but the beef is my favourite

For some reason, tonight I feel like writing in normal case. It is 12.47 and I am listening to Sigur Ros again. TAB is staying the night here - we experimented with dinner today (a gazpacho with an apple & coriander sorbet and an Italian pan seared tuna being the highlights) which was fun.

I almost wrote this post at about 3.30 on Saturday night after cooking 5 kgs of beef in our newly acquired Presto pressure cooker (more on that later) but for a change better sense prevailed and I caught 5 hours of sleep before we sold salads at Sunday Upmarket.

On Friday, Jonny kindly organised a tasting with Alan Yau. We made all 5 mooli's with our proper fresh bread (made beautifully by Raju - soon they will be made by moolita - she is on her way from San Antonio, Texas). It was a big day for us and as Mathew said, a day we are likely to remember. The order was - potato & asparagus with tamarind chutney, keralan beef mooli with our fresh salsa, paneer with Raju's secret tomato chutney, chicken and peppers with our coriander & apple chutney and finally Mathew's seriously fiery Goan pork with pickled cucumbers. Alan genuinely seemed to enjoy the food. At one stage (I think after he had either the paneer or chicken), he said 'the chutney with the potato was amazing... but the beef is my favourite'. He then went on to talk about the beef and while he was talking I was telling myself remember this Sam but of course I forgot the exact words. It was something along the lines of... the attention to detail is incredible and the flavours are delicately balanced, the salsa goes really well with the beef (that was Mathew's idea). After tasting the pork which he also liked he asked us how we get the meat so tender. Slow cooking. And here's how we do it:

Our brand new 23 litre Presto Pressure Cooker which my dad carried from California! It even has a proper dial and all. Dodie Miller and her head chef at Taqueria (best Mexican food in town) know how to slow cook meats and they've tried all the pressure cookers out there (including Hawkins!) and are convinced that Presto make the best ones. We simulate around 7 hours of slow cooking. A few months ago I wrote a post titled 'Being Heston Blumenthal'. We've come a long way since then and the attention to detail has become a religion. The red chilies are always dry roasted - and we know the exact number (from a particular brand) which we use for different quantities. The ginger is weighed. It's what my friend James calls 'spreadsheet cooking'. Under the influence of a neuroscientist girlfriend and the demands of a fast-casual restaurant, I've reined in the cooking by andaz style. Watching Heston Blumenthal on the telly showed me that coming up with the detail still needs passion and creativity. And that science can be good.



Today, at a tasting at Linklaters, Mathew said it's kind of nice that most people have their own favourite mooli - it is a sign they really like it. I oscillate between the pork and the beef though suddenly the potato & asparagus with tamarind chutney is in the running too. For some weird reason, I wonder which one Usain Bolt would pick. He clearly likes nuggets. Check out this nice interview on Top Gear.

Our first Ad!

We are very lucky to have secured the services of one of our favourite indian composers, Mukesh Kanapathapillairajni III.  

I wanna be like you

We've written before about a restaurateur that we are BIG fans of. In 2 hours and 15 minutes we are doing a tasting for him and are also hoping to learn the secret of this man's red fire.

How exciting ! Wish us luck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9cWkUhZ8n4

We're Back

We're back this Sunday (16 August) @ the Sunday Upmarket - the market 'for fashion and flavouristas'.

We're in Ely's Yard which is the outdoor section of the market - opposite the Rootmaster Bus, at the corner of the yard close to the Big Chill bar.

We're selling the Keralan Beef salad and the Paneer salad. The lovely flavours of the beef and paneer are enhanced by the freshly tossed endives, vine tomatoes, cucumber, pomergranate seeds, grated carrot and pine nuts (with a squeeze of fresh lime). They will be delicious, Ottolenghi-esque we hope.

बे गुड

We’ve reached a stage where most major hurdles have been crossed and opening our doors sometime in October has started to look very real‍. Sam and I keep saying to ourselves that we’ve been extremely fortunate to get to this position given the current economic climate. Luck aside, Mooli’s has had an incredible amount of selfless help from well wishers and we have been especially touched by some incredible acts of kindness from virtual strangers. I feel compelled to thank at least some of them.

I met Springbok Jon Shaw for the first time over a delicious lamb tagine at Cat’s place. He had already heard about Mooli’s through Jan, a common friend of his and Sam’s. He unwittingly offered to help us out, and we unashamedly took him up on the offer. We peppered him on a daily basis with questions about tax reliefs under the EIS scheme (which has been an incredible help in raising external equity), many of which required time out from his busy City schedule to make calls to HMRC and research cases. Last night he filed our application for clearance under the EIS scheme - a letter with a copious number of annexures, something even our accountant was loathe to undertake. For nothing.

I have a special affinity for other things South African. Its been five years since I rolled around with Whitey, since Tiger poo'ed & pee'd on my shoulder, since I swam with Jessica. Five years since I tasted that divine Bunny Chow in Durban and chicken with pap in Jo’burg. Since I heard the infectious beats of Mafikizolo.


Google is now very big, but they have stuck to their original philosophy – be good। Barring some silly privacy concerns, they have been very good to most of us। Yes we all know that they raised the bar several notches for internet search, email, maps etc – but they have also made life easier and cheaper for bootstrapping startups like Mooli’s. This blog is hosted for free by them. As is our mooli’s email. We use google calendars, google tasks, google docs, picasa. Follow this link for a street view of 50 Frith Street , courtesy of google. It feels odd to thank a juggernaut like them, but it is hard to imagine a world without google.

Dodie is a lovely woman. Of Cool Chile Company and Taqueria fame. Sam has eulogised before about her excellent corn tortillas and harbanero sauce. Having heard about and empathized with our frustrating quest for real bread, she invited us over to try to make rotis on El Monstro. She had balls of chappati dough ready and waiting (we were, as usual an hour late, but that is about to change soon) and ran an entire production line for us. For nothing. As she only supplies gluten free corn tortillas, commercially supplying us with wheat chappatis on El Monstro is not an option for her. And she then gave us a free run to poke around her kitchens at Taqueria, quiz her chefs and sample some delicious tacos. Her thumbs up to our Goan Goat and Punjabi Paneer was a great endorsement for us.

I could go on – Bing Bong who stayed up nights and weekends drafting our shareholders agreements (but at least he had the misfortune of knowing us for many years); TAB who writes outrageously funny stuff and understands the Mooli's brand better than us (but at least these might help to make him famous or find a mate. And of course he is also no stranger); Edair who runs my local Oz Café and who taught me to make coffee and gives me a few hours of experience behind his counter every week (his words of advice have been simple but invaluable – "....always always clean, always always good food, always always take girl who speak good English, then always always people come"). There are many more.

Starting Mooli’s has been as exciting and challenging as I expected and wanted it to be – and we are truly grateful for the help that we have got from these Good Samaritans. I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey.

Does my poo look big in this?

Ladies and gentlemen, as we approach the big launch date, there is a question which hovers above us and has yet to be fully addressed. After eating a mooli, is your experience in the toilet heaven or hell? Has the passage of your excrement been smooth  (even if a little bumpy) or stingy and uncomfortable followed by slightly more stingy and uncomfortable.

Perhaps it is embarrassing to ask such questions in feedback sessions or perhaps it is simply bad manners to ask after a person's poo (let us stick to this word rather than its harder alternative of shit, excrement etc). The reality is you will not know until after the event anyway. 

It is an important question. The richness of Indian food is such that it is almost inevitable that the stomach will rumble somewhat. This is an accepted risk for most consumers of Indian food. There is also a real risk that it would go beyond rumbling to downright bubbling uncomfortability. If that happens then very quickly a place can get a bad reputation. So what effect does the mooli have on you? Are questions about poo redundant because there is nothing one can do about it?

That second question is interesting. I have no answers, but it seems to me the spices one uses and the time of preparation must be linked to the poo question. Purely on an observational basis (which is far from scientific), it seems that home cooked Indian food is less likely to induce the bad pooh than some restaurant food. Why is that? This is a question for the mooli chefs and their expert advisors. But before they can investigate this they need the big poo question answered. So don't be shy, go ahead and reply. 

Some Proposed Tag Lines for the Mooli Packaging

Please make no mistake, eating 4 Mooli's a day will make you fat.

Our salad leaves are washed with water which has passed through the cracks of tibetan virgins. Yes it is that clean.

A Mooli will change your life. No seriously dude, it will.

Our chais are made with milk as fresh tasting as that which you tasted from your mother's teat.

The animals which have been slaughtered for your Mooli taste so good because they are so well treated, with regular massages, organic grass, sushi and 24 hour cable television. 

We do not need to show off about our coffee, because it is so well grounded.

We wanted to bring you the best tasting kulfi. We sourced a great supplier who lovingly makes her creamy kulfis in a farm just close to berkshire-upon-thames-upon a hill. But she was pretentious, overpriced and unbearable to work with, so we have put the kulfi on hold. 

9/10 of our friends think that Mooli's is way better than Pret and EAT. 

As we are just starting we have underpriced our products. Hopefully as we get more popular we will increase the prices. 

Warning: this is not a fucking burrito.

Not to be consumed with low grain cocaine.

This Mooli was not made by an overworked and underpaid illegal immigrant. 

If our staff could speak they would tell you we are the best bosses ever.

This Mooli is bad it's bad...you know it. And the wholeworldhastoanswerrightnowanditellyouonceagain who's bad?

 

I'll see you when you get there......

We'll be back at the Upmarket this Sunday. Flogging our mooli's. Having fun. After a few sold out shows, the Goan Goat Mooli and the Paneer Mooli will be rested and Sam's Keralan Beef Mooli will be unveiled. And, we're also trying out a new and experimental Potato & Asparagus Mooli with tamarind and yogurt sauce (this hasnt yet been voted on to the menu, so your feedback will be really useful).




We're working with little more than a table, a tarpaulin and a plug point, so do make some allowances if the bread isnt fresh off moolita (as it will be @ Mooli's, 50 Frith Street) and the mooli's arent 110% ...... but come on and join the joy ride. We'll be there from 10 am till 5 pm.

The First Reviews

I thought I would gather the early advanced reviews for Mooli's, good and bad.

As far as I am concerned, when it comes to express meals, there are mooli's and then there is everything else

-Andrew Mckneely, Eat Me

If an alien from outer space happened to be in Soho and wanted to understand the earthlings' fascination for Indian food, then it could do no better than head down to 50 Frith Street

-New York Times

"[after some unconnected story]... and so, the comforting vision is the ever so slight but real danger that some ants may crawl out of the carpeted walls, the chicken tikka may glow if the lights go out, and the fact that the polite indian waiter is taking out his frustration by pissing in my vindaloo. This is what we want from an indian food experience, not some pretentious fusion of different indian regional food all presented with the aesthetic sensibility of Japenese design"

-G Coren, The Times

There is a new force in town, and it is currently radiating at 50 Frith Street. Easily the best, most tastiest rolls/wraps whatever, you will ever eat

-Eat Out

"For a long time I failed to understand the allure of paneer. A tasteless cheese, it had nothing to commend it other than its parasitic qualities. I could fully understand why it never featured in the cuisine of Pakistan. Perhaps it was just a vegetarian thing. However, having tasted the paneer mooli, I can now see that this is what the paneer was made for. This is its true vocation"

-Zaheer Murdabad, Dawn

"The "simplified" menu really signals the lack of imagination. For real variety and options you need to go down to East London"

-Brick Lane Bi-Monthly

The best thing I have ever had in my life

-Mr Singh, Delhi Times

[after some unconnected story] If I were a goat I would happily die to be laid out in the warm bread that hugs the goat mooli. To give this much pleasure would not be a bad way to go. I am not sure the blonde would agree....

-AA Gill, The Times Magazine

Awesome, it changed my life

-Mrs Chandy, Kerala Times

A mooli is just such a comforting thing. It puts you in a good mood. Indeed if served, it could be the key to resolving the Arab Israeli and Kashmir conflicts

-Post-Structural-Alternative-Meta-Views on Conflict (food section)

Oh-Moo-li, Ohsala-da (Part 1)

Oh-Moo-li, Ohsala-da (Adapted by Dev Krishan)

Chandy had his equipment in the market place...
Raju was the roller of the show...
Chandy says to Raju "Man, I like your roll"
And Raju says this as he slices and dices the yams...
Oh-Moo-li, ohsala-da, life goes on, brand!...
Lala how the life goes on...

Oh-Moo-li, oh-moo-lah, life goes on, brand!...
Lala how the life goes on.

Sam takes a flight to money shores...
Easily wins a five carat diamond bracelet...
Takes it back to Moolis waiting in Soho...
And as he comes to Truman he begins to sing...
Oh-Moo-li, ohsala-da, life goes on, brand!...
Lala how the life goes on...

Oh-Moo-li, oh-moo-lah, life goes on, brand!...
Lala how the life goes on.

......continued below

Oh-Moo-li, Ohsala-da (Part 2)

Oh-Moo-li, Ohsala-da (Adapted by Dev Krishan)

In a couple of years they have built twenty rocking stores,
With a couple of thousand rolls eaten in the yard,
Of Moolis coming into its own... (Ha ha ha ha ha)
Happy ever after in the market place...
They decided to ensure that things grow...
Moolis didn't stay at home and do its pretty face...
And in the morning they sing it in New York...

Oh-Moo-li, ohsala-da, life goes on, brand!...
Lala how the life goes on...
Oh-Moo-li, oh-moo-lah, life goes on, brand!...
Lala how the life goes on.

In a couple of years they have built a loyal follow,
With thousands folk running in the yard,
Of Moolis the one and only...
Happy ever after in the market place...
They decided to ensure that things grow...
Moolis didn't stay at home and do its pretty face...
And in the evening the world's singing with this brand...
Oh-Moo-li, ohsala-da, life goes on, brand!...
Lala how the life goes on...
Oh-Moo-li, oh-moo-lah, life goes on, brand!...
La la how the life goes on.

And if you want some zing...take Oh-Moo-li--sala-da

My my, hey hey

Mr X : So how do you think Mooli's will do in Soho?

Cafe Manager Friend of Mr X : "I'm not sure if the Soho set who are used to eating slim Pret sandwiches and classy Fernandez & Wells fayre would eat smelly burritos."

Smelly burritos ???????????? OK to the credit of Mr X, he hadn't disclosed to his Cafe Manager Friend the true nature of a mooli as he is constrained by the banker's duty of confidentiality.

Mathew : "........ the burrito analogy we sometimes use is useful, but it breaks down after a point. Unlike a burrito, we don't stuff our mooli's with boiled rice and beans"

Burritos are yummy, and London is now home to some great Mexican restaurants like Taqueria, Benitos Hat, Chilango, Wahaca (and their tacos are fantastic). May their tribe increase, especially before the onslaught of the mighty Chipotle. But we have refused all suggestions to add rice to our mooli's, even if the rice is cooked in coriander.

This call with Mr X has gone on for 25 minutes now. It has been a long hard day. Got to Renato's bread lab in Clerkenwell at 8 am. Surveyed 50 Frith Street with our architects at 10 am. Set off for Birmingham to meet Mushtaq Food Equipment and demo their chapati wedge press . Ritwik is violently sick in the car. Twice. Poor kid. We finally reach a bit late, to only get a viewing (no demo) for all of six minutes. So we go to this really dodgy shack - Lahore Roti Juntion on Stoney Lane to peek at the wedge press in action through their open kitchen door. Their rotis are bad, and their glow in the dark tikkas even worse. This part of Birmingham is a real shit hole.

Mr X : "So have you conducted any of your tasting sessions in gay areas then?"

Mathew : "No Sir. Our tastings are normally conducted from the familiarly of Sam's or my flat (except for that mammoth 50+ tasting at the UBS cafeteria). But we have had our food blessed by all of our gay friends."

Nick was especially complimentary - he said that our food (and the mango lassi especially) really tingled his taste buds, like Wagamama did in the early days. And Thariel and Fab loved our chicken. And Homi & Graham, bless them - our first paying customers @ 11:30 am on 5 July 2009. In fact about 30% of our 45 customers @ the Sunday Upmarket were gay.

Anyway, I am being silly. These are actually all fair questions. We are aware that Soho is home to a number of super models and the gay community. And hence the mini moolis; carb-lite salads; lentil soups; guava, lime and vodka cocktail.

But every now and then even super models and gay men must indulge in a Goan Goat mooli. Tangy and fiery. Rolled with a freshly cut salsa of vine tomatoes, yellow peppers, spring onions, pine nuts and pomegranate seeds.

Yes, Soho has proved hard to break for many. Especially for Indian food concepts. Tiffin Bites failed initially on Wardour Street, but went on to do well in Canary Wharf, Liverpool Street and Moorgate. But Imli looks to have broken the jinx, Masala Zone is doing ok as well and Kati Roll Co looks to be doing better these days with their light and yummy wholemeal option.

Yes there may be safer battle grounds like Wembley, Tooting, Southhall and East Ham. But my my hey hey. Rock & Roll is here to stay.

Mooli's @ the Sunday Upmarket (Old Truman Brewery)

We sold out today. And broke even! Ok, we didnt take a huge amount of stock, but what the hell, it feels good. Thanks Vrinda, Shilpa, Ro, Jonathan, Cat, Dev, Nick. And thank you Homi for being our first ever paying customer at 11:30 am on 5 July 2009.

Got it

Our offer has been accepted. Mooli's, 50 Frith Street, Soho. Next door to Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club.