The Kolkata Report #10
Food! Food! Food!
When I grew up in this cosmopolitan city, the my family's preference in sweets belonged to the iconic chain of Jalajog. It was extremely famous for its 'Mishti Doi', a sweetened caramel Yogurt, which prompted an exclamation of delight from Bengal's Poet Laureate, Rabindra Nath Tagore - likening it to the wonderful sea ('Payodhi') with waves of flavor. So it was that my mother, an avid and passionate fan of all things Rabindra Nath, would have only that Payodhi from Jalajog.
Unfortunately, Jalajog passed on, prey to the banal lack of vision of its non Bengali owners, who bought the struggling chain and reduced it to selling sandwiches.
From the past, there have been several very famous 'mishti r dokan' (Sweet shops) in Kolkata, in continuous operations for almost a century. Many of them are phenomenally successful and are not just iconic in themselves but also have iconic products. Roshogolla, the sweet most associated with Bengali cuisine, first made its debut in the local markets, in 1868, crafted by the master confectioner Nabin Chandra Das. His grandson moved his store from the flagship North Calcutta venue to Kalighat in 1955. One doesn't actually have to go there to buy the famous delicacy, stewed ricotta balls in heavy syrup; it is available all over the world- in cans with the label K.C. Das Grandsons 'A tradition of sweets'.
Then there are others- Girish Chandra Dey and Nakur Chandra Nandy, famously just called Nakur, whose dozens (more than 60) of fancy varieties of delectable sandesh (caramelized ricotta) have delighted gourmands from even earlier, 1844. Thus Sandesh can pull rank when it comes to a battle of historic sweets. The sandesh go with impossibly exotic names- Parijat- one of the five celestial trees of heaven, Jolbhara- water filled- (actually it is condensed palm sap), Monohara ('the lost heart), Dilkhush (the glad heart), Kachagola (soft cooked), Kora Pak ( firm cooked), Blackforesh (a version of Black Forest confections) and so on, Everyone is delicious.
Then there is Dwarik Grandsons- part of Calcutta's urban folklore since 1885, with its signature Mihidana (tiny deep fried chickpea fritters, soaked in syrup), Sitabhog (a snowy white rice and chhana or ricotta based sweet, lightly flavoured and sweetened- a tender offering for the beautiful Sita, the queen of Sri Ram Chandra), and several other unique ones. It was perhaps the first sweet shop in the form of a restaurant, where people could sample what was obviously a dazzling display of sweets, or perhaps a place for instant grtification for those who could not wait to go home and eat! Their breakfast offerings of luchi and chholar dal (the fried pillows of wheat with a sweet fiery split chickpea stew), and Radhaballabhi (a spicy stuffed fried bread with the fancy name of Krishna's- 'the support of Radha') still handily supports the hungry hordes that descend on the establishment every morning.
Then there is the chain of Balaram Mullik and Radharaman Mullick,, confectioners since 1885 as well, I was quite distressed to see their newly revamped and modernized stores, now selling strange things like vegetable Chow Mein and Chhole Bhaturey, deep fried spongy breads with chickpea gravy, a North Indian intruder. My alarm was mitigated to find that the quality of their Bengali sweets had not suffered.
Every locality has its own Bengali confectionary store and many of them make extraordinary signature sweets and savouries. Near a backwater in the southern locality of Jadavpur, there is a store called Madhukkhara (the Beehive), which has the best Bengali shingara I have had in a long while. They make them at 3 pm, and they are sold out by 3.30 pm. Now a word about the Bengali shingara is needed. It is a much smaller cousin of the ubiquitous North Indian samosa and rather different, Its tender pastry crust hides a deliciously Bengali spiced filling of potatoes, peas, winter cauliflower, and peanuts. It demands total concentration and silence to eat it with respect!
One has many many other places now selling all kinds of sweets and savories from Punjab (Punjabis have had a very long presence in the city's transportation system), Gujarat and Marwar (the Gujaratis and Marwaris are backbone of commerce and trading), Chinese eateries (Hakka Chinese guest workers came centuries ago and settled), South Indian regional cooking- no everything is not just 'Madrasi- there is Tamilian, Kerala, Telugu, Udipi and fusion styles to be had, (you can have dosas and chow mein at the same street stall in many places), and of course, the 'Pice Hotels' where homestyle food can be had at modest prices (the earliest ones sold plates of food for a pice). In the past few years, There used to be many more places that sold a panfried toast and eggs on street side stalls, I don't see them anymore.But the famous Calcutta Roll and Moghlai Paratha is thriving still, tender white flour pan breads, stuffed with eggs, meat, paneer cheese and what not. Puchkas orFuchka's are wildly popular- crisp, paper thin, deep fried semolina puffy crackers filled with a fiery hot stuffing of potatoes and black gram and then dunked in a spicy tart solution of mint and tamarind, which you then pop in its entirety in your mouth. The next instant, you have an indescribably delicious explosion of flavors and textures that you would never dream of being possible. Elsewhere in India, there are the paler and lesser versions called Gol Gappas and Pani Puris. Lest there is an outcry of protests over my biased review, I plead guilty of having a hopeless bias. As they say in these parts- 'What to do? I am like that only'.
So, now I will go off to eat at my new favourite confectionary store called Kamdhenu, which stands close to my old favourite Sen Mahashay ( Esteemed Mister Sen). Despite its endearing name, it has, alas, been demoted. Such is the cut throat business of food in this city.
May 14, 2018
Food! Food! Food!
When I grew up in this cosmopolitan city, the my family's preference in sweets belonged to the iconic chain of Jalajog. It was extremely famous for its 'Mishti Doi', a sweetened caramel Yogurt, which prompted an exclamation of delight from Bengal's Poet Laureate, Rabindra Nath Tagore - likening it to the wonderful sea ('Payodhi') with waves of flavor. So it was that my mother, an avid and passionate fan of all things Rabindra Nath, would have only that Payodhi from Jalajog.
Unfortunately, Jalajog passed on, prey to the banal lack of vision of its non Bengali owners, who bought the struggling chain and reduced it to selling sandwiches.
From the past, there have been several very famous 'mishti r dokan' (Sweet shops) in Kolkata, in continuous operations for almost a century. Many of them are phenomenally successful and are not just iconic in themselves but also have iconic products. Roshogolla, the sweet most associated with Bengali cuisine, first made its debut in the local markets, in 1868, crafted by the master confectioner Nabin Chandra Das. His grandson moved his store from the flagship North Calcutta venue to Kalighat in 1955. One doesn't actually have to go there to buy the famous delicacy, stewed ricotta balls in heavy syrup; it is available all over the world- in cans with the label K.C. Das Grandsons 'A tradition of sweets'.
Then there are others- Girish Chandra Dey and Nakur Chandra Nandy, famously just called Nakur, whose dozens (more than 60) of fancy varieties of delectable sandesh (caramelized ricotta) have delighted gourmands from even earlier, 1844. Thus Sandesh can pull rank when it comes to a battle of historic sweets. The sandesh go with impossibly exotic names- Parijat- one of the five celestial trees of heaven, Jolbhara- water filled- (actually it is condensed palm sap), Monohara ('the lost heart), Dilkhush (the glad heart), Kachagola (soft cooked), Kora Pak ( firm cooked), Blackforesh (a version of Black Forest confections) and so on, Everyone is delicious.
Then there is Dwarik Grandsons- part of Calcutta's urban folklore since 1885, with its signature Mihidana (tiny deep fried chickpea fritters, soaked in syrup), Sitabhog (a snowy white rice and chhana or ricotta based sweet, lightly flavoured and sweetened- a tender offering for the beautiful Sita, the queen of Sri Ram Chandra), and several other unique ones. It was perhaps the first sweet shop in the form of a restaurant, where people could sample what was obviously a dazzling display of sweets, or perhaps a place for instant grtification for those who could not wait to go home and eat! Their breakfast offerings of luchi and chholar dal (the fried pillows of wheat with a sweet fiery split chickpea stew), and Radhaballabhi (a spicy stuffed fried bread with the fancy name of Krishna's- 'the support of Radha') still handily supports the hungry hordes that descend on the establishment every morning.
Then there is the chain of Balaram Mullik and Radharaman Mullick,, confectioners since 1885 as well, I was quite distressed to see their newly revamped and modernized stores, now selling strange things like vegetable Chow Mein and Chhole Bhaturey, deep fried spongy breads with chickpea gravy, a North Indian intruder. My alarm was mitigated to find that the quality of their Bengali sweets had not suffered.
Every locality has its own Bengali confectionary store and many of them make extraordinary signature sweets and savouries. Near a backwater in the southern locality of Jadavpur, there is a store called Madhukkhara (the Beehive), which has the best Bengali shingara I have had in a long while. They make them at 3 pm, and they are sold out by 3.30 pm. Now a word about the Bengali shingara is needed. It is a much smaller cousin of the ubiquitous North Indian samosa and rather different, Its tender pastry crust hides a deliciously Bengali spiced filling of potatoes, peas, winter cauliflower, and peanuts. It demands total concentration and silence to eat it with respect!
One has many many other places now selling all kinds of sweets and savories from Punjab (Punjabis have had a very long presence in the city's transportation system), Gujarat and Marwar (the Gujaratis and Marwaris are backbone of commerce and trading), Chinese eateries (Hakka Chinese guest workers came centuries ago and settled), South Indian regional cooking- no everything is not just 'Madrasi- there is Tamilian, Kerala, Telugu, Udipi and fusion styles to be had, (you can have dosas and chow mein at the same street stall in many places), and of course, the 'Pice Hotels' where homestyle food can be had at modest prices (the earliest ones sold plates of food for a pice). In the past few years, There used to be many more places that sold a panfried toast and eggs on street side stalls, I don't see them anymore.But the famous Calcutta Roll and Moghlai Paratha is thriving still, tender white flour pan breads, stuffed with eggs, meat, paneer cheese and what not. Puchkas orFuchka's are wildly popular- crisp, paper thin, deep fried semolina puffy crackers filled with a fiery hot stuffing of potatoes and black gram and then dunked in a spicy tart solution of mint and tamarind, which you then pop in its entirety in your mouth. The next instant, you have an indescribably delicious explosion of flavors and textures that you would never dream of being possible. Elsewhere in India, there are the paler and lesser versions called Gol Gappas and Pani Puris. Lest there is an outcry of protests over my biased review, I plead guilty of having a hopeless bias. As they say in these parts- 'What to do? I am like that only'.
So, now I will go off to eat at my new favourite confectionary store called Kamdhenu, which stands close to my old favourite Sen Mahashay ( Esteemed Mister Sen). Despite its endearing name, it has, alas, been demoted. Such is the cut throat business of food in this city.
May 14, 2018
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