SINDHUDURG... JHEVAN KELE?

This article appeared originally in Mumbai Mirror, of the Times Of India group.



AUTHENTIC SINDHUDURG

An interview with Sindhudurg’s owner and master-chef, Prabhakar Desai

The journey upto Sindhudurg

Well I always loved cooking. I had started a Khaanavar in Goregaon in 1962, which I had to shut down because of the partnership did not work. Then I ventured into politics, social service and construction. I always sensed the need for food that was less oily than what restaurants normally serve. Something you can have daily. Also I wanted to provide the ood from my hometown to all. So I took up this place on a Dadar by-lane. It was supposedly inhabited by many antisocial elements then, but I that didn’t put me off. My political connections and goodwill helped me feel safe too.

You keep improvising and extending the menu, yet remain authentic. How?

You’ll be surprised at the amount of authentic items available in Malvani cuisine – both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.

How do you ensure the quality remains consistent, despite new cooks?

Well some cooks have been with me for a long time. But it’s mainly because I still prepare all the masalas myself. We have a factory in the Sindhudurg district where the Malvani atta comes from. And the essential mixing of the masalas is done according to weight, down to the milligram (it’s computerized). Then the cooks just have to apply a standardized amount to the food.

What inspired the doing up of the décor.

(laughs) Maintenance. It was all bamboo initially. Then I used wood and metal for the seating and to an extent the walls, for durability. I was in the construction line, so had my ideas as to what to do and a basic aesthetic sense. Also I started the counter outside selling Malvani take-home food items like dried fish, mangoes, coconuts and Malvani Atta, a lot of which are grown on our own farm.

The future?

I’m 69 now. So no expansion plans. I’ll leave that to my sons.

The future of Malvani cuisine?

When we started we were pioneers in the restaurant business. Now there are a lot of coastal cuisine eateries. But sadly many restaurants which tout their items as Malvani are actually offering South Indian items. Malvani cuisine is different from Gomanthak cuisine or any other coastal cuisine. This authenticity has to be maintained if it is to be survived.

UTTERLY BUTTERLY MALVANI

Adman and theatre personality Bharat Dabholkar leads Rishi majumder
through a much treaded path of discovering Sindhudurg, and
continuously laying siege…


"I first came here ages ago, when I heard of it as a new place opening
up – the first place to serve Malvani cuisine," recounts Bharat
Dabholkar, adman, playwright and theatre and film director. That first
tryst proved addictive, and he's been visiting the almost bistro like
eatery tucked into a Dadar bylane (alas! No swaying palm trees and
waves crashing on sand) since. "I've come here with advertising
colleagues, clients, people from my plays – people from every aspect
of my life basically," lists Dabholkar as he it's amidst the air
conditioned wood paneled interiors. Having his office in Worli, only
added to the number of stopovers at the restaurant. Why? "The
excellent food, and the fact that they've continued with authentic
Malvani food while creating the ambience of a mordern restaurant,"
explains the Amul man whose roots in the western coast stop at his
Goan great-grand-father. So has this place inspired ideas in a
creative mind? Or fruitful meetings maybe? "No," Dabholkar shakes his
shaven creative head candidly against the dark wood backdrop. "When
I'm eating I don't think."
Sindhudurg was inspired from the Khanavals, small Malvani joints with
fixed menus for each day of the week. "What I like is the fact that
they didn't stay small. They're competing with restaurants from every
cuisine, not just Malvani," says the adman matter-of-factly. This
would strike a chord with Dabholkar, who, through his plays competes
with "not just other plays, but television serials and cinema as well"
for viewership. "And Mumbai being the truest metropolis, means there's
a lot of competing cuisines," gauges a business sense, rare in
artists.
According to him, the joint, under master chef and owner Prabhakar
Desai, transformed itself "almost over night" to it's simplistic but
attractive, cosy and highly comfortable ambience. "They've also kept
adding dishes to the menu and added a counter outside where you can
purchase take-home Malvani delicacies," adds the guru of advertising.
"I turned 'preferably vegetarian' on the 1st of May," he confesses,
perusing the added dishes on the menu, and proceeds to order
(thankfully!) Prawns Masala, Sukya Tisrya (a kind of shell fish in dry
gravy) and a Pomfret Masala. Umm, God Only Knows maybe? "You wouldn't
want me to do this article without seafood would you?" he grins. He
explains that a man who's sampled everything from Crocodile Steak to
zebra meat can't be fanatical about such vows, but tries sticking to
them. Sipping the "best and most authentic Kokam in town", he
remembers times when he came here with colleagues to celebrate getting
a new account while heading back from work. "Or the days I used to
rehearse at Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre for my play", when he
dropped in with his troupe after every other rehearsal.
When the food arrives with two **** waiters, Dabholkar stands by his
no-thinking-while-eating catchline. He focuses solely on the curiously
spiced prawns curry and Vada (a seemingly evolved version of the Puri)
at hand pausing between quietly delighted mouthfuls grudgingly, to
answer a pressed question: "For me a food place is a place to eat and
go from. Also I hate eating at 5 stars." True, for even at parties
Dabholkar is reportedly renowned for skipping the dinner spreads to
grab a late night Paw Bhaji instead. "Infact, I was addicted to the
Paw Bhai stall near my Nariman Point office, and insisted on going
there to eat instead of ordering," he cites even as he digs into the
Tisrya. The Paw bhaji wallah knew Dabholkar make his serving in a
particular way – much in the same way that Desai is involved in the
day to day running of the restaurant, maintaining a personal equation
with many a customer - "A joint like this, on the Udupi restaurant
formula, wouldn't run unless the owner is personally involved." Hmm.
This from a man who's known for his ability to run an advertising
company through delegation as he directs a play or film alongside.
"There is one problem with this place though," Dabholkar laughs, as he
cuts through a serving of the Mouri or pomfret masala, it's lightness
contrasting sharply with it's far spicier precedents. "You end up
eating much more than you planned to." But, somehow Dabholkar's
appetite doesn't show on the muscled arms and the toned torso. "A one
hour rigorous workout daily at my personal gym," he comments, frankly
as always. "I can't diet, even if I try." The Kharbas, a Marathi sweet
dish supposedly made from the first batch of milk given by a buffalo
after her delivery, appears with an imaginary QED signed on it. "Now
you know why my caption or this place would be 'endless good food',"
wraps up the Amul man.