Mumbai Police headquarters' mess gets culinary makeover with aid from Taj Group chefs

The latest in a string of coaching sessions between Taj chefs and the Mumbai Police headquarters canteen staff has infused the menu with gourmet delights and regional Marathi specialities, with an eye on health

Pan-seared green peas tikki. Baked samosas. Avocado canapes. If you think these are dishes of the menu of a Pali Hill cafe, you are wrong. The revamped mess at the Mumbai Police Headquarters in Crawford Market is serving spiffy eats high on hygiene and taste thanks to the vision of the top brass and professional coaching from chefs of the Taj group of hotels.

The recent Continental introductions to the menu are as popular as authentic regional specialities

Set up in 2016 in the new building that now houses the Mumbai police nerve centre, the canteen feeds the city’s top cops, and staff from various departments including the Economic Offences Wing and some specialised units of the Crime Branch. Hundreds of visitors who make their way to the many offices here are also welcome to stop and grab a bite.

Yashraj Ranade, chef at Masala Bay, Taj Lands End

“The canteen was always on the cards, when the new building was being planned,” says Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration) S Jayakumar. “The idea was to serve tasty food, while keeping an eye on the health of our personnel,” he adds, sharing that the canteen meets FSSAI standards. “The kitchen staff was made to undergo training in meeting certain standards before the FSSAI certificate was granted,” Police Constable Pritam Patil tells us.

Following a training session with chef Yashraj Ranade of Masala Bay, Taj Lands End in October, the canteen staff at the Mumbai Police Headquarters is equally adept at continental delights and desi delicacies

This is a far cry from the time that the sprawling campus and its staff was served by a smaller canteen with a limited menu of conventional Indian snacks. The refurbished menu is extensive, with options for breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner, and the canteen runs on a no-profit, no-loss basis. “We feed over 800 people daily,” says Assistant Sub Inspector Umesh Golatkar, the current canteen in-charge. “Everything is planned down to the last detail every day by our staff of 21. It must run like clockwork.”

October’s session was the third such session in the last seven years, thanks to the Mumbai Police top brass insisting on top notch quality of food at the canteen. Seen here is Ranade shaking hands with Mumbai Police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar

The proof is in the pudding. When we enter the mess on a Friday afternoon, it’s packed. Inside the kitchen, the cook is arranging fried chicken lollipops on a plate lined with tissue paper to soak up excess oil. The presence of one of Mumbai favourite desi Chinese dishes makes us smile. We resolve to sample a plate later. 

A group of female staff are rolling and roasting chapatis. At the serving station, staff is ladling main course items onto plates as the police personnel wait their turn, front section, food is being ladled into plates as the police personnel wait their turn, coupon in hand. Separate sections serve vegetarian and meat fare respectively. Wednesdays and Fridays are the busiest here, because the menu boasts of fish and meat dishes. For a large section of the predominantly Maharashtrian police force, these two days are designated as “khayche vaar” or days when they can indulge.

The canteen feeds around 800 police personnel every day, right from breakfast to dinner, with the menu placing equal importance on taste and health. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The fish comes from Sassoon Docks, one of Mumbai’s busiest and most coveted seafood markets. “The catch arrives before 7 am. The meat comes from a well known butcher at Crawford. Vegetables are transported from Byculla’s wholesale market,” Golatkar tells us.

Golatkar belongs to Malvan, a coastal belt in Sindhudurg district famous for its piquant fish curries, souring agent kokum and fresh jackfruit. Canteen supervision offered him the chance to introduce a few eats from his region. The Malvani chicken, we hear, is a runaway hit, spiced with pounded masala from a local Malvani spice trader.

The latest additions to the menu include devilled eggs, pan seared green peas tikkis and and baked pinwheel samosas. Pics/Atul Kamble

The cooking is overseen by Maruti Masrankar, an experienced chef who has served time in the hospitality industry. “It’s the month of Margashirsh,” he says, “which means that we have a limited number of meat eaters coming in. Any other Friday, and we wouldn’t have had the time to chat with you!”

On the day we visit, the breakfast menu includes fibre-rich ragi idlis, and ghavne, a Maharashtrian version of fermented rice flour crepes. These regional inclusions and healthy twists are courtesy the training sessions that the staff have been regularly undergoing in the last few years with the Taj chefs. The most recent session was held in October by Yashraj Ranade, chef Taj Land’s End’s Indian restaurant, Masala Bay.

The kitchen is cleaned multiple times a day in order to stay compliant with the standards of the FSSAI certificate that it has earned

“The police top brass felt that there was the need for a refresher. Keeping in mind that this might be the only place where the cops could get a healthy meal easily, we decided to focus on clean eating, by incorporating small, simple ideas. After the cooks have given a dish the tadka, they are advised to remove excess floating oil. This oil, which is already infused with flavours, is added to the next batch of dishes, automatically reducing the oil intake per meal,” Ranade explains.

Coastal delight Malvani Chicken Thali and Mumbai’s favourite Chicken Lollipop jostle for space on the popularity index at the canteen. Fresh fish and meat are sourced every day, while the Malvani masala comes straight from Malvan

It was in this most recent session that the staff was coached in rustling up gourmet, healthy eats like baked samosas, pan-seared green peas tikkis and avocado canapes. “The idea is to give the policemen as many options as we can,” he says. Evenings are when everyone gets peckish. A pani puri stall comes to life post afternoon, and the summer months are reserved for serving ice cream.

Jt CP S Jayakumar

“This is becoming a way of life for us now,” says Golatkar. “Today, I can cook an entire meal if my wife isn’t home. And I am not talking just dal and rice. I can make all sabzis, and my dal always has a delicious tadka with a touch of butter.  It’s heartening to hear staff tell us that they have incorporated the hygiene hacks they trained in at home too. These are lessons we will carry with us for life.”

PC Pritam Patil, ASI Uttam Golatkar and Cook Maruti Masrankar

The canteen, which began in a single hall, has now expanded into an additional room next door. Same with the kitchen.  He says word has spread, and he now sees visiting lawyers, journalists, and even delivery executives come by. It’s time to sit down and sample the lollipops. They aren’t dripping oil, and when we take a bite, we feel the crunch. The meat is tender and the spice just right. We’ve whetted our appetite and order a plate of Malvani chicken. Golatkar smiles, “When a visitor burps with satisfaction, that’s my validation!”

800
No of daily visitors the canteen attracts

7 am-10.30 pm
Working hours of the canteen

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