Mood in Delhi

I was invited to the home of Kusuma Rai Juneja and her daughter Nicole Juneja, founders of the delivery sensation Mood in Delhi, to eat a home cooked meal of dishes from the Himalayas. Mood in Delhi is one of those culinary breakthroughs that captured the imagination of Delhiites during the pandemic, winning legions of fans with the best representation of Himalayan cuisine Delhi has seen. This is food we have missed ever since Yeti sold to new ownership and began its downward spiral, so to find an escape from the ubiquitous low-quality, low-cost momo joints was a blessing. 

I’ve eaten their food before but have never met Kusuma and Nicole because they haven’t stepped out and met people during the pandemic. So I was deeply humbled and touched when they invited me home for a meal, the first guest they have had for over two years. And although I had fallen badly ill the previous night, throwing up through the night and spending the day in an exhausted fog, I pushed myself to make it to their home because I knew I just had to meet them.

The food was spectacular but what was even more special was spending time with these two extraordinary women, to see their bond, more friendly than filial, to get a sense of their journeys and the many trials and tribulations they have faced to arrive at this moment, pregnant with hope and purpose and possibility. Nicole was all warmth and kindness, the best host possible, but I am sure she wouldn’t mind my admitting that it was Kusuma who stole my heart. 

This is a woman with spunk and sass, wickedly funny, with a sense of mischief and large dollops of hard earned wisdom. After her husband’s death and a life spent in a sheltered cocoon of love and happiness, she had to begin a fresh life in her fifties, and navigate her way through the Delhi and the world, far from the misty hills near Kalimpong where she grew up. And through it all, she has gone through life not just with fortitude but with a smile and a joke and a twinkle in her eye. To begin cooking professionally at the age of 60 is an act of astonishing courage, and to pull it off successfully in a way that is authentic and uncompromising is truly inspiring. Kusuma and Nicole are proof that every stereotype, every convention, every prejudice can and must be broken and that ultimately we are all the masters of our own destiny. 

The food was wonderful and despite growing up with this sort of food both in Shillong and because of the friends I had, I still ended up having dishes I had never tried before. 

Kargeong

Sekkwa

We started with sekkwa ( nepali style BBQ pork ), kargeong (home made pork sausages made by Saroj, Kusuma’s youngest brother) and chinese lapcheong sausage. With Teel ko achaar, churpee ra mula ko achaar (grated radish garnished or actually smothered with churpee cheese) and fluffy, pillowy tingmo on the side. 

After this feast of starters, we had a fantastic thali with Iskush (a type of squash, also called 'Chayote',  like potato meets cucumber), Bhutay ko karela (fried karela chips) , Gundruk (a thin gravy or jhol eaten with rice, made using dried, fermented rayo ko saag) to cut through the fatty pork curry. 

Lapcheong sausages 

And of course there were all the favourites, snacks like steaming hot momos and lapcheong sausages and a wonderful Ema datchi, which I had for only the second time in the last five years. 

But for all the greatness of the food, this evening was about something more than a meal.

It was an evening that makes me look back on my life and wonder what I have done to deserve this kindness. My journey through food has been about much more than flavour. It has been about discovery, connection, love and joy. Food has meaning. It is an expression of people’s innermost selves. Their personal stories and memories. Their heritage and culture. Their personalities and dreams. To live a life where I am able to travel the world and meet these brilliant and extraordinary people and have them share their food and their hearts and their stories with me.. I truly feel blessed and grateful.