Because aai knows best

Mushroom pulao, chicken Karwari and prawn pickle

When the lockdown put us under house arrest us in Mumbai, many senior citizens decided to put their culinary and entrepreneurial skills to good use with home delivery menus. In May, we wrote about Mommy's Kitchen run by 67-year-old Pratibha Kanoi who crafts delicious restaurant-style pizzas and pastas.

This time, we present Aai's Kitchen run by 63-year-old Nirmala Hegde and her son, Gautam. What began as a friendly suggestion by neighbours in their building, to sell evening snacks grew into a full-fledged menu with hot sellers like batata wada and chutney, chicken Patiala, Goan prawn curry, mushroom pulao and chicken Karwari.

The packaged food

Gautam, a Malad-based freelance television and web series writer associated with shows like Saath Nibhana Saathiya, Is Pyar Ko Kya Naam Doon, and Tu Aashiqui Baarish, tells us, "After eating aai's food, my neighbour friends suggested that we sell home-cooked snacks. That same night, I bounced off the idea with my mother, and she instantly agreed. The first day, we sold 80 orders of mini appams and garlic chutney!"

If not a writer, Gautam would have been a chef. "My first tryst with making chai is a family joke. My mom asked me to make a cup of tea with sugar for her and one without any sugar for my grandma. When she came to the kitchen, she saw me put a spoonful of sugar in the vessel. 'I've added only one spoon of sugar for you,' I told her, without realising that I should have had another pan boiling for my dadi or added sugar only in her cup," he laughs. But his specialty in the current menu is the Goan curry.

Nirmala and Gautam Hegde

Nirmala, who is fondly called aai by everyone, came to Mumbai from Honavar in Karnataka. "Our family roots are in Goa, so our cuisine is a coastal blend with a lot of fish, coconut and begdi mirchi. I lived in Dadar in my early years in the city where I picked up Maharashtrian staples like batata vada and sabudana khichdi," she says, adding that she experiments with all types of cuisines. "I watch YouTube videos to try out recipes that Gautam likes. Sometimes, when I want to make it again, I can't find the video and I make it from my memories of the taste," she reveals, innocently.

For a Sunday evening dinner, aai recommends we try her mushroom pulao (R250), chicken Karwari (R300) and prawn pickle (R600). We opt to pick it up from their residence in Malad; it is hand-delivered in a cloth bag containing sealed containers. The food is accompanied by a handwritten letter that begins our meal on a warm note. "Phorum, aapko mere haath ka khana pasand aye, ye aasha karti hoon."

Following instructions to heat the chicken and rice, and savour the pickle at room temperature, the meal is a homely affair, and finger-licking good. We keep the forks and spoons aside, and indulge in the fare, desi style. The mushroom pulao is non-spicy but has a tinge of a vaghar that blends well with the masaledar chicken Karwari. The Karnataka-inspired chicken with bone is tender, and the generous use of onion, garlic and whole spices in a watery coconut curry, is light on oil and perfect with well-rounded flavours. The chataka in the meals came from the prawn pickle, which wears a hint of vinegar and has a tikhat aftertaste. A free sampler of banana halwa made with jaggery is added but we find it overly sweet for our liking. So, we dip a finger into the pickle to end things on a spicy note. We drop a text to aai: "Khana bahut pasand aaya."

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