It has been a while since I did food related posts. I had a blogging schedule planned ages ago with different themes for each day of the week; Tuesdays for recipes to satisfy the tummy (I know!) and Fridays for fun posts. But then, I had this review post half-done in my drafts and decided – why not make it a Friday feast? So here is some fantastic feasting in Dishoom style…

Are you wondering what Dishoom is or means? Well, the specific Dishoom I am referring to is the book I am featuring today. As for the word “dishoom”, it is similar to ‘bam’ or ‘pow’ in superhero comics, a Hindi word (noun) that is the onomatopoeic representation of the sound of a punch or blow.

First the book review, and let me tell you that the book is indeed

Fantastic Feasting in Dishoom Style

Dishoom

My Thoughts

I really thought this would be a short review but as I read, I found more to love, and thus more to write here! Since it is going to be hard to separate the food from the stories, since the stories are almost always revolving around the featured foods, I have attempted to break it down the best I could to review it in sections.

Don’t be daunted by its size; you will find yourself lost in its pages and before you know it, you are half-way through! Well, that is actually where I kind of am: a little more than half-way through. But based on what I have read so far, if the rest of the book follows in the footsteps of these initial chapters (which I think it does since I read the Pudding chapter towards the end right after the Mid Morning snacks!), this book is one that I will find myself dipping into time and again.

Photographs and recipes of delicious, drool-worthy dishes adorn the pages of this book interspersed with nostalgic, delightful stories of Bombay, its foodie haunts (or rather the authors’ favorite places, as they themselves say at the start), and personal stories of the authors as well.

The Recipes

While I am yet to make any of the recipes, given that I have cooked some of the items (albeit with variations on the recipe), I know we will end up with finger-licking dishes. I will be sure to share my results in the weeks ahead. One of the recipes, bun maska pudding, actually seems to be a cousin of the double-ka-meeta I wrote a poem about earlier.

The recipes are detailed with pretty concise measurements of ingredients, as well as tips and other relevant information or a short snippet accompanying them. And the food photographs: mark my words, you will be hungry as you read this so arm yourself with snacks (the pic above is just one of the very many amazing photos in this book that will leave you hungry in so many ways)

The Layout

I loved the layout of the book, totally cool and perfectly suited to take us on a culinary tour of Bombay as well as take us through the meals of the day from breakfast till that last midnight snack. Additional chapters towards the end focus on tipples (drinks!), basic recipes (sauces, spice mixes, breads, etc) needed for many of the main recipes in the book, as well as a short description of ingredients used (definitely helpful for those new to Indian cooking), and to my delight, menu suggestions (I often am at a loss for what dishes to pair with other dishes), and a recommended reading list of fiction and non-fiction reads about/related to Bombay.

The Stories and the etcs.

While I loved the featured recipes (there are more than enough vegetarian recipes to satisfy me), my favorite parts of this book are the stories. My words fail me here actually. Part memoir, part nostalgia, part culinary tour and culinary history, and so much more! I simply enjoyed reading the stories for the sake of reading them, and will read them again for sure.

If I did not already know that the writers were the owners of the Dishoom and chefs in their own right, I would really want them to keep writing books. And if they do write another book, whether or not it is food related, I will pick it up for myself – they are that good writers, and obviously great readers too! The reading list included at the end of this book easily proves that (and adds so much to my TBR. I have only read Vikram Seth’s ‘A Suitable Boy’ from that list.)

In Summary

Like I mentioned earlier, the book is sure to leave you wanting like it does me at every reading of it (in bits and pieces of course). Wanting to travel, to explore Mumbai (Bombay as is it referred to often in this book), and to explore my own city and other cities like the authors did Mumbai, wanting to delve into nostalgia, to write, to cook, to eat, and so much more!

Do I need to say more??! (I am going to get my own copy, or find myself renewing the library copy as much as I can)

Get it here

Related Reading for More Fantastic Feasting

• If you do want to try out some of the recipes from the book, check out four of them featured in this article on The Guardian or some more in this Esquire article
• Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai (my review is here)
• Mango and Peppercorns: A Wonderful Combination
• Of Keeshes and Cows
• Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes by Shoba Narayan (my thoughts here)

Some More Feasting in Dishoom

For Book Beginnings on Friday hosted by Rose City Reader and First Line Friday hosted by Reading is My Superpower, sharing the first line(s) of this must-read book.

Another look at this fascinating book, for the Friday 56 hosted by Freda’s Voice, where I am sharing a part of page 56 of the book.

And non-this-book related, for Book Blogger Hop hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. The question/theme for this week: January 20th – 26th – Do you use social media to keep up with your favorite authors?

My answer: Not in the sense of constantly or even regularly checking up on their posts but randomly might see what they are up to, and most often, only after I see a mention elsewhere from other book bloggers

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, I am guessing you might be tempted to look for the book yourself now. If so, go ahead and click on the Get it Here link above and get one for yourself, or gift it to a loved one. It will be treasured by whoever gets it! And if you have been to the restaurant (in London), do let me know your experiences. I would love to visit it some day (and meet the authors of this book too)