Chp 587. Sunday lunch: Assamese food in Pune.

I know I'm in the middle of my "Stomach Chronicles" series of blog post, but even though this blog update is about food, I'm not including this one in that list as this is not one of the regular lunch or dinner I've had in Pune.

So today, I was extremely excited to get an invitation from renowned Assamese chef Gitika Saikia to attend her exclusive food fest here in Pune! I have attended Gitika's food event back in Mumbai, which I blogged about here - North East cuisine in Mumbai, and that was awesome.

This time, the event was held at Prem's restaurant here in Pune, organized by "The Secret Chulha Pop-ups", who regularly organize this monthly (the last Sunday of every month) food event, catering to different Indian cuisines and communities.

Tying up with Gitika's PakGhor this time, the menu for the event was -

Non Veg

- Phool Gobi Fry (Cauliflower dipped in egg wash and fried crisp)

- Gahori Maan Dhoniya (Pork with Assamese Herbs)

- Gahori Khorisa Aru Bhut Jolokia (Smoked Pork, Bamboo Shoot and Bhut Jolokia gravy)

- Til Maas (Fish with Black Sesame)

- Pithaguri Murgi Khar (Chicken with Rice Flour and Alkali)

- Plain Rice + Panch Phoran Dal with Cherry Tomatoes

- Desserts: Black Sticky Rice Pudding

Veg

- Koldil Til Pitika (Banana Flower with Black Sesame Mash)

- Rongalau Paleng (Pumpkin with Spinach)

- Xewali Phool aru Guti Alu (Potato and Night Jasmine Flower)

- Ool Kobi Aru Motor (Kol Rabi with green peas)

- Jika Kosu (Ridgegourd with Taro)

- Plain Rice + Panch Phoran Dal with Cherry Tomatoes

- Desserts: Black Sticky Rice Pudding

As you can see, it was going to be yummmm.

Prem's is just 5 minutes walking distance from my apartment here at Koregaon Park, and I reached the place around 2 PM. My friends and I were taken to this special area within the iconic outdoor restaurant, designated only for participants of this particular event.

[Click on all pics to enlarge to a new tab]

As we waited for the food to be served, beer and wine were served to us as aperitifs.

Meanwhile, the restaurant crew got ready with the food preparation…

As always, you can't miss out Gitika's trademark home-made pickles, which were available for sale at the venue itself - Bamboo shoot pickle and Bhut Jolokia (aka Raja Mirchi or Naga Chilli) pickle.

Soon the food was served. First up, the egg-dipped crispy fried cauliflower, which was utterly delicious and crunchy.

Then came the others like the pork cooked in Assamese herbs, along with Assamese chicken and rice and panch phoran dal, which literally means it's made of five spices.

The fish was excellent. Slowly cooked with black sesame, my friends who were foodies themselves really loved it as it was not something one could easily find in restaurants here in Pune.

And finally, the main dish I was eagerly waiting for - the smoked pork with bamboo shoots cooked in bhut jolokia gravy! Yummmm it was so good and oh sooo spicy.

We helped ourselves to more servings as we enjoyed the unique northeastern delicacies soothing our stomach. The service was extremely good too, as more items were served to us before we could even ask for the next helping.

[With Richa, founder & owner of "The Secret Chulha Pop-ups" along with her husband Sandy Singh]

Apart from enjoying the awesome cuisine, we also had a fruitful discussion with Richa, where she promised the next such event will take place in a round table format where everyone will get to sit together, rather than making it feel like a segregated event.

As the royal feast came to an end, each of us were gifted this complimentary bhut jolokia pickle.

Below are a few more pics from their Facebook page - The Secret Chulha, I took permission to post their pics here on my blog. Do like the page, especially if you are a foodie here in Pune. Here are pics of the food we had today…

The people -

The food served -

Looking forward to such foodie events from "The Secret Chulha Pop-ups" again. And from the looks of it, that's gonna happen pretty soon too. Thanx Gitika and Richa for organizing such an amazing event.

Cheers! :)