“No! Never! We won’t ever use packaged masalas in our dishes. We make our masalas fresh,” said Shabana Salauddin, a home chef who has been running Ammeez Kitchen, a cloud kitchen that delivers authentic Kokani Muslim dishes across Mumbai. “Every Kokani Muslim household will have a unique recipe for their masalas that they will never share with you,” added Salauddin.
“Will you share yours?” I asked without missing a chance. “Of course not,” she instantly laughed.
History And Origin Of Kokani Muslims
The origins of the Koknai Muslims, who live along the Konkan belt in the Indian state of Maharashtra, go back to the advent of Arab traders to present-day areas like Thane, Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg.
“Islam is believed to have arrived in India in 711 AD when the Arabs, under Muhammad Bin Qasim, fought the Battle of Sindh. However, Kokani Muslims predate that,” said Rafid Farikh, a Kokani Muslim from Bhiwnadi in Thane who also runs a restaurant named K2- Kebabs and Konkan in Thane, Mumbai.
Farikh mentioned that some traders who arrived without families married and had children with the region’s Koli (fishing community) women. “The association gave rise to a language, lifestyle, and cuisine that was an amalgamation of Arab and Maharashtrian cultures,” added Farikh.
The Kokani Muslim Cuisine
More than anything else, this intercultural influence is visible in Kokani Muslim cuisine today. “Saffron, nuts like pistachios, dates, sesame, and khus khus (poppy seeds) are some things that Arabs brought with them,” said Farikh. While they were not unfamiliar with seafood, dried fish was particular to the Koli community.
The introduction of eggs as an ingredient in Kokani Muslim desserts like anda barfi is also a contribution of the Arabs and not something the Maharashtrians use.
According to Farikh, Maharashtrians were much less affluent than the Arabs, and this economic gap was reflected in the ingredient choices they made in their preparations. Puran Poli, a signature Maharashtrian dish, is prepared in traditional households using wheat flour, jaggery, and channa daal and paired with skimmed milk.
“Arabs, being richer, used sugar instead of jaggery and refined flour or maida instead of wheat flour. They also paired it with malai (milk cream) instead of skimmed milk; this is how Kokani Muslims now make puran poli.” explained Farikh. He also mentioned that the Maharashtrians use turmeric to add colour to the paste, and Kokani Muslims use saffron.
Ingredients Of The Cuisine
Talking about the ingredients of the Kokani Muslim cuisine, Salauddin mentioned that the community depends a lot on local produce. “Some ingredients that dominate our dishes include coconut and coconut milk, mangoes, and kokum, which are abundant in the region,” she said.
Another ingredient that is taken quite seriously by the Kokani Muslims is their masalas. “The hara masala that uses coriander, mint, green chillies, ginger, garlic, and cumin seeds rolled up together on a silbatta is the hero of all non-vegetarian gravies prepared by the people of our community,” Salauddin mentioned.
They freshly prepare all their masalas, including chilli powder and garam masala and avoid storing them for more than a week. “If we do that, the ingredients will lose aroma and release oil,” added Salauddin.
Apart from the regular ginger garlic paste, Kokani Muslims use the Kolhapuri chilli and Bedgi mirchi from Karnataka. As souring agents for their seafood, the community uses kokum (Malabar tamarind), ambosi (dried raw mangoes), or karonda (Bengal currant).
Standout Dishes From The Cuisine
Saandan (which comes from the Marathi word Saandane, which means union or coming together) is a Kokani Muslim dish that is closely tied to the community’s traditions. It is usually prepared by the bride’s side of the family during the daswah— the tenth day after marriage when the groom and his family come to pick up the bride from her maiden house. It represents the union of the married couple and their families.
It is a semi-sweet, steamed delicacy made with rice flour, coconut milk, sugar, cream, and saffron. It is made like idlis in a mould and can be eaten with saalan/haldoni (curries), as a dessert, or even as a tea-time snack.
Dhan shikori is another wedding delicacy of the community prepared by the groom’s side of the family during the walima— a party thrown after the consummation of marriage.
The shikori is a semi-liquid gravy that lies somewhere between the Mughlai korma and the Maharashtrian rassa. It is served with dhan (Kolam rice cooked with ghee and whole spices) and papite ka achaar (raw papaya, carrot, and green chillis mixed with vinegar and mustard seeds).
The Story Of Khara Gosht
When I asked Salauddin about her favourite Kokani dish, she enthusiastically mentioned her mother’s Khara gosht. Most recipes prepared at Ammeez Kitchen are over 100 years old and were picked from her 76-year-old mother, Salma, who learnt them from her grandmother.
A standout dish from the 13-page menu at the Cloud Kitchen is khara gosht(khara means namkeen or savoury). “My mother created the dish in a Eureka-like moment when she was eight,” said Salauddin.
“Sixty-eight years ago, on Bakra Eid, my nanaji (maternal grandfather) asked my mother to prepare a dish with a portion of mutton that he had received from his friend. My mother was met with a kitchen that did not have a lot of ingredients. All she did was add a few spices, ginger-garlic paste, and salt, allowing it to cook for the next few minutes.
While cooking, she ran up to the vegetable vendor outside their house and borrowed half a lemon to add the tanginess she thought the dish needed. A well-cooked khara gosht won her an eidi of 1 rupee,” narrated Salauddin.
