During the 19 th century, Bombay Christians were glad to be employed by the British East India Company but decided to differentiate themselves from the Goans and Mangloreans who also headed to Bombay seeking employment. Thus these locals from the western coast of Maharashtra called themselves East -Indians.  East Indian strongholds in Mumbai include Gorai, Vasai, Versova, Bandra, Colaba, Thane and Mazazgon.      I am an East –Indian and as a schoolgirl, I spent several summer vacations in my grandma’s house in Mumbai. One memory that has stayed with me is of a group of women coming to my grandma’s home almost every summer to pound at least 20 plus spices, sun-dried for a few days into a fine crimson powder called “Bottle Masala” unique to the East – Indian community. The women spent the entire afternoon pounding the ingredients in Grandma's garden. They pounded the spices in a huge wooden drum with long, wooden sticks.  The masala is not pungent but ...