After hearing a lot of excellent reviews from friends and strangers alike, we thought of venturing into the very Parsi Britannia Cafe (BC) in south Mumbai, on a nice sunny afternoon. I would be lying if I said that I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. The shabby little place is a little too hyped for its own good. Though the owners could afford Puma shoes and Reebok shirts for themselves, yet they could not afford to make the cafe habitable. It seemed as if the place wont survive this monsoon at all!! As far as the price goes, BC is not behind any A-grade restaurants in Mumbai. But when we talk of ambiance, service and food presentation, it is far far behind even the normal nukkar ka restaurant. Two people could easily rake up to 1500 to 2000 rupees which according to the appearance, was insanely expensive. Yet, I can’t comment anything on the food. If you forgo the flies around the plate and the rash waiters pushing your plate with every movement of theirs, the food on the plate was actually good. The berry pulav tasted divine and so did patrani machchi which was cooked and served in foil instead of traditional banana leaf (another thing which upset me quite a bit).
However bad the experience was, nothing stopped me to come back and try Mutton Dhansak in my own kitchen, and dare I say, it did turn out good. Mutton dhasak is a Parsi dish made with meat, vegetables and pulses. It is a wholesome meal in itself and served with plain white rice or brown rice. So all you people who want to try out this simple recipe would need all these ingredients:
* 2 large onions, chopped finely
* 150g tomatoes, chopped
* 1 small aubergine or brinjal diced
* 2 potatoes cubed
* 4 tbsp chopped fenugreek leaves or kasoori methi (depending on you taste buds, add either the fresh methi leaves or dried kasoori methi. Needless to say kasoori methi will add spice to the dish. I mixed both together and it tasted good.)
* 6 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
* 6 tbsp chopped mint leaves (optional)
* 150g split yellow lentils (toor dal or arhar dal)
* 150g masoor dal (orange in colour)
* 300g mutton, trimmed and cubed (with or without bones)
* 1 tsp turmeric
* 1 tsp chilli powder
* 1 tsp sugar
* 450 ml water
* 4 tbsp distilled vinegar
* 1 tbsp sunflower oil
* 1 tsp cumin seeds
* Whole garam masala (1"cinnamon, 4 green cardamoms, whole black pepper and bay leaves)
* Salt
For masala paste
• 3 tsp ginger- garlic paste
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
And the last but not the least, a handful of coriander leaves and lemon wedges for decoration if you want.
Method:
In a pan or a pressure cooker, whatever is available to you, put the meat piece with salt, red pepper and turmeric along with the vegetables, lentils and water. Now cook till the meat is tender. Take out the meat and mince the vegetables and lentils together to form a nice thick paste.
Heat some oil in deep pan. Temper the whole spices (garam masalas) in it till it is fragrant. Now add the chopped onions and fry until pale brown. Add the spice paste and the tomatoes and fry for ten minutes, stirring regularly so that it won't stick to the bottom. Now put in the half cooked meat pieces and fry till it gets a nice brown colour. The veggie dal mix can go in now with some vinegar and chopped coriander. Adjust the seasonings (salt, sugar and chilli powder as well as green fresh chillies) according to taste and let it simmer till the desired consistency is achieved. If it is too thick, heat some water and add it while mixing it well. Before getting it off the heat, mix in some dried kasoori methi (again if u had boiled the meat with it) and lemon juice. Let it simmer for a while before putting down the heat.
And as usual bon appétit!!
