Tracing the East Indian traditional heritage of making bottle masala

There was a time in Ranwar village Bandra when summertime meant drummers at every corner The air would be filled with the beats of pestle hitting mortar and women pounding whole spices into dust These ingredients would then come together to make bottle masala every East Indian familys family secretThe makeup of the bottle masala will always remain closelyguarded because its making isnt everyones cup of tea Depending on the recipe you follow the number of spices ranges from 2636 The spices are sundried for a few days the chillies should have a crisp crackling sound individually roasted pounded into submission folded together and stored in beer bottles Thankfully a few members from the East Indian community undaunted by the process do it every summerVeronica Rodrigues and her bottle masala PicAshish RajeMister of spicesWith a silvercoloured ponytail and a Rajasthani moustache Joel Gonsalves 60 has been making the masala for nearly 30 years A geotechnical engineer by profession he does it because its a passion This is part of my ancestral heritage The ingredients and quantities were handed down to us He learnt the recipe at his mothers knee and perfected it at his motherinlawsI came here after marriage gharjamai you call it he says of his current abode Ive compiled what Ive seen and made my own composition Under the name of Gomas Spices Gonsalves retails mostly to family and friends Hes expanded the repertoire to include several masala preparations for fish for vindaloo etc and a range of powders haldi nutmeg etc But bottle masala is what sells like hot cakes In masala they use a term call pily One pily is 24 beer bottles and about eight kilos of chilli I make three to four pilies say about 100 beer bottles a yearHis version includes 26 ingredients I buy the ingredients myself not by phone or anything I check the quality myself For the main spices such as dalchini elaichi jaifal jaipatri khuskhus and tejpatta I go to Kumily in Kerala For the other spices I go to the APMC in Vashi In summertime the ladies come to pound So in FebruaryMarch I contact people and ask their requirements He sells a full beer bottle a pint and a whisky quarter The bottles are recycled Kingfishers Biras and tharras In the earlier days it used to be whisky bottles So thats how the term bottle masala came But you need dark ones so that the light doesnt enter and the colour doesnt fade After the masalas are ready he plugs a wooden cork in the bottle and dips it into red sealing waxThe women who come to pound have an interesting backstory as well The women have a gang The older one expires and the next one takes over If you patronise one gang the other will not come to your house One or two main people stay in Vakola the rest come during pounding time from the KonkanA few of the spices that go into the making of Gomas bottle masalaI need four women for pounding and one for roasting and sieving One pily will take them two days Gonsalves instructs them and learns from them at the same time I keep my ear open to everybody They said Make the coriander less So I lessened it and its really working Normally making masalas is a ladies job but my wife has expired my motherinlaw has expired my mother has expired I take it up as a responsibility and I am doing itIn the spice tradeFrom her Kurla house 74yearold Gertrude Dabreo has been making bottle masala for 40 years This year I made 27 kilos she says Her version has 32 ingredients It goes abroad mostly I have local customers also but it mostly goes to Canada Australia and Germany She buys her ingredients from Masjid area and says Every ingredient is important Suppose youre making a curry you cant minus one ingredient Your curry will go flop I put a few things ingredients little extra so that the masala becomes tasty I want people to say that I want hers onlyGertrude DAbreoAnother Kurla resident 58yearold Veronica Rodrigues who has been making the masala for 30 years includes 36 ingredients She gives them to the chakki for pounding and makes about 20 kilos a year mostly for my daughterinlaw cousins aunties my friends circle I give 12 kg per person Rodrigues uses the masala almost every day in her cooking and had prepared chicken curry for us when we visited Apart from the chicken and 2 tbsp of the masala she added wet coconut onion garlic ginger and coriander The chicken took to the gravy like a duck to water It was firstrate homemade food which made us understand why homecooked food always has the same comforting flavour In the East Indian community the reason is the bottle masalaTo order bottle masala from Gertrude Dabreo call 9867358560 and to order from Veronica Rodrigues call 9987893598Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates