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Mumbai central: an actor reviews the underbelly of good food!
What happens when a famous actor goes scavenging for deliciousness in South Mumbai’s modest but famous eating joints?
My relationship with food is the same as the bond I share with my friends – it’s deep and real. The friends I hang out with regularly are the ones I have grown up with. The first time I came to Mohammed Ali Road was over 20 years ago, when I was in school with my friend Tausif Rawjee. We would run office errands for his father’s business. During college, we started doing this food trail together, with our good friend Ibrahim Khatri. We love each other’s company and we love to eat. It’s now time for our annual ritual. Let the journey begin!
For the best nalli nihari, head to Bohri Mohalla
This is our first stop. Surti 12 Handi is where I ate paya (goat trotters cooked in spices) for the first time. The only other place I have ever eaten paya is at Tausif’s home. Unfortunately, by the time we arrive, the paya is over. Ibrahim is a fan of the nalli nihari here, so he orders it along with sukha (a gravy prepared with meat from the tail bone of the goat) and mix – a mixture of fat of the meats in gravy. Not many people like it, but I do.
The best way to eat the meats is to soak the roti or naan in the gravy. The roti absorbs all the flavour of the masalas. The meats are delicately flavoured and tender, and melt in my mouth. If you find the food spicy, order aerated drinks. Ibrahim manages to give his approval of the spread in front of us between mouthfuls: “It’s unbelievable.”
Their kitchen is a small room that opens onto a narrow lane. Tables and chairs are placed in the street as vehicles and people bustle through the rest of the lane. But eating here is all about the taste, experience and company. We usually get here in a taxi or, lately, an Uber, and walk between each place. The whole journey takes about two-and-a-half hours. Last year, we rode in on Tausif’s bike. I have a lovely photo of the three of us huddling under an umbrella in the rain.
Bill: Rs 1,390
Get your kebab fix at Memon Mohalla
The Memon Mohalla lane, during Ramzan, is the most crowded part of Mohammed Ali road. As we walk in, Ibrahim and I cannot control ourselves from eating firni at the Suleman Usman Mithaiwala. A good-natured argument ensues about who took the amazing picture of the malpua with cream last year. Both of us want credit for it!
Hindustan Restaurant is where we go for our kebab fix. It is a snack interlude between the meals on this trail. We never sit inside the restaurant and usually carry the kebabs as we walk around, popping them in our mouths like chana. They are tiny.
A specialty of the place, the Hindustan Chota Kebab – as a sign on the wall outside the restaurant proudly declares – is deep fried in a huge kadai. It is made with more wheat than meat, and a lot of oil. But, as Tausif points out, they melt in the mouth, especially when you eat them hot, straight out of the frying pan.
Usually when we come here, they serve us the kebabs on a sheet of newspaper. This time, thanks to the HT cameras, the manager serves the kebabs on a paper plate (no less!) and gives us lime wedges to squeeze on them for extra flavour!
Bill: Rs 20
Taste Sanjay Dutt’s chicken at Bhendi Bazaar
Every time we walk along Mohammed Ali Road, Ibrahim stops and buys something. The buzz and energy are fascinating, and some of the buildings here are really quite beautiful if you see them in daylight. I also enjoy looking at the designs of the name boards of the shops. Some of the faces you see are also very interesting. It’s almost like a theatre, yet it’s happening around you; something like a virtual reality experience.
Inevitably at Noor Mohammadi Hotel, there is no space to sit. Somehow, Rashid, the owner, gets us a table. He orders the all-time famous Chicken Sanju Baba (recipe given by the actor Sanjay Dutt), Chicken Hakimi, nalli nihari, dal ghee and tandoori roti for us. Ibrahim likes Chicken Sanju Baba but then he is also the biggest-ever fan of Sanjay Dutt. I’m also a big fan, but not of the chicken. I thought it was okay. The Chicken Hakimi, which Tausif always orders, is very good and Rashid modestly informs us that it is his recipe. I have the dal ghee here for the first time. It is delicious.
I really like the nihari here. You can see the difference between the nihari at Surti 12 Handi and the one here. It is less spicy and more delicate here. I have been a fan of nihari for a long time. The first time I ate it was in Delhi when I was around 21, at a friend’s home. That was when I understood that it’s made a night before and is actually a breakfast dish. What I like about it is that the meat is so tender, and that is because it is slow-cooked.
The surprise dish Rashid serves us is Chicken White Biryani. At first, I don’t want to eat it because I am stuffed. But I take one spoon and end up eating a lot of it. “If you still eat food after you are full, it’s the biggest compliment to me,” says Rashid. It is perfect with subtle flavours and tender chicken. I have never had it before but will definitely order it the next time I go.
Bill: Rs 1,000
Bite into crunchy malpuas at Khara Tank Road
By the time we make it to Tawakkal Sweets, we are full. We usually start off by telling the guys here that we will pack some items, but then get tempted and end up eating five or six malpuas!
I like Tawakkal because its sweets are not too sweet. I love sweets but you have to taste what you’re eating, the sweetness cannot kill the flavours. In a malpua, you want to taste the burnt parts, the caramelised sugar and the rabri.
I am sad to learn that the brothers running Tawakkal Sweets have split and now there are two restaurants of the same name side by side. Tonight, we sit on our usual table. Khozem, the young son of the owner of the Tawakkal Sweets we have always frequented, also serves us mango firni. The subtle blend of the sour mango flavour and sweet milk makes it outstanding. He also serves us a sweet he calls dahi vada (curd filled batter, deep fried in ghee) which Ibrahim says reminds him of balushahi.
Bill: Rs 1,420
Usually, I choose my food. But when you travel a lot like I do, you have to also eat what you get. Like when you’re trekking in Uttarakhand and you have to eat chow mein, or cockroaches in Thailand. I like to try new things and I go out in search for them too. The evening is great. I had not seen the guys for a while. A trail like this is only to be done with friends. Otherwise, who do you share the joy of good food with?
(The author is a television and film actor, model and former video jockey)
(As told to Anil Sadarangani)
From HT Brunch, February 25, 2018
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