On last Saturday,I had been to my mother’s place. In another words pure bliss. After getting married, in a different region and language, had its own advantages. Especially getting married to the person you can spend your life with. But it also meant leaving one of the other loves, that was food. I missed my mother’s food more then, now that I had very less access to it. Not that I couldn’t cook, but my better(?) half didn’t like curries much , something that I found absolutely lip smacking. I couldn’t blame him, since he didn’t hail from the costal areas. So being to my mother’s place gave me more access to such fare and I started appreciating even humblest fare. Lunch was a simple fare of tender fenugreek leaves stir fry with lots of fresh coconut and onions, along with “valachi amti” or dried broad beans in coconut based curry which got its unique taste of goa by use of triphala, rice and some fritters. I had my fill. J what I had later was why I called it my iftaar.
As you verywell know iftaar refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan. Iftar is one of the religious observances of Ramadan. Andheri being a hindu-mohmedian dominated area, there are some shops which are especially famous for their iftaar items. Be it malpua ( fritters or pancakes served as a dessert or a snack in the Indian subcontinent) or sweets like ras malai ,falooda or my favourite “phirni”(a kind of kheer set to almost custard consistency in mud/terracotta dishes) and chana batata.
After our evening shopping, I longingly looked in the makeshift lane that sells goodies for iftaar. My mother sensing my longing mutely took me to FIRDAUS (a mohmeddian sweet shop specializing in phirni) and bought for me a mawa phirni and later on my pleading chana batata. Wow, a satisfying evening snack was made. the phirni was gooey and creamy and milky as it should be, just the right sweetness the mawaish (milk) smell still etched in my memory. The chana batata was outstanding too. With lemony tartness and garlicky-gingerly infusion in coriander dressed chana and batata (potato/alu) cooked to right perfection.
This iftaar still holds my memory, and I will definitely try to goad my mother to let me have another taste of the phirni and chana. Wale cum salam
(PS: check the pic above. I hope the pic does justice to the imagination of how the phirni and chana batata must have been…before it reached my stomach)
