Mumbai Food: Grab some Khandeshi Rajput fare at this pop-up in Bhandup

A Khandeshi Rajput thali

A vivid image of a typical Rajput joint family forms before our eyes as Poonam Parihar recounts how her initiation into cooking began. She tells us how, as a teenager, her summers would be spent at their ancestral home in Khandesh, in northern Maharashtra.

There, the women in the family - her grandmother, mother and aunts - would while the afternoons away sun-drying mangoes, chillies, lemons, etc, to make pickles, chatting among themselves and letting the children sample the fare from time to time, much to their delight. But then, her mother passed away. So, suddenly, a young Parihar found herself thrust into the kitchen to share the burden. And gradually, she developed a genuine interest in cooking her community's traditional dishes, which haven't really travelled out of Khandesh into the menus of restaurants back in Mumbai.

Khandeshi Rajput mutton

But, the Bhandup resident now wants to educate people about what Khandeshi cuisine is like. That's why she decided to start hosting pop-ups about a month ago, with the first of these scheduled for this weekend. She'll be serving dishes that she's been perfecting ever since her foray into the family kitchen began. "It's a game of patience," the 33-year-old explains about the slow-cooking method that the food normally needs, adding, "Earlier, I would wonder why my relatives would take such a long time. But now, I understand. It's because they didn't take any short cuts, and nor do I."

That's why, she tells us, the community prefers tougher mutton pieces to tender cuts of the goat, since it allows all the elaborate ingredients to mingle with each other over a longer period of time. The Khandeshi Rajput mutton that she will serve, for instance, is made with mutton chops and undergoes a time-consuming process of the meat being coated with besan and wheat flour (to neutralise the smell of blood) before it's washed and boiled. Shredded coconut is cooked on an open grill, the masala is then roasted and all the ingredients are cooked together on a low flame to let the mutton stew in its own juices, with only a little added water.

The other dishes on the menu, such as panchmel dal (made of five types of lentils) and bharwa baingan (baby brinjals stuffed with masala), also reflect the culinary lineage of Khandeshi Rajputs. "We were originally landlords of the farmers in this region, having migrated from Rajasthan around 12 AD. That's why our cuisine has a touch of regality," Parihar reveals, before ending with, "But while our community traces itself back to Rajasthan, Khandesh is our janma and karma bhoomi. And all I want is that the people and food of this region be recognised far and wide."

ON: June 10, 1 pm
AT: Bhandup West (register for the exact address).
LOG ON TO: authenticook.com
COST: Rs 900 for veg; Rs 1,100 for non-veg

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