Eat like an East Indian: How a local venture celebrates community cooking online

Veera Almeida with her daughter Natasha at work in their kitchen

Veera Almeida prepares East Indian masalas between March and May for the entire year, to honour her culture, and her mother who taught her how to cook. The art of East Indian cooking lies mostly with its women, in their hands as much as their minds. The community maintains a fierce adherence to recipes and treats them as heirlooms. You'll hear the word ‘authentic' more than the word ‘fugia'. And it's not something that's easily sourced from a cookbook. But if you want to ensure spot-on flavours, bank on using traditional East Indian masalas. Many enterprising households make and sell them. This month, another culinary idea was born - Veera Bai's Vasai-based The House of Jevayla Ye (THJY).

East Indian bottle masalas prepared by the Almeidas

The new venture offers four different masalas - the classic and famous bottle masala, fish masala, puris masala, indyal (vindaloo) masala ('200 onwards). Veera Almeida says, "There is nothing like our bottle masalas. You don't have to add anything else to the dish." Mix and simmer, with basic additions like onions, chillis and ginger garlic paste, and you're done cooking. "Our masalas make cooking a 10-minute activity," says her daughter, Natasha.

An Instagram post by Natasha Almeida

A resident of Vasai, 61-year-old Almeida senior explains, "We make these masalas during the summer, when the heat is just right. You start with sourcing good quality spices, especially red chillies. Sun-dry all the spices for two days, lightly roast it, hand-pound it, and then store it in beer bottles or air-tight containers." If you don't have the generational training but the patience, Google the words ‘bottle masala' and you'll get recipes that include over 20 spices plus ‘pro tips' to make a mean spice blend. "The secret to good bottle masala is the proportion. My mai's [mother's] recipe has 32 ingredients," reveals Almeida.

Crabstick lollipops. Pics/Sameer Markande

You'll have to put your ear to the ground to know where to buy the best masalas, but THJY has a more customer-friendly marketing approach. They started with an Instagram page a year ago detailing everyday meals at the Almeida household. Her 24-year-old daughter, Natasha, who is a former advertising professional, helms the page. Soon, the account attracted massive following with agency-styled posts and traditional yet innovative recipes. A crowd-favourite post is the crab lollipops, an East Indian twist on a dish that replaces drumstick with crab claw and meat. The entrepreneurs have streamlined customer service using a WhatsApp business account. Save the number and proceed to the contact information section for descriptions of the masalas, prices, and other details. Interested folk can call or message to place their orders.

Veera Almeida

THJY also ships globally, catering to East Indians who have settled overseas. Almeida adds, "We want to keep our tradition alive and make home cooking easier, too." Jevayla Ye translates to "come eat" in East Indian Marathi, so why don't you do just that?

Log on to: @_thehouseofjevaylaye and @jevayla_ye
Call: 9175191561

Pothundi and chichavni (salted fish parcel and gravy)

For chichavni (gravy)
>>2 tbsp oil
>>6 smashed garlic pods
>>Handful of spring onion
>>1 green chilli
>>1/2 chopped onion
>>1 tbsp THJY East Indian fish masala
>>Freshly extracted tamarind water (as required)

For pothundi
>>4 salted fish pieces
>>1/2 onion
>>1 tbsp THJY East Indian fish masala
>>1/2 tsp salt
>>5 garlic cloves
>>2 tbsp chopped spring onions
>>1 green chilli
>>2 tbsp tamarind pulp
>>2 banana leaves

Method:
Soak the fish in water for 30 minutes. Mix ingredients in a bowl and massage the fish well. Rest them for 15 minutes. Place the marinated fish in a banana leaf, secure it with thread or a toothpick. Drop these into the boiling chichavni mix. Cook on slow for five minutes. Serve with rice.