Prawn moilee with coconut rice.
A Goan and a Bengali walked into a kitchen. This is not a set up for a joke, but a summary of how The Curry Brothers, a Lower Parel-based food delivery service, began in June. Joshua D’Souza and Auroni Mookerjee, the ‘brothers’, offer a compelling taste of Goa and Kolkata via a small selection of dishes. D’Souza is the co-founder of catering service Silverspoon Gourmet and Mookerjee is a former copywriter who quit his job to become a full-time chef.
The proof of their kitchen dynamic is in their curries such as the prawn moilee, pork vindaloo, kaldeen khowsuey and chicken cafreal. The menu isn’t restricted to gravy-based dishes. You can also nosh on pao sandwiches and rolls stuffed with pulled chicken cafreal; kosha mangsho; aloo’r dom; and Goan chorizo. They send four mini pao sandwiches per order. The kosha mangsho pao (Rs200) had a balanced ratio of meat to bread. Coated in a thick and spicy masala, the pulled mutton was tender and complemented by creamy scrambled eggs. In comparison, the cafreal pao (Rs200) was too dry. While the chicken enclosed in the pao was cooked flawlessly, there was barely any cafreal masala.
It’s well known that Goans and Bengalis are preoccupied with meat, but The Curry Brothers have given an equal focus to veggies. Mookerjee stirs Durga pujo memories with his aloo’r dom, cholaa’r dal and porota (Rs275). The chana dal was sweetened and rich with coconut and tasted like Gujarati dal dhokli given a Bengali spin. The evenly cooked baby potatoes were smeared with a spicy tomato paste that Mookerjee should start bottling. Jeera-flecked parathas completed the meal.
The south has been further represented by a rasam risotto (Rs275) and a prawn moilee (Rs395). We tried the Kerala moilee. The soupy turmeric-yellow curry was rendered sweet by juicy pieces of shrimp. The curry leaf-flavoured coconut milk preparation was matched with a portion of fluffy coconut rice dotted with chana dal. Goa scored the dessert round. Grandma Mookerjee’s pressure cooker payesh (Rs150) was too watery and had too little of the delicious Bengali nolen gur or palm jaggery, the reason we ordered the sweet stew in the first place. The payesh was trumped by Mrs. D’s chocolate marzipan cake (Rs200), a gooey, moist stack of chocolate cake alternating with chocolate marzipan that was indulgent yet homely.
Get Aloo’r dom, cholaa’r dal and porota (Rs275); prawn moilee (Rs395); Mrs. D’s chocolate marzipan cake (Rs200).
Skip Chicken cafreal pao (Rs200).
Prices include taxes. This review was conducted anonymously.
It is our policy to wait at least a week after an establishment has opened before we review it.
The Curry Brothers delivers between Nariman Point and Khar. Delivery is free within Lower Parel. To place an order, call 022 6504 4424 or order from Scootsy. Open Monday to Saturday, from noon to 6pm; Sunday, closed.