Patna-born filmmaker discusses relaunching his Bihari restaurant

Litti chokha PicsSameer MarkandeWalk into Litti Express a 30seater Bihari restaurant near Millat Nagar in Andheri West and youre likely to find Ashish Parashar ready to warmly greet you The pleasantries are often followed by a lucid introduction to the cuisine because most customers are driven by curiosity This is the Patnaborn filmmakers second attempt at introducing Bihari cuisine to Mumbai The last time around he shut shop within a year unable to break even He is now ready to take a second shot Aside from the eatery he has also launched a Bihari delivery kitchen last month Im not just ready Im going full throttle he laughsMore than littiAs we chat Parashars six chefs all native of villages of Uttar Pradesh are busy preparing chokha Bihars answer to baingan ka bharta Its a winter dish made in Bihar Uttar Pradesh and Jharkand Though the Punjabi and Bihari varieties are made with roasted brinjal the latter has a more rustic flavour to it he says Here the aubergine and tomato are grilled on charcoal until the skin is charred and then cooked in mustard oil with spices The chokha served with litti and the Champaran mutton a heavyduty meat gravy cooked with black pepper are his top selling dishes All of this is possible when dishes are prepared by local chefs But convincing his staff to move to Mumbai was far from easy The last time some chefs left and never returned Its one of the reasons my business suffered Parashar recalls This time he has offered them accommodation and is personally supervising operations too since language is a problem Most of them speak Bhojpuri and MaithiliWhile his earlier menu had close to 80 dishes including Chinese and Punjabi this time he has chosen to focus on authentic Bihari cuisine that goes beyond litti The Bihari rehu fish thali uses a masala with a unique combination of cumin coriander black pepper and mustard Theres also the ghugni a peas potato gravy served mostly with puri and popular in Eastern India The sattu sharbat is perfect for Mumbais summers made with roasted gram flour black chickpea flour and jaggery Its filling and full of nutrients but needs getting used to he says Its the reason why he has also introduced a savoury versionIn the nine months that he has been running operations he has built a relationship with customers with roots in UP and Bihar Among the others I see an initial reluctance to try out new dishes but once they sample it they are hookedSecond time luckyAfter folding up the restaurant five years ago Parashar dived full time into filmmaking But hed receive the odd request from a loyal customer to rethink his decision On the set of an ad film celebrity Chef Vikas Khanna knowing Parashar hailed from Patna said Ashish yaar litti khila na Parashar recalls He had no idea that I once owned a restaurant or that I was mulling on returning That was a sign Last Sunday the restaurant witnessed one of its busiest days when he organised the Makar Mithila festival Also called Tila Sankranti in Maithilispeaking areas and Khichadi by Bhojpuri speakers the festival represents Capricorn the tenth sign in the Zodiac It is celebrated on the first day of the month of Magh midJanuary and falls on the coldest day of the year The people of Mithila celebrate it in anticipation of beautiful and sunny days he says He also collaborated with Vibha Rani a citybased writer and folk singer native to northeastern Bihar for an evening of Gaali GeetAshish ParasharThey can be called teasing songs They are not abusive They form a part of the oral tradition of Mithila For now Parashar is focussed on taking his food to nonBiharis And it hasnt been easy Threats from the far right are common Parashar has dealt with it by inviting them over for a meal