A Chembur eatery hits all the right notes with authentic flavours that celebrate the community's culinary traditions
Mutton Sindhi dum biryani/ All pics Atul Kamble
Three months into the city, and we are still on a quest to find an eatery that serves authentic Mughlai food to satiate our biryani craving. And as we waited, we heard about a Sindhi restaurant that had opened shop in Chembur. No stranger to the cuisine, we asked our friend from the community, whose grandmother’s cooking we have fond memories of, to tag along one Friday evening.
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Bheja Fry
It’s easy enough to locate Duma Dum Mast Kalandar, thanks to its brightly lit signage bang on the main road. Our apprehensions start building up as we walk in and find the place empty. On being offered to be seated at their bar on the first floor, we head up, and then retreat, craving the cosy, warm lighting in the restaurant as opposed to the dimly-lit bar, again, empty.
Sindhi chicken masala
As we listen to the Carnatic instrumental playlist and decide what to order, our helpful waiter points to the bheja fry (Rs 350) and tarial macchi (Rs 350). We give in, even though we are not fans of the former. We wait and take a sip of the inter caste marriage cocktail (Rs 300) — a tangy yet sweet vodka concoction with lychee, guava, tabasco sauce and balsamic. There’s some amount of spice packed in as well; while the chia seeds add to its texture.
Inter caste marriage
It takes them 12 minutes to get the spicy masala brain fry and the crunchy and delicately tangy fish fry to our table. It takes us 10 minutes to polish off both, with the pav punctuating our meaty bites. Irrespective of what comes next, this will stay the place that changed our mind (no pun intended) about bheja fry — it is creamy, has a decent amount of heat, and the brain bits aren’t grainy. Our companion is all praise for the basar — onions sautéed white not brown — in the dish.
Koki roti.
Next, we cross our fingers and get the Sindhi mutton dum biryani (Rs 480). Slow cooked and layered with garam masala — turmeric, coriander powder, saffron and a hint of amchoor — this is the family secret our companion spills as she dives into this version, nodding her head approvingly. And though neither of us are great cooks, we get what she means when we take our first bite — the meat melting off the bone, with a hint of spice and the faintest tinge of sweetness makes up for all the long wait to tuck into that perfect biryani.
The koki roti (Rs 50) — another staple — is a thick wheat flat-bread with onions and coriander, cumin and pomegranate seeds — and the Sindhi chicken masala (Rs 280) come next. We are surprised when we bite into the roti — it’s got all the flavours of the parantha, but it much lighter for having been toasted twice. The curry is a tad too sweet for our tastebuds, but with our companion throwing approving glances our way, we take a few more bites. And the more we eat it, the more we like it. Tagging it an acquired taste, we browse through the dessert section, before we realise we aren’t brave enough to take another bite thanks to their large portions and our greed. But since we both make it a point to come back or order in fairly soon, we leave the sweet ending for another day.
Time: 12 pm to 3.30 pm, 7 pm to 1 am
At: Duma Dum Mast Kalandar, Suman Nagar, Sion-Trombay Road, Chembur.
Call: 25287007
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