Hjemmelaget fra hjemlandet (home-made from my homeland)

I was born and brought up in Mumbai, the city that never sleeps and is as famous for it's street food as for it's never-say-die attitude and it's slums! Take a walk down the streets of Mumbai and you cannot miss the wafting aromas of vada-pav, pav-bhaji, samosas, bhajiyas and cutting chai! These are just the basic ones.. there are lots more: toast sandwich, grilled sandwich, dosas with various fillings, pani-puri, sev-puri, bhelpuri, dabeli, frankie and the latest craze of "chinese" bhel and manchurian. But inspite of the new additions I believe the humble vada-pav continues to reign in terms of popularity.Food chains like Jumbo King and Goli vada-pav have glamourized it a tad with additions like cheese and schezwan sauce but the good old vada-pav sold by enterprising men and women on their simple stalls from ages ago are also preferred by many. 

( Image credits: 

https://roshanjha.wordpress.com/2017/02/11/mumbai-street-food-10-must-visit-places-for-foodies/)

My love for food and curiosity to delve deeper into it's intricacies has been deeply influenced by the variety of cuisines and different ways of cooking that I have been exposed to since my childhood. Having grown up in a Brahmin Maharashtrian home I have relished simple foods like bhakri, pithla, varan-bhaat, batatyachi bhaji, usal, pohe, shira, sabudana khichadi etc. "Panch- pakvannache jevan" with special desserts  such as basundi, puran-poli, shrikhand, kesari bhaat, ukadiche modak were reserved for special religious or festive occasions. Everyone also looked forward to seasonal specialities such as aluche fadfade, kairichi daal, panha, til-gul, gajar halwa and kharvas among many others.My three paternal aunts or atyas

have their own specialities like pickles, ketchups, jams, ladoos, vadis, chivda, chakli, karanji, shankarpali, thalipeeth, amti-bhaat and the list is endless! My maternal aunt or maushi is no less! 

My father is as good a cook as my mother and makes mouth watering jalebis, methichi patalbhaji, korda pithla, kanda-bhaji which are just a few of his trademark recipes.My mother's family is from Madhya Pradesh and that's where my love for Chaat like samosas, phulkis, matar ki kachori,  khoye ki jalebi, rabri , lassi and chole-bhature originate from. Travelling to college everyday and having to to manage with a limited amount of pocket money introduced me to street food which I have mentioned at the very beginning of this write-up.It also made me fond of South-indian food like idlis, dosa, uttapas, medu- vadas etc because it was always prepared hot and safest to eat among other outside food.Also any neighbourhood in Mumbai has residents from all over India and thus I was introduced to Gujarati dhoklas, fafdas, patra, dal-dhokli, South-indian rasam, payasam, neer dosas, bisebelibhaat, North-indian puri-saag, kachori, mathri and a multitude of dishes, each of them having carved their own niche in my foodie mind! Doing my masters in microbiology from the University of Mumbai taught me about the science of fermentation and brewing and more importantly about the aspect of hygiene associated with mass production of food and the necessary quality control measures and norms that need to be adhered to. Later, being married into a CKP Maharashtrian family introduced me to non vegetarian cuisine like kolambichi khichadi, paplet fry, bombil fry, surmaicha kalvan, solkadhi, kombdi-vade, kheemyache kanavle. My father in-law had almost convinced me that CKP stood for ''chavine khanaare-pinaare"! And last but not the least the opportunity to travel around the world with my shippie husband introduced me to international cuisine which broadened the horizons of my gastronomic pursuits more than I had ever imagined! 

We shifted to Bergen just about six months ago and I am gradually trying to learn more about the culture here alongwith learning Bokmål the most common language here. And what I have observed is that just like Mumbai, there is a blend of many cultures here from diverse backgrounds. And they exist in harmony. Also the very mention of Indian food lights up the eyes of most Norwegians and they are more than willing to try it even if they are traditionally not used to the spices that are used in Indian preparations. I had made batata vada for my colleagues at Folkeuniversitetet where I go for Norwegian language course and they loved it. Another time at a function in Møhlenpris oppveksten skole where our son goes for introductory class, I had made vada pav as a snack for the teachers, parents and pupils and they kept coming back for more! And they were eager to try atleast a little of the spicy green chutney even though it was a bit too spicy for their taste buds.

The foodie in me was piqued whether the Indian main course dishes from different parts of India would also equally interest the people here. I have seen a lot of people shopping for Tikka masala seasonings and ready to eat Tikka masala gravy preparations in the supermarkets here but I believe there's a lot lot more to our Indian cuisine.We have had many of my husband's office colleagues over for lunch or dinner at various occasions and it made me really happy to see everyone enjoying tandoori chicken, biryani, Maharashtrian chicken gravy, butter chicken, jeera rice, chole-puri and many other Indian recipes. What surprised me most was the response of many of our guests to 'chapati' or 'phulka' a simple everyday flatbread from India that is as common as having salt and sugar in our kitchens! Thus began my culinary exploration to turn my passion into a profession and start a service to provide home cooked Indian food in Bergen. And this is how 'Hjemmelaget fra hjemlandet" was created with a purpose to satisfy the taste buds of everyone who would love to try Indian food from the kitchen of an Indian home! 

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