Pork momos with ghee confit’d chhurpi cheese and dalle chilli reduction.
In September, Aditya Raghavan, a cheese making consultant and freelance food and travel writer, catered an eight-course pork-centric meal in Bandra. The event, which he called Pandi Degustation (pandi is pork in Kannada), sold out on the same day that Raghavan announced it to friends and acquaintances from the food industry. Fortunately for pork fans, Raghavan will return with the Pandi Degustation on Friday, December 16, when he will serve another dinner of eight plated courses inspired by his travels across India.
Only 11 seats are up for grabs to partake of the nose-to-tail dinner that will feature dishes such as jasnam or blood rice from Meghalaya with ginger, onion and chilli thecha jus and crackling; Coorgi pandi curry with kadambuttus (steamed rice dumplings); Naga pork and dried fish liver pate with galangal leaves; and pork momos. Raghavan will be assisted in the kitchen by friends who are cooks and food writers.
Pandi Degustation follows Swine Dine, an ongoing series of pork-focused meals prepared by Gresham Fernandes, the executive chef of Impresario Hospitality, the company that owns the Salt Water Cafe, Smoke House Deli and Social chains of restaurants and bars. The purpose of the meals, launched in 2011, is to showcase under-explored cuts of the animal.
Raghavan, on the other hand, aims to showcase the different ways in which pork is eaten around the country. In some cases, he sticks to traditional recipes gathered during his extensive travels, and for a few dishes, puts his own spin on the food. For instance, for dessert he will serve double ka meetha, a Hyderabadi bread pudding, but as a sweet and savoury bacon sandwich with pista ice cream, saffron and maple syrup. A lot of his recipes are from North East India, where he curates and conducts food trails with Kipepeo, a company focused on social tourism.
The Pandi Degustation will take place on Friday, December 16 at 8pm at Raghavan’s Khar home, the address for which will be provided to those who register. Tickets priced at Rs2,800 per person (entitles diners to four glasses of home-brewed beer) are being sold here. For more information, call 77381 69279.