile Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus), every evening after classes to my PG in Colaba, crossing the area of Fort, which is a buzzing business district of the city. I was amused with the ancient Gothic architecture of the buildings in Fort and that was the main reason behind my walk, and I would click random things which caught my attention. 

Once I was crossing a bylane in Fort and a strong enticing whiff of freshly baked bread greeted me and I found myself standing in front of Yazdani. Its unique ocean blue facade with a hint of deep red on the roof added to my pleasure and I stepped it. I called for a muffin, a bun maska (butter) and chai. The muffin was a steal in 12 bucks. It was soft and well baked, and the peculiar flavour of cardamom that it was infused with just added to the taste. The bun was fresh and was smeared properly with a generous amount of butter and chai was just up to the mark. I was happily satiated with everything I consumed and I didn't have to pay a fortune for that happiness. The next time I visited the bakery, I ordered an apple pie, which becomes one of those special things in your life that you want to keep coming back to after you consume in once. I have. 

Last Sunday I took a friend along with me to the bakery. It was sometime in the evening and since all the offices in Fort are shut on a Sunday, there was hardly a soul eating at Yazdani. I was carrying my camera. We called for two cups of chai, brun maska (crisp bun with butter) and muffins, but we were told that muffin was not available as not many people turn up at the bakery on a Sunday. Since whatever you eat at the bakery is hand baked that very day, you can be rest assured that you will never be served anything stale. The decor is nondescript, the seating is very basic and the temperature inside the bakery is slightly higher than outside because of the running of diesel ovens. Nonetheless, the aroma of fresh bakes overpowers everything else. There is a framed certificate from Burrp on one of the walls, a menu written with chalk on a blackboard, a wooden cabinet to store the bread, pictures of the famous wrestler King Kong who was a regular here, an interesting looking apparatus for slicing the bread, glass cabinets displaying savouries, butter and more bread. As soon as we were served our order, my friend Sohrab dug into his plate of brun maska and even though I was tempted to do the same, I first took a few pictures. One of the owners, an elderly man in his late eighties I am assuming, saw me clicking and he wanted to take a picture too, so I suitably complied. For four cups of tea and two plates of brun maska, all that we paid were 80 bucks.

The muffin which I couldn't eat that Sunday brought me back to the bakery yesterday morning and I treated myself to two muffins, a brun maska and a cup of chai. I also called for an apple pie, but was informed that it was available after 3 pm when it would be served fresh from the oven. The beckoning call of that delectable apple pie will soon have me at the bakery once again.

Muffins with cardamom flavour

Chocolate fudge

Brun maska (crispy bun with butter) and tea

Blocks of butter

My friend Sohrab with his tea

Bun and wooden chopper

 

Muffin again!

The unassuming interiors and staff of Yazdani

The apparatus to slice bread

More bread!

 

                          

                                       

A Mouthful of Goodness...

It was a Sunday evening and I had just stepped out of Regal cinema in Colaba, Mumbai, where I had gone for a noon show of Saheb Biwi aur Gangster Returns, along with my roomie, Lourdes. Though the movie was good in parts and Irrfan Khan was at his steaming best, there was something more delectable waiting for my generous attention and I was also eager to comply.

We started walking towards Kala Ghoda, which is diagonally opposite to Regal and at a distance of roughly 50 metres. It is a well-known art district of the city and is also home to designer brands and a bevy of charming homegrown cafes and eateries. Our destination was the Kala Ghoda Cafe, which is neatly tucked away in a bylane adjacent the Jewish synagogue, Keneseth Eliyahoo, a beautiful pastel blue coloured building. Don't go by the cafe's unassuming facade and when you enter, it may suddenly strike you that oh! It's small! Give yourself a few seconds and you will start liking everything that you see there. The cafe envelops you in a balmy, comfy environment with its wooden interiors, warm lighting and soul soothing music. There is an arrangement of about six tables on the ground floor, which is where the kitchen is, and a narrow wooden staircase leads you to the mezzanine level, which has a couch and two chairs surrounding a table - my favourite spot here. If the cafe happens to be full at the time of your visit, there is a table outside the other side of it, where you can sit and wait, or, even order your food there.

The menu features a selection of veg and non veg sandwiches made with whole wheat bread, pastas (there is a whole wheat option), other continental varieties, salads, desserts and beverages. Keeping in mind the location, it is mostly reasonably prized, except for the sandwiches, which are small but nonetheless, scrumptious. Lourdes called for a ham and cheese sandwich and I for a rosti, which one of the chefs had recommended, and we both ordered two cups of hot chocolate, which is made from the Belgian dark chocolate. The staff is very friendly and courteous, knows exactly what is there in the menu and if you ask for any suggestions, you won't be disappointed.

Our order arrived without much wait. The hot chocolate is probably the best you can have in town. It's thick and with every mouthful you will be delighted with the taste of authentic Belgian dark chocolate. The ham and cheese sandwich was perfectly grilled and was loaded with generous portions of both ham and cheese. I could imagine how satiating it would be to have it by looking at Lourdes. She went quiet and devoted herself fully to the pleasure of eating. I was quite skeptical about rosti as it was the first time I was eating it, but all my worries were put to rest as soon as I ate a bite and truly savoured it. It's a pancake which is made of grated potatoes and you have an option for have it with a veg or a non veg filling. I had called for some grilled veggies and my rosti was well stuffed with the seasonal fresh ones. It was mildly tempered with salt, olive oil and seasonings, which helped in accentuating the taste of the veggies, rather than over powering it with their own flavours. We sat there for quite sometime, enjoying the food and occasional chit-chat and left with a lingering need to come back.

Motherly food

The entrance to Cafe Samovar

If you happen to be a north Indian living in Mumbai, you may be feeling a little disappointed with the dearth of restaurants in the city serving palatable north Indian cuisine, where you don't have to shell out a fortune. It has happened with me. There was a point in my life when I had newly settled in Mumbai and I used to crave for home-style aloo parathas on Sundays, which used to be my weekend breakfast back home in Delhi. My mom would make perfectly-crisped parathas generously stuffed with potatoes, cottage cheese or cauliflower, with just a hint of spices, but a flavour too endearing to forget, and smear it with a spoonful of butter and serve plain curd along with it. On many occasions, some chutney made of fresh mint or coriander leaves, tempered with a tasteful concoction of garlic, a bit of salt, green chillies, ginger and roasted cumin seeds, would also accompany my platter. It was this paratha that was making me feel home sick and my ex-roomie, Michelle took me to Samovar.

Refreshing sunlight beams through the latticed iron screen forming an entire wall of Samovar, running from end to end. Tables are arranged vertically through the length of the cafe and the art on the walls keeps changing once in a while. Two coolers are placed on the far ends and there is a fan for each table and though there is no AC, you never feel hot because there is always a pleasant wind coming in through the latticed wall. The music is generally Indian or Western classical or semi-classical, and more often than not, it is instrumental.

The menu offers largely north Indian and continental, and breakfast or snacky options like eggs, sandwiches, pakoras and samosas, along with beverages including chilled beer. They also have a section dedicated to desserts and there is mouth-watering dahi waha on the list, too. On every table there are two vessels, one contains a sweet chutney made of onions and tomatoes (my fav) and the other is filled with tangy coriander chutney. I had called for an aloo paratha on my first visit and it has become a staple for me at the cafe. It is probably the best aloo paratha you can eat outside home in Mumbai, without a drop of extra oil on it. I always devour it with my favourite onion and coriander chutneys but you can also call for some butter and there is also some pickle to go with it. This homely happiness comes for Rs 75. On my recent visit to the cafe, I had ordered palak paneer, which comes with two plain parathas for Rs 135. I had discovered it a few months ago when I was eating there with a friend of mine and after savouring the aloo paratha, we both needed something more to kill our hunger. The green of the palak is genuine and the paneer is super soft. I had stopped eating palak paneer outside home because I felt really miserable with the kind of colour they put in to make it look greener and the paneer is never fresh, until I had it at Samovar. The preparation is cooked with very mild spices which enhance the flavour of spinach and cottage cheese, and your stomach doesn't curse you when you take it in. My other favourite is the ready chai which I think is phenomenal for the price you pay for it. It's all of Rs 5. I eat at the cafe every once in a week and always walk out happily satiated.       

Warmly cocooned inside the Jehangir Art Gallery in Kala Ghoda, Samovar has a legacy and patronage that not many can boast of. It was lovingly started by Usha Khanna, the wife of a film producer and sister to the legendary actor Balraj Sahni and writer, playwright and actor, Bheesham Sahni who penned down the passionate Tamas. The cafe was once frequented by some of India's leading artists and writers, which include MF Husain, Laxman Shrestha, VS Gaitonde, Amitabh Bachchan and Anjolie Ela Menon, among many others. I had the privilege of interviewing celebrated artist Laxman Shrestha and in his conversation on Samovar he revealed that he had run away from his home in Nepal to learn art and he came to Mumbai with hardly any money in his pocket. While he studied at the JJ School of Art, his senior, VS Gaitonde, himself a renowned painter, introduced him to the motherly warm confines of Samovar and it became a home away from home. The food reminded him of the comfort food back home and he would eat there regularly. Usha Khanna never sent a bill to his table, being aware of his financial condition. She was the same to anyone who was in the city trying to make a mark in the field of art and was hard of money. Samovar was, indeed a second home to many struggling artists who grew up there and created history. And there was a motherly lady who took care of their hunger.

Palak paneer with paratha (cottage cheese in spinach gravy with Indian flat bread)

Latticed iron frame wall    

Tangy coriander chutney

Vegetable pickle

Sweer onion and tomato chutney

    

Home-style paratha (Indian flat bread)

The cafe's layout