Mumbai Food: Get delicious home style Bohri food in Santacruz eatery

(From top left) White sauce chicken pattice, habibi adraki maska pulao, mystic chicken kebab, chicken cutlet, Creamy tikka chicken; (bottom) maramari pulao. PICS/Dhara Vora Sabhnani

We aren't exactly thrilled when someone says home-style food and serves small portions at sky-high prices. That's because truly home-cooked food for us translates to big portions that our mother would force us to eat, which is never a problem as the food is brimming with flavours and love. And we are offered a glimpse of that at Kaka Kaki, a small Bohri eatery-cum-takeaway in Santacruz.

The restaurant, owned by Hozef and Durriya Darukhanawala (who are fondly called Kaka Kaki), specialises in authentic Bohri food and a few dishes borrowed from other cuisines but made using ingredients and techniques commonly used by the community. They also offer the classic Bohri thals. When we visit the eatery, the first thing we notice is the squeaky clean vibe; we also manage a to get a quick peek inside the kitchen that is sparkling clean, a positive sign as most small eateries in the city often lacks basic hygiene. The walls are adorned by paintings made by Durriya, we are told.

Kaki Kaki has a set menu, but only serves select dishes from it every day (there is plenty to choose from). And they are happy to take an order a day in advance if you need something specific, which won't otherwise be on their menu for the day.

In fact, we are informed that if our order is above Rs 2,000 they will even deliver to far-off Mulund. We order one portion of everything that's on their menu for the day (and of what's left as it's the end of the day), a total of seven dishes, and our bill comes to R1,140. All we do now is hope that the food is great, too, and wait for it to be freshly prepared, as we try a complimentary khurdi, a silken Bohri white chicken soup which is delicious on all counts. Our parcels are neatly packed to avoid spillage during our long train commute.

As soon as we reach home, we run the kebabs through a quick grill in the microwave and opt straight for the mystic chicken kebabs (Rs 160 for two pieces); it's a dish that was on our mind throughout our train ride back home. Fried with an egg coating, which makes it crisp, a tiny portion reveals that the kebab is layered with cheese and minced chicken. Next we try the creamy tikka chicken (Rs 120 for two pieces), where the boneless chicken pieces get a beautiful, simple flavour and texture from a creamy marinade. The white sauce chicken pattice is the most underwhelming (Rs 120 for two) dish of the entire spread. Made with chicken, potato, macaroni and white sauce, the pattice is bland, and its large portion size doesn't help. The classic chicken cutlet (Rs 100 for two) makes up for the loss of flavour with its robust spices. We notice that the malida (Rs 120) we had ordered for, and were charged for, is missing from our parcel, but we are willing to ignore this for the large, tasty portions, and the otherwise warm service.

For the mains we try the maramari pulao (Rs 250) and habibi adraki maska pulao (mutton, Rs 270). The maska pulao is a simple rice preparation made with ginger garlic paste. Though the flavours are just average, the dish might still work if you roll over some additional gravy. The maramari pulao is the star dish, though. A generous portion that can easily serve two (if you are loaded on the kebabs like us), the aromatic pulao includes several chunks of grilled chicken, chicken seekh and chicken sausages. We recommend that you try this gastronomic maramari!

By now, we have no room for the missing malida, but feel as if we have just been fed by a loving Bohri family.

At: Kaka Kaki, shop no 8, Shree Industrial Estate, Hasnabad Lane, Santacruz West.
Call: 9820117945
Time: 5 pm to 10.30 pm

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