Vada Pav at Swati Snacks

It's slightly ridiculous. I've been here for nine months and I have not a) eaten a Vada Pav or b) been to the famous eatery Swati Snacks. Yesterday I killed to birds with one stone.

I had taken Mr Jules to tie up the coffee table deal at Moorthy's (yaaaay success, delivery in two weeks!) but we were feeling rather peckish en-route. Having spotted Swati Snacks nearby to Moorthy's warehouse, we decided to go in and sample what was on offer.

For the folks back home, Vada Pav (pronounced Wadder Pow) is one of the most famous of all Mumbai street foods. Along the same lines as Masala Dosa and Pani Puri which I previously tried at Soam. It consists of a mildy spicy potato mixture which is fashioned into a patty, lightly fried in gram flour and then placed between two well buttered halves of a bread bun with a slathering of chutney. Unlike me, Mr Jules has had Vada Pav on occasion and loves them. He describes the dish as a 'spicy chip butty'. (You can take the man out of Yorkshire....)

Vada Pav! With extra chilli of course

Being of fragile British constitution in the stomach department, I have not been brave enough to try one from the roadside, but in the sanitary surroundings of Swati Snacks, I was very happy to give it a go. And I was not to be disappointed! Delicious! Mr Jules said it was the best he has had so far. Delicate, squidgy potato mixture fragrant with curry leaves and mustard seeds, all sown up in a light fluffy bread bun. Yum.

We also had some of my favourite 'chaat' commonly served on Mumbai streets - Sev Puri. This tasty dish consists of small discs of crispy puri (tiny breads) layered with finely chopped veg - potatoes and red onions - and then topped with dahi (yoghurt), chutney and a generous sprinkling of sev (the deep fried vermicelli like you find in Bombay Mix), coriander and cucumber. It's crunchy and tangy! Seriously more-ish.

Sev Puri

On top of that (although bursting at this point) we sampled the veg dhansak which was a simple lentil curry with pulao rice. Really good. The whole lot - including two Pepsis, came to 500 Rs. Can't wait to go back!

Dhansak with Pulao topped with crispy onions - a very Parsi dish.

Inside Swati Snacks - very clean and full of locals (always a good sign)

Swati Snacks

Karai Estate

Opp Bhatia Hospital

Tadeo Road, Mumbai 400007

www.swatisnacks.com

History of this Mumbai institution, taken from the Swati Snacks website:

40 years ago, Asha’s and Anand’s mother, Minakshiben, started a little fast food restaurant in Bombay; the food was cooked at home and served at the restaurant. Over the years it has grown in size and reputation but firmly remains a family run restaurant. Asha has made innovative additions to the menu, based on delicacies that have been traditionally made in homes. In 2003, under Asha’s watchful eye, Anand and his family started Swati in Ahmedabad.Today, Swati has become an institution, trusted for its commitment to quality and hygiene, dependable for consistent flavours, food that is served simply and without fuss, mouthwatering flavours that tempt you time and again.

Return to Chor Bazaar

Following the little excursion to the Moorthy's antique emporium, MaximumCityMadam and I headed over to Chor Bazaar.  Since mentioning it in a post all the way back in June 2012 (read here), I have been back to Mutton Street quite a few times, picking up the odd small piece of furniture or knick-knack.  I just love it down there, browsing through the priceless antiques junk and going up and down the dusty narrow shops - occasionally trying to strike a deal with a Muslim shopkeeper.  Usually unsuccessfully!

Yesterday, I saw a few bits I would like - such as a colonial style desk (on which to pose my new Apple wonder-machine and do all my surfing the net humanitarian work from), and a very nice solid teak bookcase. These things will require further coercion of discussion with Mr Jules of course.  First of all I have to get my own way negotiate for that coffee table....

So the only thing I bought was a reconditioned Art Deco fan  - for a mere 2,200 Rs! (GBP 26).  It's so cool (and cooling) that even our cleaner remarked on it this morning.

Our new, reconditioned chrome Art Deco fan with GEC detailing for 2,200 Rs (GBP 26)!
- Definitely would not advise small children to go near this - health and safety not a priority! -
Purchased at JK Arts, 146 Mutton Street (virtually the very last shop on the second half of Mutton Street). I have been quoted 8,000 Rs for exactly the same fan at other dealers - so it pays to shop around!

Apart from that it was just nice to wander in the relatively ambient heat of Mutton Street whilst MCM tried to track down a standing lamp she'd seen in a picture, and a few drawer handles.  Successful on both fronts, a relatively small amount of money was exchanged for a solid brass floor lamp and we managed to knock down a shopkeeper to half of his ridiculous starting price for a very nice set of brass and glass drawer handles - actually by waiting for the shopkeeper to go out for lunch and negotiating with a shop assistant whilst his back was turned.  What goes around comes around!

Beautiful, colourful glass lanterns line the ceiling at Taherally's, 28 Mutton Street

Rosewood cabinet topped with vintage glass jars at Taherally's , 28 Mutton Street

Loving your blue window frame/curtain combo lady!

You will find lots of carved wooden animals including this Chinese Dragon mask.

Loads of craftsmen at work on Mutton Street - they tart up your finds after you have agreed a price.

A rummager's paradise

Love these colourful lanterns hanging outside one of the shops

Need a trumpet or a French horn?  Well this is the place to come!

There is one stall selling vintage trims

Plenty of eye-catching Bollywood posters to be found in Chor Bazaar

This is the shop where I bought mine...(good provenance)

Thanks for visiting....please stay tuned for my guide to shopping for colonial antiques in Mumbai later on in the month.

Please also 'like' my Facebook Page! ;)

Another Colonial Antique Shop Find - Moorthy's

Needing a break from writing the various things we spend all day writing, MaximumCityMadam and I took ourselves off on an antique hunt today.  Anyone who is a regular reader will know that  I have a particular passion for colonial antiques - and I have steadily been trying to fill up our rather bland apartment with as many 'finds' as possible.

MCM, who shares my interest, had recently told me about a place in Tardeo which I'd never heard of - Moorthy's. So that's where we went off to today.  I thought I knew everything about shopping in this city but clearly I still have a lot to learn about the secret antique hidey-holes of Mumbai.

After walking up a typically unkempt, narrow street off the main road (Tardeo Road) - we entered through the corrugated door of Moorthy's warehouse. I immediately found the place rather awe inspiring although slightly oppressive - with its tiny aisles and carefully stacked furniture looming over you from above.  It is literally packed to the rafters with the most amazing finds but you feel that everything could come crashing down on your head at any moment.

The pieces are all excellent quality and carefully sourced, even though some of the furniture and artefacts are in an unrestored state. But judging from the men sat all around cross-legged on the floor - polishing, buffing and adjusting - the restoration needs of Moorthy's clients are all taken care of on site.

It's not cheap - you're not going to get Chor Bazaar prices here and neither should you bearing in mind the provenance of some of the items.  Mr Moorthy quoted us 'non-negotiable' prices.  35,000 Rs (GBP 410) for a Shiva print (albeit a top quality one).  125,000 Rs (GBP 1,450) for a leather trunk from China!  Over 100,000 (GBP 1,175) for a rosewood mirror inlaid with mother of pearl! But the prices are probably still a lot more competitive than back home (do I need to be reminded of just how expensive everything 'back home' is?).  Anyway, a lot of the stuff was out of my league to be honest.  Especially as I do just love a bargain.

Nevertheless, I have got my eye on beautiful old, carved cradle which they will convert into a coffee table for me (it's been nine months and I still haven't got rid of the black laminate crime against interior design that sits in our apartment)....but I need to convince Mr Jules that he really wants it too (surely this historic piece - of such fine and intricate workmanship - is the one thing missing from his life?!). Hmmmm watch this space!

MCM and I went to Chor Bazaar after our trip to Moorthy's.  It's been a while since I blogged about Chor Bazaar so that's coming up next.

Here are the hastily snatched photos...see anything you like?

When I mean 'stuffed to the rafters', I mean 'stuffed to the rafters'!

Hundreds of these wooden chests stacked everywhere.

You need to look up high, or you might miss something.

Anyone for a spiral staircase?

PS When I have persuaded Mr Jules to purchase the coffee table - I will put a picture of it up here - I don't want anyone nicking it!

Moorthy's
5/1, Suryodaya Mills Compound,
136, Tardeo Road,
Mumbai - 400 036.

www.moorthys.com

The Amazing Flamingos of Mumbai

Whenever we choose to go do something cultural (the definition of 'cultural' being anything that doesn't involve shopping) we always seem to end up in a huge melee.  Either because it so happens to be a festival that day, or it is a national holiday that we did not know about - or conversely there is a bund and we can't get out at all.  Like the weekend Mr Jules and I chose to visit the Taj Mahal during Eid, when the authorities opened up the place to the whole public free of charge.  We fought with hundreds of thousands of people to get through the gates and had to heavily compete to find vantage points from which to take our Lady Di photos. Today was no exception.

We had heard some time ago about the migratory flamingos that visit Thane Creek every year but had waited for the 'right' time to go and check them out.  These pink long legged wonders visit between January and May and are attracted by what would be considered poor living conditions to humans - the alkaline nature of the mudflats caused by sewerage seeping out from the city.  Nice.

Long Legged Lovely

Anyway, getting back to the story - today was the day we chose to do our bit of flamingo spotting.  We dutifully checked on low and high tides and concluded that 4pm would be a good time to turn up - when the mudflats would be uncovered by the tide going out and the birds would be able to come in closer to land. We made the journey by car to Sewri Fort on the lower eastern side of the city - the best place to see the spectacle.  However just before we turned in to Sewri Fort we noticed a man standing on the corner holding a camera with a huge lens.  Then we saw a coach load of people ahead of us just as we were turning in.  And then we seemed to be behind a whole trail of other cars.  I thought it was a bit weird as this is an area that would normally be very quiet.  

As we drove on a bit further, we seemed to be in an organised car park and it was only then that we saw the signs....."FLAMINGO FESTIVAL... by the Bombay Natural History Society"  Aaaaaagh bloody typical!!  The one day we (carefully) choose to come and look at the flamingos is the day the BNHS decide to hold their Flamingo Festival!  There were hundreds of people, wielding big cameras and binoculars and making a racket (OK, a bit like us then).

Mini-poseur (that's a plastic one by the way)

So our peaceful outing to do a bit of solitary bird spotting was going to be a bun fight for the best vantage point again. Oh well.  

However, it was nice to see lots of children being dragged out by their parents in order to see the spectacle of thousands of flamingos treading the flats - and we were happy to share around our binoculars.  As well as these stunning birds, we saw other species including a Black Headed Ibis, Redshank, Bar-tailed Godwit, and a Western Reef Egret (info supplied by Mr Jules!).  And I did manage to get one or two photos although I was finding it hard to keep my arms steady with all these people around me.

The flamingos will be in the creek until April or May when they then fly on to their breeding grounds in Kutch in Northern India.  It really is an amazing thing to see in the middle of Mumbai - to be that close to nature in this city is usually very hard to come by.  

A few pictures, thanks for stopping by!

Obligatory fishing boat picture 

Flamingos v Humans

Black Headed Ibis

Thousands of birds

Worth joining the BNHS perhaps?

Thousands of flamingos seen beyond the machinery of the fishing boats

The Hoards!  Go and visit on a weekday - there will be no one else around

Worli Fishing Village

Just before I went off to the UK last week, I made an outing to Worli Fishing Village with the Ladies Wot Have Posh Cameras (our photography group).  Now I am not sure I should shout about Worli Fishing Village on here as it is not a Mumbai tourist hotspot (like the Dhobi Ghat washing area) and I would not want hoards of people to intrude upon this delightful community.  Actually, I had originally thought that the area was enclosed and not 'open' to the public, but someone from our party had already been and assured us that it was OK. And we were not to be disappointed.  The village is a quaint warren of colourful dwellings opening out on to a waterside area that faces the indomitable Sea Link, buzzing with dwellers going about their daily business.

Slightly grumpy fisherman repairing his nets

In fact, this Koli fishing village was around 2,000 years ago when Mumbai was just an archipelago of seven islands.  It has existed untouched since then and is still inhabited by the same tribal fishing people (who now wear Nikes and football tops). I had only ever glimpsed the village - which juts out on a piece of land into the sea - through the railings of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link as I whipped past in the car.  From there I could sometimes make out kids playing in amongst the rocks and a see a few boats tied up.  But when you actually get down to the waterside, you can see the many colourful vessels waiting to go out - and it's not too far off being in a Greek fishing village!

View of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link from the end of the village

The place is incredibly photogenic and the Koli fisherfolk so welcoming. They delighted in having their pictures taken. At the end of the village is a small Portuguese Fort - which was a strategic vantage point for counter attacks from the sea in the days when the Portuguese ruled Mumbai.  You are not allowed to take photos inside the Fort (where, bizarrely we found an extensively equipped body building gym!) so instead we climbed up on to the ramparts to get the nice views of the village and the Sea Link.  I am not sure how the folk of Worli felt when the Sea Link was completed four years ago as it cuts right across their uninterrupted views of the Mumbai skyline. But I doubt their opinions were in the least bit considered!

We were able to fulfil our morning's objectives very nicely indeed - although my camera battery ran out halfway through so I only got part of the story.  I must go back!

Some images:

Above and below : street art

Giving his granddaughter a lift to school

Shop selling provisions (and a shy shopkeeper)

Outside the shop - not so shy

One of the many colourful dwellings

Pavement omelette waiting to happen!

Looking down one of the gullies - the Sea Link just visible in the distance

Towels being hung out to dry

We found this Koli bride about to be whisked off to be married.
Interesting head adornment

Satellite dishes always to be found

View across the rooftops from the Fort

Villagers doing their washing

What a beautiful child

Cheeky boys playing cricket