Pandi curry and Chorizo Pulao at Underground Kitchen

Pandi curry and rice. Photograph via Underground Kitchen

By day, Arjun Rajgopal is at River Side Farm, in Pishvi village, about 65 km away from Pune, where he grows rice, nachni and turmeric, and is also working towards building a forest garden and a seed collective. But ever since the monsoons set in, he has been busy cooking traditional Goan, Mangalorean and Kerala food at Underground Kitchen, a home-cooked food service that he set up earlier this year.

Goan Chorizo Pulao Photograph via Underground Kitchen

The home chef, who has been cooking for over a decade now, has an extensive menu that includes pork, seafood, mutton, chicken and vegetarian dishes. But the biggest hits have been the the pandi curry and Bafat pork native to  Mangalore and Goan pork dishes such as vindaloo and chorizo pulao. “I learnt how to make the pandi curry and other Mangalorean dishes from a lawyer friend of mine. He was a Mangalorean and an expert. We had a good system. Since he was messy and I was the organized one, I would do all the cutting and washing up and he would do all the brilliant cooking.”

Malabari mutton stew. Photograph via Underground Kitchen

Rajgopal, who is from Kerala, also gets big orders for his mean stews. “These are recipes that belong to my mother’s mother – all the stews and the fish curries,” he says. Underground Kitchen’s vegetarian menu also includes other delicacies from Kerala such as avial, eriserri made with yam or raw banana, pachadis or chutneys and Rajgopal will also host an Onam sadhya at his home this weekend.

Once the rains end, Rajgopal will be back at his farm to prepare to grow the winter crops. “We grow wheat and mustard starting November,” he says. This means, Underground Kitchen will only take orders during the weekends.

To place your orders call 919404241901 or go here