Doorstep gourmet

For long, the only way to sample Bohri or Sindhi delicacies was when friends from these communities invited you home. But young Mumbai chefs have started taking these to people's doorsteps

The author checks out four new delivery-only food services

Sindhful

Dal Pakwan - a dish that pairs spiced lentils with deep-fried pooris - is considered so indulgent, most Sindhi households only prepare it as part of Sunday breakfasts. But a new service in Khar is offering it all through the week, albeit with crisper pooris that make for a lighter snack. Last year, Sannat Ahuja quit his job in real estate and convinced his mother Kanchan to launch a home catering business because "anyone who tasted her food always asked for more". From a lunchbox service, it has morphed into a kitchen that offers takeaways and home delivery of traditional favourites such as the sai bhaji - slow cooked vegetables paired with caramelised onion-infused rice - and koki, a thick roti flavoured with coriander and pomegranate seeds.

Among the rarer offerings are keema koftas (minced meatballs in gravy), and arbi tuk or deep-fried colocasia. "A lot of times, I have to explain the dish to customers before they are ready to place an order. But that is what makes it fun," says Sannat.

Baohaus Co

Although it appears on the menus of a few upscale sit-down restaurants, the Chinese steamed bun bao is not yet a rage in Mumbai. Shaped like a taco but with a soft, bread-like texture, it can be stuffed with various combinations of ingredients. Siddharth Somaiya often ate the globally-trending snack while training as a chef in Manhattan, and wanted to make it accessible in Mumbai. It is a careful art. Somaiya describes the bao as a canvas, where he has to mix cold elements with hot, and sweet elements with the savoury. The textures vary too. He sources pork from Belgium for savoury baos.

The other popular sandwiches features sous vide goat filling, and buttermilk fried chicken. The service makes only a few portions of these each day so they typically sell out before closing time. For vegetarians, the fillings include quinoa, sweet potato, or tofu and mushroom. As he offers both delivery and takeaways, Somaiya says he has had people walking into his kitchen, located deep in the inner lanes of Colaba, from faraway suburbs like Ghatkopar, Vashi and Powai. But so far, vegetarians have been a tough lot to please. "Meet us half way and try new things," the chef suggests.

The Curry Brothers

The recipes of Goan mothers and Bengali grandmothers are the inspiration for The Curry Brothers who are dishing out some favourites from these regions. It is the brainchild of pop-up chef Auroni Mookerjee and the husband-wife duo Joshua D'souza and Neha Manekia who previously launched the European catering service, Silverspoon Gourmet. They met at various food events and began experimenting in Silverspoon's Lower Parel kitchen some months ago.

The menu is limited with a few mains, snacks, and desserts. There is the Goan-style spicy chicken known as cafreal and sausages called choriz, served with the star among its offerings - fluffy, bite-sized paos (buns) made to order by a local baker. The pick of the lot for a heavier meal is kasha mangsho and porota - mutton cooked in caramelised onion - and pork vindaloo, which has pork belly and shoulder braised in traditional sauces. For dessert, skip the salted caramel and maska pav pudding, and go with the safer bet, Mrs D's chocolate marzipan cake.

The Bohri Kitchen

It was during a stint with Google that Munaf Kapadia first began searching for ways to veer his mother's attention away from the television. Wishing she would put her time and skills to better use, last January he e-mailed a set of friends and suggested they try an elaborate Bohri meal in his Colaba residence for a fee. Nafisa cooked up a storm in the kitchen including slow-cooked khichda, a Bohri version of haleem, and kalamra, a type of kheer with yoghurt, dry fruits, and pomegranate. As attendees and the Kapadias both enjoyed the event, it became a weekend fixture. To go further in introducing non-Bohris to less-known traditional recipes, Munaf recently tied up with Gurmeet Kochchar (of fellow food service Spicebox) and began taking delivery orders. He accommodated highlights of the thaal - a large steel plate in which various courses are usually served - into a box that he designed using PowerPoint.

The menu includes a Russian cutlet, Kashmiri aloo salad, biryani, and doodhi halwa. The kitchen needs a day's notice to prepare Nafisa's signature raan, a massive leg of lamb marinated for two days and topped with spices and coriander. For the benefit of the uninitiated, the dishes come in containers where the sleeve offers information on how to eat them.

To order from these delivery outlets, use Zomato or Swiggy