Nostalgic Food Memories Of Kolkata

Nostaligic food memory of kolkata:
In those days I was living in esplanade the paradise of many eateries down chowringhee lane and the tram from esplanade to take u wherever u wanted to, so all our shopping areas where maidan and new market and so on…

In the maidan, we start with the puchka which is the pani puri of these days, The Puchka was being prepared and a container made of stitched dry leaves was handed to me. The puri was filled with the sumptuous filling which consisted of boiled potatoes along with red masala, black ground pepper, chaat masala, some chana, a bit of coriander and fresh mint leaves and of course a dash of green chillies along with some peppy tamarind water. All mashed to perfection by the vendor with this bare palms, the mixture oozing out from between his fingers every time he pressed into the potato and all the ingredients. Then with the other free hand, he would punch a hole in the puri with his thumb, fill it with the potato filling and dip it in the tamrind water, then lift the overflowing Puchka and shove it in your leaf plate. Then between the forefinger and the thumb I negotiatied with the puchka till it reached its destination total bliss to accommodate a huge one in the mouth. The journey ahead is going towards the Victoria maidan, it is pretty long walk sometime we used to take a tram or get into a rick and go there, the hand pulled ricks are great taking u through the most curves with so many vehicles, he will just zoom through them…
Victoria maidan is filled with varieties from bhel puri to dahi vada and pav bhaji and the readily available boiled veg being crushed in the big tawa was a great sight, and all mashed together with a blog of butter was delicious to look at, and u cannot miss out on the jhaal mudi which was my fav every day accompaniment to the afternoon tea, which is damn spicy with all those boiled sliced potato, and onions, coconut chips, coriander, along with puffed rice, and green chillies sliced so thin u only get to munch it not see it, and the mustard oil one table spoon and mix it all together u have the pea nuts also, a very filling one for just 50 paise, and one chai bliss all the way…
Just opposite to new market we used to get a wonderful rolls shop, with plenty of veggies and non veg ones put together, of course it is a nono for weight watchers but once in a way is ok, the roll just rolls in your mouth giving away the fresh onions along with all those saladi item and chicken ones are even more juicy….a little further the corner is waiting with pesarat dosa which is a green gram one with a lot of tomatoes and crunchy onions and mint and so on, with two varities of chutney to go with….
How can we forget the sweet section kolkata without sweet is like fish without water, and the KC DAS in esplanade has wonderful shingada [samosa] along with tomato chutney which is sour and sweet to go with, and the hot hot rosogolla my god they melt into the mouth in the evenings most corners in kolkata has a nice chai dukan that make rosogolla in the evening so no guest goes empty stomach u always have singhada and rosogolla ready for them in no time and we have the famous mishti doi the sweet curd, malai and chom chom and rasmalai is the queen of it all, sondesh who can forget the fresh taste with so many varieties of shapes and size…
Fish now this is a basic staple of kolkata no house hold in bengal can do without this item in their daily foods, the rui is famous and pretty big in size and the hilsa is a great demand during the wedding season, the hilsa has more fine bones if u have the patience to work ur way through that then u will enjoy the king of fishes…the mustard sauce is anyday favourite there, u get good rotis and potato fry for a jiffy, to fill ur stomach in no time…and the palak ke pakodi is another great item damn good in kolkata during the winter season we have plenty of aloo being flooded from Punjab so that is the time for great stocking of chips and so on…ghungni is another item to mention here, for the non veg crowd chana used to be cooked in along with meat but for the veg it was always separate and with coconut chips it is a taste of its own, in mecheda a station just before kharagpur u will get hot chai in the khulhad mud pot with tiny singhadas and the stuff in used to be red pumpkin and peanuts and tasted so different u never get that in the city..
People of great society known as the bhodrolok never hesitate to eat in the street corners for the simple reason they have the tastiest of food in the street corners, we used to have some 200 chai ki dukan in our lane none of us can walk past with a nice saree without soiling it in the ash slushing out of the stoves…in the afternoons u have a fruitsalad every where with kalanamak which is the basic ingredient in kolkata to help people digest any food in no time and be hungry all the time…all seasonal fruits are given in the leaves, now heard it has replaced with stainless steel plates and so on, so hygienic those days and u need to throw away the khulhads mudpots after u eat mishti dahi or sweet or all those fried items in the leaf plate, so good…..so any day visiting kolkata don’t forget this blog enjoy all these items available everywhere…regards sunkan

 

hey the pori urundai is jam nagar ka mowa, and the honey is not honey but palm sugar available only in winter, yes duth sala is a common slang,ya ur athim gave u all the fix for the hair, u looked like a done up doll....ya all those memories need to be added though...love aks