A new pop-up experience pairs food with lands torn by war, stories of its people, and their complex histories
Kukul mas with ghee rice
For most people, Sunday evenings mean prepping up for the long work week, or lazing it out before the Monday blues kick in. Intense discussions on conflict, war, politics, that too, over a thoughtfully curated meal is not an idea many would consider. Yet, at a pop-up dinner organised by Ragini Kashyap along with The Good Food Lab at a sea-facing Bandra residence, 15 people have come together to do exactly that.
Kashyap, a development consultant, who started Third Culture Cooks — a multinational supper club — has previously organised pop-ups in London and Australia, under the Bordered series. The Bordered dinner explores border conflict, the people, their stories and perspectives and, above all, the food. In her first attempt to bring the series to Mumbai, Kashyap chose the Tamil-Sinhala conflict in Sri Lanka for the dining experience. Priced at R1,800, the eight-course meal, which has been put together after months of research and testing, allows for four elements — it needs to represent as many groups of people from the region as possible, showcase the food of different regions of the geographical area, comprise an interesting mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian delicacies, and lastly, truly reflect what people eat.
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Frikkadel
As we walk into the dining room, folk music from the island country plays softly. The discussion, for now, is light. Many guests on the table have either visited Sri Lanka, or are planning to. So, travel plans, are a focal point of the conversation, until around 8 pm, when Kashyap, who walks out from the busy kitchen, informs that we will be served Sri Lankan Rum Tipple, along with Colombo bar cashew nuts. This particular tipple is a rum-based cocktail that Kashyap has experimented with, in an attempt to deconstruct the rich plum cake from the region. "The cake is unlike any other. I wanted to bring those flavours to the table and thought what better way than to introduce it in a cocktail," she says. We've tried a Lankan plum cake before, and we must say that the flavours are almost spot on. We, however, couldn't resist munching on the cashews, which were served with a tadka of curry leaves and mustard seeds. It's the kind of "chakna" we'd like to see here, too.
In the starters, Kashyap introduces us to food from the Malay and Burgher community. We began with pol roti (coconut flat bread) that came in three varieties of sambal (coconut, chilli and aubergine), and after a gap of 15 minutes, were served the seeni sambol bun (sweet-onion filled bun) and frikkadel, which is basically a Dutch meatball. "When we think of Sri Lankan food, we typically think of rice, coconut and curry leaves as standard ingredients. Frikkadel has none of these as they are from Dutch beginnings and popular amongst the European descended Burgher community in Sri Lanka. This dish is part of a larger Dutch and Portuguese inspired cuisine that is as Sri Lankan today as hoppers and kotthu roti."
Ragini Kashyap's next pop-up on July 15, will explore the Punjab border during the Partition. "It's a very personal menu for me as my family was severely affected by the partitioning of the state," she says
It's not until we get to the main course that Kashyap starts speaking about the conflict in the once war-torn island nation. In between enjoying the sodhi and thattai, a mild coconut curry that comes with a crisped rice cracker, we are told that the dish, which looks like a soup, was eaten during the civil war (1983-2003), in the northern part of Jafna, when resources were scarce. "War time food is used purely for sustenance and to be able to incorporate flavour and excitement in to it is a luxury people don't always have. People had this when they had very little access to vegetables or meat and fish. It was comfort food," she says.
We are given a small quiz to crack. The questions vary from basic general knowledge on the early settlers, music, food, and the controversial LTTE, which led the country to war. When we are served chukka varuval and iddyappam, again a Tamil dry fiery mutton curry served with rice string hoppers, Kashyap takes a moment to explain the different kinds of Tamil population in the country, and how there has always been a rift between the original settlers and those, who came to work on the plantations during the British rule. We end the course with kukul mas and hath maluwa (chicken curry with seven-vegetable curry), while having a serious discussion on the devastation caused by the war.
The tone of our dining experience lightens as dessert is served. We start with Watalappan, a palm jaggery custard most popular among Sri Lankan Muslims, eaten specifically around Ramadan and Eid as a food of celebration. The palm (or kitul) jaggery has an intense, treacle-like flavour that is very different from cane jaggery. The meal ends with galle maskat, a traditional halwa sweet, inspired from the Moors and Memons and kahuwa kopi (spiced coffee). The dinner that lasted over three hours is rather unusual and very boldly, pairs food with peoples' stories and history. Despite India and Sri Lanka being so culturally diverse, one can't ignore how similar the foods are. And, that's what we take back with us.
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