Enjoy a welcome drink and meet the family before walking to the open-air market near their home. Here you may buy some of the fresh ingredients you will use to prepare your meal. You may also pick a few herbs from the garden Sama tends at their apartment building.
Please note that this is a cooking demonstration, not a hands-on cooking class. You will join Sama in the kitchen to watch her prepare 2-3 authentic Muslim dishes that you will eat along with other prepared dishes eaten with rice and Indian breads.
Sama and her sister, Anam, will welcome you to their tastefully decorated apartment. Sama serves authentic Muslim food, which is typically meat dominated, usually mutton (goat) and beef, and features heavily flavored, rich dishes. The meal may include dishes such as pepper chops, bhoona gosht (sautéed mutton cooked with spices), nalli nihari (tender meat in a rich marrow gravy), eggplant rolls, and biryani.
If you would prefer a seafood based menu, please inform Sama in advance.
Sama's family currently has two cats and a dog but since her dad loves animals, he often adopts them from the street on his way back from work. The day you visit there may be even more pets at home!
This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
One of our youngest hosts, Sama is a talented cook with an immense knowledge of food and cooking techniques. Sama's mother is Bohri and her father is Muslim from the Koli region, and her cooking reflects this fusion. She trained at the Institute of Hotel Management Mumbai and worked at a luxury hotel before starting her own catering business called The Hungry Bunny.
Sama lives with her parents, sister, grandmother, two cats and a dog in Versova, an upmarket neighborhood in the Andheri area of western Mumbai. She learned to cook authentic Muslim food from her dad, who himself is a passionate food lover and who inspires Sama to prepare all of her spice pastes and masalas using a traditional grinding stone.
The whole family loves animals and often they have four-legged guests visiting them at home.
