FIVE YEARS AND COUNTING!

A Bohra Feast

Ashvina Vakil

Five years ago a small group of food and wine lovers met in Shankar’s home for the first meet of the Pune Gourmet Club. From those tentative beginnings to now, five years later, the journey has been one of delightful culinary surprises and largely successful experiments with both food and wine.

Having traversed the gamut of cuisines, both international and Indian, we decided on a Bohra feast to celebrate the PGC’s fifth anniversary. The idea came from our two enthusiastic Bohra members – Mansoor Dalal and Husein Upletawala – and they took it upon themselves to decide on the menu and arrange for a well-known local caterer to serve up the feast on the traditional thaals.

Anniversary meets always attract large numbers and 70 plus members turned up at the Four Seasons clubhouse in Bhugaon (courtesy Abhay Wagle and Tara Maithreyan), ready to party. Buckets of chilling wine - Vinsura Brut, Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Syrah -greeted members and their guests, who were instructed to gather in groups of six around the tables.

There was something about the atmosphere that turned a normally pretty well behaved bunch of people into rowdy revellers, and Shankar looked visibly harassed as the afternoon wore on. Mansoor, who tried to throw light on the history of the Bohra community and its culinary traditions, gamely gave up after trying to be heard above all the din! He realised that trying to subdue a group of happy imbibers wasn’t worth the effort – he might as well join in the revelry!

Traditionally, a Bohra family eats together out of one thaal, a large round metal plate on which food is served course by course; the idea is to promote unity and equality. PGC members, already bonding over wine, reacted to the thaals with surprising enthusiasm, although a few hastily stifled queries about quarter plates were heard!

The meal started with Smoked Chicken Samosas, Chicken Cream Tikka (chicken pieces fried with an egg batter) and Tandoori Potato with Kokum Chutney, and the mere whiff of the samosas seemed to send members into a frenzy. Only the novelty of the thaals managed to settle them down, and there was a momentary lull in decibel levels as they contemplated the offerings in front of them.

The Bohra meal is served in alternate sweet and savoury courses, starting and ending with a grain of salt. Sodanoo, cooked rice sprinkled with granulated sugar and ghee, and

Thuli (wheat and jaggery sweet) were next on the list, after which guests were free to dig into the Chana-Batata, and Dabba Gosht with mini parathas. Just as we were getting used to the savoury tastes, along came the Kesar-Badam-Pista sancha ice cream.

Pineapple Halwa and Jungbari Chicken Drumsticks with paratha followed, and by now we were eagerly entering into the spirit of things. All our conventional ideas about the order of dessert in a meal tossed aside, we waited for the Tuvar-Pulao with Mutton Palidu. It was certainly the highlight of the meal. Husein advised us to mix it with the Baingan Bharta, Papad, and Achaar and relish the ensuing mish-mash without being squeamish about it, and we are glad we took his advice!

Bohra food is a gentle intermingling of Arabic and Gujarati influences and interestingly, doesn’t sit heavy on the stomach. One of the advantages of eating out of a thaal is a certain restraint – courtesy demands you leave enough food for the others sharing your meal, and besides, no one wants to seem greedy with so many others watching your every move!

Copious amounts of wine were quaffed, with Good Earth’s Bleu (Cabernet Shiraz) and Bella (rose) also making an appearance during the course of the meal. The sound of corks popping was intermittently heard, as members toasted the anniversary with Vinsura’s Brut. As Rohan Mankani’s banner (thank you Rohan for the thoughtful gesture) declared, the PGC is about good food, wines and people. And on that Sunday in September, all three came together in joyful tandem!

The 4th edition of India's premier wine festival
will be held on Sat. Dec. 11 and Sun. Dec. 12
at Rohi Villa Palace, Lane # 7, Koregaon Park, Pune 411004.

This weekend feast of the senses is designed to please your palate with great wine, tickle your taste buds with gourmet food including boutique cheeses from Indian cheese masters, educate you in the fine art of wine appreciation and entertain you with cookery shows by Cordon Bleu chefs. This festival brings together hundreds of wine enthusiasts, winemakers, chefs, gourmet food importers and industry professionals in the pursuit of fine wine and even better food.

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Bohemian Lunch

From the first time I met Ketaki and Shekhar Pimpalkhare, owners of Bohemian, the chemistry just clicked. Their enthusiasm for good food and great service is reflected in all three essential of a successful restaurant.

The setting - white textured walls contrasting the dark wooden rafters, works of art hanging on C channels, designer crockery on the tables, well spaced finely crafted rosewood coloured furniture, a nicely set bar and glass windows overlooking the pool. An unforgettable ambience. In another time the guest of honour at PGC's lunch meet at Bohemian on Sunday June 27, 2010 would have been Anais Nin. It would have been wonderful to make her acquaintance in a setting so perfectly suited to the indulgence of the senses.The service staff was headed by Puspendu Kayal- friendly and smiling, eager to please and assist. The kitchen - under the command of Chef Ketan rose to every challenge I posed them - from getting the Umm Ali right to the Zather grilled bread. The cleanliness of the kitchen and service was second to none - allowances being made for serving a sit down meal for 50!

The menu - Cuisine from the Mediterranean Coast - was a cooperative cooking venture with Bohemian's chef. PGC members made some of the items at home and brought 'em over and Chef Ketan prepared some dishes from his own recipes and others given by PGC. This system pioneered by PGC has yielded excellent results. Chefs get the opportunity to experiment and innovate and members revel in the joy of cooking.

Anoop and Raji Kumar, entrusted with the task of making Dolmades - a Greek delicacy - drove to a winery, collected fresh grape leaves (and tasted some wines in the process!), came back home, washed, blanched, cooked and stuffed 120 pcs of grape leaves with an extraordinary rice pilaf. Such is the dedication of PGC members to the cause of creating great food! Aditee Rele opted for mindnumbingly expensive Parma ham in creating the Italian Saltimbocca whereas I chose the less expensive option of using Sri Lankan ham. Result - Aditee's scored way above in taste and texture. Chef Ketan and his pastry chef Ramashray Singh did not bat an eyelid when I threw a few words like Zather, Lehmi, Umm Ali at them. They had never heard of these dishes but just said - send us the recipe and we'll make it. And make it they did, much to everyone's delight. Shekhar did not stint on the ingredients - pine nuts were not substituted with peanuts, Zather was bought at Rs. 1,000 a kg and Umm Ali was made with filo pastry repeatedly till it was perfect. I think PGC has met its partner in creating a gastronomic experience.

What is gourmet food without a wine to match? Good Earth Winery who sponsored the wines were out in full strength - from Nandita Khaire, their branding expert to master winemaker Dr. Rajesh Rasal, marketing honcho Navin Shankaranarayan and the willowy Sonal - doing their best to ensure everyone's glass was full. Navin offered Aarohi, their excellent Sauvignon Blanc with the starter course which consisted of two salads - Lebanese Tabbouleh made by Nilesh Kale and Catalonian Chickepeas Salad Picada created by Rohan Thacker - and an appetizer platter consisting of Moroccon Berber grilled chicken on skewers by Bohemian, Syrian Kibbeh by Naazneen Kothavala and Greek Dolmades with Tzatziki by Anoop and Raji Kumar. Bohemian presented appetizers from the coastal areas of Israel, Lebanon and Syria - spinach Fatayer, grilled flatbread with choice of two toppings - one with olive oil and zather and the other with minced lamb and pinenuts. For the vegetarians, chef Ketan served up an Italian Polenta sandwich and Bruschetta Caponata.

As the plates were cleared and the chefs began toiling over the main course, Navin introduced their new red wine - Antaraa - a Cabernet Shiraz. Bottle aged for just one month, the wine opened up nicely upon airing. It got smoother and more bouquetious (just dreamed up this word) by the passing minute. It paired beautifully with the piece de resistance of the day - Chef Ketan's Moroccon lamb tagine served on a bed of couscous accompanied by the Italian chicken saltimbocca and a sinful European style olive and chicken salami loaf by Sheela Narayan. The vegetarians had a vegetarian tagine and an excellent pan sauteed Zucchini stuffed with spinach and walnut and topped wth pomodoro sauce. The wine had everything going for it. Aroma, body, lightly tannic yet smooth on the palate with a nice finish. Wonderful with the main course. A wine to watch when it hits the stores in a month or two.

Dessert was an absolute delight. Umm Ali, an Egyptian speciality made of milk, cream, nuts and dried fruit with filo pastry is one dish that blends the moistness of a pudding with crisply baked filo sheets so adroitly that each spoonful will have crunchy flaky filo amidst milky and nutty mass of pudding. A perfect balance of flavours. It's a dessert not very easy to get right. Full marks to master baker Chef Ramashray Singh for such an excellent effort.

Bohemian owners Ketaki and Shekhar with their guests were at hand to enjoy the food and wine and mingle with PGC members.

Thanks to Umeed Kothavala for recording the event for posterity.

A big THANK YOU to Good Earth Winery for sponsoring the wines, Ketaki and Shekhar and the entire team at Bohemian headed by Chef Ketan, Chef Ramashray Singh and Puspendu Kayal for a wonderful time. Hope to dine more often at Bohemian.