Friday, December 31, 2010

Thanedar's Mamledar's

I love Pav, a popular local bread in Maharashtra and Gujarat that is borrowed from the Portuguese word for bread- Pao. I'm pretty much a fan of how Pav is eaten in Mumbai- Bhaji Pav, Vada Pav, Misal Pav, Usal Pav, Pav chai even love Pav with Goan sausages. I heard of Mamledar's from the folks at the office. The Thane bus folks rave about its Misal Pav. Many claim it to be the best in all of Maharashtra. People apparently come from everywhere for some Misal Pav.
I was intrigued. A hunt for things in the old marketplace led me to the threshold of Mamledar's. So this Misal Pav joint is right outside the Thane Police chowki and the Mamledar's office and hence the name. Who is a Mamledar? Well I think it is the regional district office. This little food place started to cater to the office people and the Thane Police station. But apparently is so famous that everyone comes to. The Misal pav is sold in three degrees of hotness- mild, medium and hot. Apparently the hot is searing and can burn a hole through your tongue.
Whats Misal Pav - well it literally means mixture of a spiced chana curry with all kinds of crunchies, onions, and a dash of lemon. The Misal is eaten by soaking the pav in the crunchy curry mix. Its delicious. So here are some pictures from the adventure of wandering in old Thane and then finding the famous Mamledar's.
The owner of Mamledar's told me he has been running the place for 58 years. The place is busy from the moment it opens at 8 am to 9:30 pm. There is always a line and never a place to eat. Initially he was not very happy that I wanted to take pictures - he kept saying no advertising.  So I pulled up my blog on my phone and showed him the fish post. He smiled and said ok. There was a huge line outside to pack Misal Pav. Every table in the place was packed. A sure sign that a place is super.
Do come and check it out for yourself. We got the Misal Pav to go which we relished at home. Medium spicy was good for me. I am sure I could not take it spicier than that.
Here are a few photos of Thane's marketplace and then Mamledar's. All photos are taken by my phone camera.

Lovely old house
 The Gamdevi water tank
 Bead shop
 Party dresses
The orange wig had me at hello.

 The way to a steel utensil shop
 Finally Mamledar's. A line waiting to get in and a longer line for parceling the Misal.
 The entrance to the offices
 Lassi and chhas
 Line for parcel

 The Misal tadka
 Pav in a drawer near the counter


They are closed on Sundays.
 The Misal mix ready to go on the tables
 Rich man with their onions
 Hot Chai is a great accompaniment to some spicy Misal Pav



 The curry base for the Misal




 At home- Janu's first time with the Misal Pav. Carefully mixed in the right proportions for her to enjoy.
 Janu loved it. The misal was spicy. Perfect tanginess once some lemon is squeezed. Definitely the oil floating on top is scary which I separated. The crunchy bites soaked in with the fresh pav and super spicy curry base is a great blend of textures in the mouth. The Pav was lovely and thick and soft and bouncy. It was superb.

Dear readers- a very happy new year to you all. I have loved bringing my food adventures to you. This year has been quite amazing and its been great sharing it with you. Love to all.

My favourite song at this time of the year. Do listen.


Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Big Fish Eats Small Fish


"I want to eat fish for every meal of the day" I said during lunch today. To which I got a prompt response if you were from Kerala that would be the norm. Well I'm not and fish in my mind is very exotic. Since I've been back, I've been very excited about trying out all the local seafood. Though I grew up in Mumbai, my exposure to seafood was very limited. Mum is vegetarian and dad only likes chicken. It was a rare occasion once a year maybe at China Garden we would order a crab and I would nibble at the white crab flesh unable to understand what the big deal was.
Chicago definitely changed that for me. I became more adventurous. I started experimenting with fish in different kinds of cuisines - Sushi, Korean anchovies, Mediterranean, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, Brazilian, Swedish, English, Zambian, Tanzanian, Ivory Coast, French you name it. I was expanding my very very limited knowledge and was even cooking up a storm in my kitchen. Grilled red snapper, buttery poached salmon, fried tilapia, curried prawns, mussel soup, king prawns on the grill, smelt chips, fried anchovies even Sushi. I tried various preparations and really started savoring the taste- fresh water fish as well as my beloved Seafood.
But I still had never tasted the local Mumbai and coastal fish, once a Goan preparation and once in Cochin. Thats it. When I got back I started reading more about it. Malwani, Mangalorean, Kohli, Goan, Karnatak, Kerala. Even in Kerala there 4 or 5 types I've been informed- Malabar Hindu, Malabar Mapplah, Travancore and Travancore Christian. Wow my knowledge in this matter was totally limited and my taste buds were dying in anticipation to try.
I read about the National Matsya Mahotsava (The Great Fish Festival) on Sassy Fork's blog. I was intrigued. This morning a random Facebook message from Rushina of A Perfect Bite swayed me to go attend and see what all this fish was about. So Janu (Ms. Cultured Purl), Rushina and I met up this evening at the Fish Festival- and for anyone who might be interested in this- today was the last day.
We skipped all the information stalls and headed straight for the food. The first food stall was run by a group of gregarious Kohli women who lived in Versova. They were giggly and happy to serve us food. Then they danced for us. I asked what they did otherwise. They were basically fisherwomen who sorted and sold fish to the sellers. They told me I could visit them in Versova after 5pm any day. I sure will. We ate some of their King Prawns, masala clams, masala prawns, fish curry, and a stuffed pomfret with the rice roti. It was delicious. Janu could not believe what she was eating. I loved the pomfret. I love fish- did I say that enough.
We decided to walk around and see all the stalls before we ate again. Stall after stall, interesting preparations. The food cuisines were limited to Konkan, Malwani and Indian Chinese. None the less the variety of fish and the preparations were great. But even better were the people behind these counters, their laughter, their celebration to share their incredible food, their smiles, their eagerness to make sure we like what they made. It was heart warming to be amongst them, they are proud fisher people, they know their fish and know how to make it. It was like chatting with various mums, they loved posing for my camera. They danced to the music, it was a party, the Kohli party. I was surprised not enough people came here. We did return to tasting the food. Tilapia manchurian, chili prawns, fried smelts with a dash of lemon, fried Bangda. We further indulged in two crabs that were stuffed with an incredible corriander chili masala, tandoori surmai and a shark curry. The tandoori surmai was probably the most delicious fish I have eaten. The flesh was buttery sweet. The shark had an after taste almost like that of shark liver oil pills. I did not mind it but no one else seemed to care for it.
Even my friend Slogan of Mumbai Paused joined us for a bit as he photographed the behind- the- scenes cooking which I joined him to see. Can't wait to see his clicks. Rushina bought a Surmai which the gang of fisherwomen are posing with. It was a lovely evening.
Did I say it enough- I LOVE fish.
As usual I had a hard time sorting, but I really wanted to share the spirit of this evening.





Janu is thrilled.

 The fish roe-
 Rushina
 The party begins
 Stuffed pomfret was simply incredible


 The Kohli Dance party
 Crab curry
 Sweet fried banana

 Dried fish, prawns, for chatni
 The stalls


 More dancing
 Dried fish decoration


 Tiger prawn pakoda.
 The space- almost empty for this wonderfulness

 The stage for performance
 There was veg food too
 I actually love dried fish too.



 Making the rice roti


 The Chinese style tilapia and shrimps
 Frying up Bombil
 Frying up some smelt
 Simple masala of turmeric, chili powder and salt
 My favourite little munching snack- smelts
 The bangda was delicious too
 Head first- Janu eating the head of the smelt for the first time.
 Rushina gingerly picked the flesh off the little fins, while I gobbled the whole thing
 I did that to the Bangda. All bones
 The masala crab
 The chef helping us break open the legs
 Janu absolutely loving the crab legs
 The crab graveyard
 Fresh Fish
 Rushina's Surmai



In the kitchen


 From the kitchen
 Chopping up Rushina's Surmai
Finally big fish eats small fish