Why do I love Calcutta?
Is it the postcolonial hangover, the nonchalance of dreamy (yet sluggish) Bengalis, the silent rumble of commercialisation as flyovers and malls sprout up, or perhaps the vulture of culture circling the decaying remains of an era gone by? Only the heavens know! But food could be a very good reason I still love Calcutta.
Now, there are quite a few Bengali restaurants in Bombay, although I must warn you that one cooks their food in petrol (dalda), the other has zero consistency, and the final one serves frozen fish in hot gravies. So imagine my excitement when I found a Bengali take-out in Bombay, that serves Calcutta style biryani, where the aloo is the correct colour, the meat pieces generous and the rice, soft, flavourful and elongated in all its splendour. Most importantly this joint has the most compassionate Bengali couple running operations. Mou and Sougata not only ensure that the fish is fresh and the meat is well cooked, they also ensure that they customise menus to your liking and occasion, they ensure consistency and they cook up a mean Bengali feast.
I’ve often wondered what I’d eat if I were to breathe my last in Calcutta. (I dislike the word die). I would like to believe that I would order in from Shiraz (only the most iconic biryani joint in the city of joy!). I’d bully my mother into making me shammi kebabs, and kosha manghso (my maid would pull together a light, fish stew) and daddy would bring home some rosogullos.
But I’d make do with a porotha, some chicken chaap, soft shammi kebabs and fried fish!
Biryani with potatoes, a boiled egg and chicken chap. Enough said!
Memories attached: Well several, let’s just say this is chubby-food I’m willing to eat till I die.
I grew up in Calcutta and spent close to 17 years of my life breathing and eating Bengali meals. I must confess my family isn’t very regional. So there were no chor-chories and ghanto’s (and thank god for them) at our dinner tables. My mother satisfied our several culinary demands, request and needs. And then I left home (and thank god for that) and carried my history with me.
Rice, dal and fried potatoes and fried fish is what I eat on Saturdays for lunch every time I’m home. My silly sister, who doesn’t eat fish always had an egg or chicken curry cooked for her, I’d steal a piece or six when she wasn’t looking. Who doesn’t like a balanced feast?
Chingri maach in coconut milk and fish steamed with chillies and mustard in a banana leaf was food I discovered in my late teens and grew to love only after I left Calcutta.
Memories attached: My friends Vandana, Mark (a legit Bengali) and I would run away regularly to submerge our faces in chingri maach and paturi.
Wait let’s not forget the eeleash maach and the pabda maach for Pete’s sake!
Since it’s the last meal of my life and since no Bengali meal would be complete without luchi (stuffed with peas), along with a generous helping of alour dom, keema and potol’air dolma. Mou and Sougoto added them to the last supper. Along with payeesh, chutney and misti.
My large Bengali family united by a love for celebration and food, not heirlooms would be my guests to this last supper, along with Mou and Sougata,
Mark,
Vandana, Shalini, Suddho,
Shormistha and
Oindrila.
Growing up in Calcutta has taught me to weigh things in sentiments. And I’m so fortunate to have found Feeast@East in Bombay, which makes me slightly less home-sick and satiates my eternal craving for home food.
They even
cater, so the next time you want an indulgent meal, quite like mine, please call Mou and Sougata at +918080999014. You can order online
here. You can Tweet to them
here.
And a round of applause to my faboosh team of photographers,
Tamara and
Deepak.
© [Abhik Bhattacherji] and [Seventh Breakfast], [2015]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Abhik Bhattacherji] and [Seventh Breakfast] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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Published by abhikbee
Abhik connects the dots between art, business, philanthropy and action.
Before he started his one-year self-discovery sabbatical, he spent time at Dasra, an organisation that works with philanthropists and social entrepreneurs to create large-scale social change. Before Dasra, he’d spent a year with the inaugural cohorts of Teach for Bangladesh and Teach for Slovakia. He has also spent a significant part of his career at Britannia and Godrej in the communications, design and innovation teams, and was in the inaugural cohort of Teach for India. His double life consists of a curious blend of art collector, entrepreneur, and occasional chef, and he has co-founded Dear Imagination, an organisation encouraging dialogue amongst underprivileged children through storytelling and art workshops. View all posts by abhikbee
That looks amazing! Your pictures are so beautiful 🙂
Rachel
http://iridescentdays.wordpress.com/
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Thank you Rachel
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You have showcased the culinary heritage of the community with amazing chutzpah and your writing as well as the pictorials are simply awe inspiring… I now know what and where to eat our this weekend!!
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Thank you so much Arunav, it’s very heartening to hear you say that. Please order in from Feeast at East they have excellent food. Let me know what your weekend feast tastes like!
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This is what heaven must look like!
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This is exactly what heaven looks like. Sigh sigh sigh! Samarpita.
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Superb photos……tooo tempting
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