Mumbai’s (relatively) new hotspot, The Bombay Canteen, is dishing out all things cold this summer. Their new Thanda Thanda Cocktails come in three varieties: Boozy Slushies, Banta Fizzes and Daaru Waale Popsicles. (We’d have their pina colada-cherry duet popsicles every day if we could!)
They also hosted a Thanda Thanda Dawat as part of their chef’s table series – you should keep an eye out for those on their Instagram. We chomped through an eight course meal that was cold (or served at room temperature) and didn’t miss the simple comfort of a hot soup at all. Plus, we were among the lucky few who got to sample dishes that will soon make it to their menu.
We sampled @Bombay_Canteen‘s Thanda Thanda Khaana and found a host of new favourites! Snapchat: elle.india pic.twitter.com/RXDz8grj3I
— ELLE India (@ELLEINDIA) May 19, 2016
Here’s the chow down:
We started with a fresh, seasonal watermelon and love apple gazpacho, with a dash of preserved lime and mint oil.
Chef Floyd Cardoz then gave us a preview of what’s to come at Paowalla – his new restaurant in NYC – with the Raja Rani Sol Kadi. Red snapper on a bed of super-refreshing kokam curry, with a sprinkle of rice crisps and coriander.
Then came a mighty Paowalla Bread Basket, filled with Cardoz’s Sunday favourites: “veg pork” vindaloo sannas, shrimp balchao maska sandwiches, and rosary choriz rolls.
Roadside-favourite khichiya papads got an upgrade, with toppings of roasted eggplant, housemade hot sauce, and pomegranate – rather like baba ghanoush, but better.
The charred Octopus koshimbir came with delightful shavings of raw mango.
The clear winner in our books? Pakhaal bhaath – an Odiya dish. The rice was fermented overnight in barley water, and served tempered with mustard seeds, curry leaves and gundu chillies. For accompaniments, we had homestyle pickled chicken, sesame radish, crispy okra, wadi and egg bhurji.
We rounded out our meal with what Cardoz called a “milk-cake cake” – layered with sweeter than sweet petha, and vanilla-ginger ice cream.