The Big Spread

Jay Singh 78 months ago

The Big Spread is situated inside the warm quarters of Chef Farida Yunus’s residence at Byculla. There she serves many hungry souls with lip-smacking and piping hot delicacies. I recently had the fortune of attending the Iftaar Thaal at the Big Spread and it was indeed quite big.
As is customary, the thaal is served on the floor but on a slightly raised platform. The size of the thaal is big so that it can easily accommodate 4-6 people. The spread consists of many courses of dishes and drinks. They are as follows:
1. Gol Paani with Chia seeds (A traditional refreshing Bohri delight) Served as welcome drink
2. A pinch of salt – it is customary to begin the course by taking a pinch of salt on the tongue. This is done to cleanse the palette.
3. Hot malpua and Jalebi with malai – the malpua are quite different and made with egg batter. Both the dishes are delicious
4. Chicken baida roti - shallow fried indian bread stuffed with minced mutton or chicken. You cannot stop at just one piece, it is so tempting
5. Mutton bhuna egg rolls – Marinated and cooked mutton pieces rolled on egg chapatti
6. Bheja Cutlets – Tasty cutlets prepared in mutton brain and with other spices. They are so soft and tender, they simply melt in the mouth
7. Creamy Mango firni - prepared with full cream milk, basmati rice and sugar as main ingredients. This one was made out of mango and served in a kulhad. The taste was divine and it is a full course of meal in itself. Made with coarsely ground rice, it is different than the kheer/payasam which we know of. It is flavored with lots of saffron, cardamom and rose and adorned with a lot of nuts and often some dry fruits too.
8. Smoked tandoori mutton Raan – it is marinated leg of lamb cooked deliciously in a combination of spices and yoghurt. Attacking this with bare hands increases your appetite even further. The dish is simply superb.
9. Mutton nalli nihari with Khamiri roti and jeera rice – Nihari is a stew of slow cooked meat of lamb along with the bone marrow. The khamir or yeast is added to the bread which makes it thick and big. Amazing combination. The nihari is finger licking delicious. I couldn’t help but opt for a second and then third serving of this dish as well.
10. Sheer khurma – Sheer means sweetened milk and Khorma means dried dates. This is a vermicelli pudding made with dry fruits, dates, milk, sugar and vermicelli. Even saffron is added to this exotic, rich dessert to make it more fragrant. This is the perfect sweet dish to end the course with there’s so many ingredients in this that one can get lost in the taste.
11. Boondi and crispy patra raita
12. Bir masala soda
13. Paan and mukhwaas
The hospitality and the love with which Chef Farida handles each dish, only brings out the taste even more. This is the perfect option for a community-based sit down lunch. I would suggest this option to anybody looking out to plan their birthday parties. A must-visit place in Byculla area.

Chaitanya Prabhu 66 months ago

Love the food !!! Everything is good....my favorites are

1. Shahi tukada
2. mutton samosas
3. Bheja cutlets
4. Raan
5. Nalli nihari with bone marrow

Kurush Dalal 54 months ago

Superlative meal, best haleem in years, awesome Bohri thaal meal!