(Clockwise from top on table one) Tender coconut pudding, vegetarian jay-vun, bhaj ke pohe, moong sar; (On table two) half plates, corn dangar, kokum kadhi, seafood jay-vun, bangda cutlet. Pics/Pradeep Dhivar

For Hussain, the seed was planted. This is a cuisine that continues to use traditional souring agents such as tamarind and kokum be it in the prawn who-maan or sprouted moong gaa-tee; glorifies vegetables, in such as, the breadfruit rawa fry made with a flowering plant reminiscent of jackfruit, and alsande, a variant of the common kidney beans, used in the alsande bean ton-dak cooked with brown coconut and fennel. And, it re-imagines by-products elevating them to entirely new dishes, for example, by sprucing up the residual stock from the moong gaa-tee into moong saar, a hot moong soup with black mustard and Shankar chaap hing. So, it is understandable that he has been nestling the wonderment for more than a year and has finally translated it into a table-full of sumptuous and authentic fare.

Poll

Who will win the Punjab Elections?

BJP 32.84%

AAP 41.79%

INC 25.37%

Submit

View All In Poll

Moong Saar

But for Joshi, the motivation is less wonderment and more personal. "Have you ever thought about why people do not know about our food?" she inquires. "As you may already know, Goa was under Portuguese rule for centuries, so the influences are manifold. But unlike the British, the Portuguese were more interested in spreading Christianity than in engaging in trade. And the Saraswat community stuck on to its roots. However, it was the converts who went on to work in the houses of the sahibs, and accompanied them as cooks on voyages. That is why Catholic Goan food, which is as exotic as ours, reached more places than the Hindu community’s cuisine," she reveals, while serving a big helping of the piquant green masala loan-che along with a side of history.

ON October 8 to 21
TIME 12.30 pm to 3.30 pm; 7 pm to 11.30 pm
AT Jet Airways, Godrej, BKC
Cost Rs 1,600 (veg tasting menu); Rs 1,900 (seafood tasting menu)

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates