KITCHEN CHRONICLES

What makes Marathi food, Marathi? We find out

- Saee Koranne-Khandekar

The Navi Mumbai of the 1980s and 1990s, where we lived when my brother and I were children, was a dull place indeed. We lived, at first, in a City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) colony – the neighbours were my father’s colleagues and all conversations revolved around their office. We had the quiet colony to play in, but that was all. We then moved to another suburb in Navi Mumbai, where the houses were nicer and schools were more accessible. But our parents wanted us to have access to their ‘Bombay’, away from the monotony of colony life, and so we spent almost every weekend at our maternal grandparents’ home in south Bombay. This Bombay was easy to fall in love with. There were many things to look forward to – the occasional children’s play at the NCPA, walking around Kala Ghoda, and accompanying our grandfather on his morning walks on the Marine Drive promenade – but I think we looked forward to the food the most.