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“You have to taste a culture to understand it.”
-Deborah Cater, Author, City Chronicles
In a multi-cultural country like India, our diverse cuisine is held in utmost pride. While food has always been one of the most effective ways to celebrate our differences, there are several cuisines that hardly make it to the mainstream. The eclectic cuisine of the North East is relatively unknown in the mainland and to introduce it to Mumbaikars, Doolally tap room, in Colaba is coming up with a unique Northeast India Pop-Up on Sunday, August 13 from 7.30 pm-10 pm..
The Doolally Innovation Chef aka mad scientist, Gayatri Desai just returned from a solo culinary expedition across the North East and will plate its delicious cuisine in Doolally Taproom, Colaba over carefully curated five courses paired with special Northeast brews (Rice beer)
It is the first time Doolally is exploring the ‘food side of things’ and there is no better way to do it than to introduce food from an entirely different culture. “My purpose was to go beyond Bhut Jolokia - that’s what led me to the Northeast,” says Desai. Staying with locals, the 28-year-old chef with a degree in culinary arts from Vancouver, Canada, discovered ingredients and cooking techniques like curing, smoking, fermentation during her travels in the Northeast. “What struck me most were the cooking techniques. While fermentation is common with alcohol (especially beer!), it was the first time I discovered how food fermentation works and how it can add smokiness and depth and a lot of colour (black!) to curries and gravies”; she adds.
The five-course meal will include tapas style small plates, 4 savoury and one dessert. The meal with rice beer and other Doolally beers will cater to both, vegetarians & non-vegetarians. While spices, herbs and cooking techniques are from the Northeast, the fresh produce (vegetables, chicken & meat) will be locally sourced from Mumbai. The dishes have been slightly tweaked for Mumbai, so that the vegetarians won’t have to miss out. The five-course meal will be flavoured with some of the most exotic and unfamiliar ingredients that Desai discovered on her expedition as she travelled through the remote parts of Manipur, Nagaland all the way to Burma and smuggled them back to the mainland.
The Anishi is a Naga delicacy of fermented yam leaves made into patties and smoked over the fire or sun-dried. It is cooked with dry meat, especially with pork and is sour in taste. It is used as a condiment and is among the most culturally important foods for the Ao and Konyak tribes of Nagaland. The Awa-phadigom or the Saw-Toothed Coriander from Manipur is very different from the regular dhaniya. It is collected from the wild and can be used as a spice in soups, curries, salads and anything meaty.The Nei Lieh - Perilla Seeds from Meghalaya is a herb of the mint family (but it’s a seed - usually confused with white sesame seeds). These Perilla seeds are first roasted, pounded and tastes fantastic with salads.
The rice beer is one of the highlights of this event. Oliver Schauf (Brewmaster of Doolally) & the brewing team in Pune are brewing a special Rice Beer. While beer is usually brewed using barley, in Northeast India, they use rice or millet. Like any beer, a rice beer is only as good as the brew master who has made it. There will also be 10 other craft beers on tap in Colaba including Smoked Porter, Apple Cider, Farmhouse Ale to name a few.
Talking about her favourite culinary expedition, Gayatri Desai tells us how she discovered Black Rice in the strangest of circumstances. “I was stranded in a village in Manipur because of a landslide (totally normal). While I was staying in the village, I got the opportunity to learn how to cook this rice. Literally, from the field to the villager’s wood-fire kitchen to my plate. Black Rice - Also known as The Forbidden Rice has even more impressive health benefits than any white, brown or Kolam rice. They were not surprised when I smuggled a gunny bag of this magical “forbidden rice” to take home with me.”
Gayatri Desai’s last few pop-ups & secret suppers have covered India, Burma, Vietnam, Mexico & Japan which popped up at her quasi-legal roof top terrace of her parent’s home in Pune. Through this pop up she aims to celebrate unique ingredients, discovering new cooking techniques and telling good stories. A story of the produce she encountered. A story of homes she lived in. A story of people she met and most importantly, the story of the food she ate.
The five-course meal+ beer at the Doolally North-East Pop-Up costs INR 2500 inclusive of all taxes. The seats are limited to 20 people. To book, call 7400428099 or visit doolally.in/events
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