No one cooks like mum

The petite woman dressed in plain black trousers and a cream kurti flitted around the kitchen gathering her ingredients while the huge grinder at the back growled, mincing its contents to a fine paste. This would be a typical day for Pramilla D'Souza in her kitchen. However, she's not at her home in Goa but at Spectrum On One at The Fairmont Dubai.

Until June 15, the multicuisine restaurant is hosting D'Souza under their A Taste of Home promotion, which will find mothers of different nationalities cooking in its various kitchens, providing a taste of home-cooking to Dubai.

The first of a series

"We all know what people miss most when they are living away from home," says Alka Winter, public relations group director at The Fairmont. "Mama's visit is the first of a series. We move into Ramadan with first an Arab mother, then a Thai mother and so on."

A retired executive secretary, D'Souza now works as an independent financial adviser. However, it's the cooking she does for family and friends that she's better known for. Born and raised in the northern Goan town of Mapusa, she first learnt to cook from her mother at 8. She has had her share of cooking demonstrations and classes too, but she's not a professional cook.

"I'm just a mother, a real mama, who cooks at home," she says shyly. "The staff of Fairmont just happened to meet me and taste my food. That's the reason I'm here."

As she prepares to cook shark fish ambotika, a traditional Goan dish, she explains how shark is becoming more and more difficult to find in the markets at home. Maybe because of all the news about the dwindling population and inhumane killing of sharks, especially for shark-fin soup, I offer.

"We don't make shark-fin soup. That's done abroad," D'Souza says. "Nor do we use large sharks, as they have an off-taste. We use smaller ones, no bigger than two feet. But as it's really difficult to get, we use more of catfish and kitefish."

Curry, rice and fried fish are Goa's staple fare, she explains, though she herself favours meat and chicken. So what is it that makes Goan food such a favourite cuisine abroad?

"People don't eat food as spicy as that offered in Goan cuisine. So when they come to Goa, they really enjoy it, because the food we make is, in many places, still prepared the traditional way — cooked on firewood in earthen vessels, the masalas all ground on grinding stones. All this makes a difference in taste. As far as ingredients go, the main items we use are kokum [a salty-sour fruit from south India], vinegar made from coconut toddy, tamarind and chilli. So our food is not just hot but tangy."

"Coconut oil is another essential. But today's generation prefers to use other varieties, such as sunflower, because they feel coconut oil leads to high cholesterol. That's why we use kokum, as it cuts cholesterol," D'Souza continues as she ladles the masala — a paste of cumin, red chillies, garlic, ginger, pepper, turmeric and tamarind — to the onions frying in the pan. It was this paste she was making in the grinder earlier.

"In our daily cooking we use all these ingredients. When cooking meat, we use cloves and cinnamon as well," she says.

More than just chicken tikka

It was during a recruitment drive for their upcoming property in Jaipur, India, that The Fairmont management stumbled upon D'Souza. But we wanted to know what brought D'Souza here.

"I want to challenge my guests' palates with a new kind of Indian dining experience, influenced by the subcontinent and my Portuguese ancestry, because Indian cuisine is largely identified as just chicken tikka, butter chicken, dal makhni and naan," she says.

As for her experience in a hotel kitchen, she says it makes a "world of difference".

"At home we cook in little quantities. Here it starts with the masala, which I have to grind in bulk because it's a commercial mixer. Also, the utensils are too big for me," D'Souza says.

Hungry, anyone?

If you wish to taste Pramilla D'Souza's home-cooking, you can find her at Spectrum On One, The Fairmont Dubai, until June 15. The promotion, A Taste of Home, is available every evening, Sunday to Friday, and is priced at Dh150 per person, including a four-course family-style dinner with a menu that changes every week depending on what seasonal ingredients Mama D'Souza has gathered and her culinary repertoire.

Shark fish ambotika (Hot and sour shark fish curry)

Clean and wash fish. Cut into desired pieces, preferably about 1cm thick, as they cook quicker and taste better. Apply salt to the fish and leave aside.

Grind all the above ingredients, except onion and oil, to a make a thick paste, using a little water (about a quarter cup).

In a medium-sized saucepan, add oil and sauté the onion until it browns well. Add the ground paste to the onion and fry. Add one cup of water to the pan and allow to boil.

Add the fish pieces and, over a slow fire, cook until tender. Add salt and vinegar if desired.