Why this new homemade food venture packs a punch

A leading travel and lifestyle channel has a popular show Eat Street which showcases the funkiest food trucks across the US that serve some of the quirkiest dishes Whenever I watch that programme and see patrons savour the dishes till their last morsel I often think to myself that one day there will be such funky food trucks in Mumbai too In the near future we might also see PackaPav a new food venture that serves homemade mutton shammi kebabs chicken seekh kebabs and veg shammi kebabs in the good old laadi pav have its own food truckThe Mutton Shammi Kebab in a Pav has two kebabs slathered with green chutney and basil dip in a pav Brainchild of Rohan Mangalorkar cofounder of the popular ecommerce website Propshop24 PackaPav debuted as a popup at the Tapped Craft Beer Festival in Colaba earlier this month Explaining how he got the idea to replace the humble batata wada potato patties with kebabs he says ldquoI have always been fascinated by Mohammed Ali Road and the multitude of cuisines available there I wanted to offer similar fare but homemade and with a lot of emphasis on hygiene to people who canrsquot travel all the way to townrdquo According to Manglorkar PackaPavrsquos USP are the kebabs made by his mother in their kitchen which are served with fried onions fryums a homemade basil dip a coriander chilli and mint chutney and a red chilli and garlic chutneyLeft Chicken Seekh Kebab in a Pav has a predominant garlic flavour right Vegetarian Shammi Kebab in a Pav is delicious pics Nikesh Gurav He also serves a kebab platter which is essentially all these three fried items minus the pav ldquoWe are in the process of setting up a separate kitchen at our place in Juhu I also want to have a food truck soon But for now we are focusing on popups to test the market Eventually we want to experiment with our dishes and introduce kheema samosa and baida roti in the pavrdquo adds the foodie who also plans to serve the dishes in a special baked pavI visit Manglorkarrsquos Bandra residence for a quick tasting Herersquos sunday middayrsquos verdictMutton Shammi Kebabs in a Pav Rs 170 Firstly Irsquom impressed with the packaging Two kebabs sprinkled with some onion fries and ensconced in a pav slathered with the green chutney and white dip are served to me They are wrapped in a yellow paper and nestled in a white paper box Fryums sprinkled with red chilli powder and chaat masala are served on the side One bite of the pav and I know instantaneously that the kebab is homemade With liberal doses of coriander leaves and onions it is juicy and succulent The basil dip made with hung curd cheese and basil is creamy and compliments the tangy green chutney Manglorkar also serves me the red chutney but itrsquos too fiery for my likingChicken Seekh Kebab in a Pav Rs 150 The chicken kebab boasts of garlic and coriander leaves and is fresh The onion fries add a crunch to it But it is not as high on taste as the mutton shammi kebab This is also because mutton inherently has a smoky flavour that lends itself well to kebabs as compared to chicken which has slightly bland meat I enjoy the seekh kebab on its ownVeg Shammi Kebab in a Pav Rs 120 This dish is low on oil but high on taste It has a liberal filling of potatoes that add a lovely creamy filling to the kebab Coupled with the green chutney it reminds me of a vegetable cutlet that my mother often rustled up for school picnics When I have it with the basil dip it reminds me of an aloo tikki with mayo PackaPav is tasty wholesome and reminiscent of maa ke haath ka khana If you donrsquot mind shelling out more money for kebabs in a pav then itrsquos definitely worth a try