Kolkata nostalgia & gastronomy

capt_mahajan

More beef in Bangladesh.

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Outside the machine

brishti

beef - which the menu dont mention

one say's tomato the other tomaato - ?



:brishti

KABAARY

Okay, I should have been more precise. What exactly is the difference with specific reference to the dishes listed out in #135 ?

capt_mahajan

Sorry, poor ref to context.

KABAARY

But that's what serene lists out as Bangladeshi cuisine !

capt_mahajan

I meant, sorry, I got the reference to context wrong.

Maybe there is more salt in Dacca?

AboutToRetire

Wow! I think the place was called - Hot Kati Roll? I could be wrong. I have aged.

Thanks for flash of nostalgia.

restlessoul

I quite enjoy a well done steak or a juicy burger. They are all beef product, then again who cares! But Bengali cuisine (Ghoti or Bangal) do not include this meat, its either 'Pantha/ Khasi'. 'Beef/Gorur mansho' is not only speciality in Bangladesh, every dish must contain liberal quantities of onion and garlic with spices (a lot of 'Radhuni')! 'Ilish' Biriyani is another speciality(wouldn't touch it even if paid to taste, who ver uses onions, garlic and ginger to cook 'Ilish'!). However, todays Calcutta(Ghoti?) Bongs tend to prefer them! Bangladeshi eating joints are popular with the younger generation. 'Kachchi Biriyani' whatever that may be.

restlessoul

Can't understand! The post got repeated twice! Must be a web error.
Don't know why I can't delete the repeated message?

Mod Note

taken care of...

theyyamdancer

restlessoul, I thought you were repeating yourself after a surfeit of garlic, onion and ginger seasonings with your Ilish!

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Khak

came across this interesting blog on bengali cuisines

Wed, May 13, 2009

Bengal or as sometimes it referred as ‘Sonar Bangla’ consists of Indian state of West-Bengal and the country of Bangladesh.The people of Bengal farms and make usage of fertile Ganges Delta land. The main agricultural products of Bengal include Rice, vegetables and Fishes. So, it is quite practical Bengali culinary system will consist of a big part of Fish and vegetables.

In this blog i will try to give a brief feature of Bengal and its food habits along with some famous recipes in my next blog. Let us start with bazaars for whole food cycle.The Bengali bazaar or market can be classified into two groups viz. Vegetable Bazaar & Fish Bazaar. It is a common scene a Bengali babu holding a pair of fish with pride. The vegetable market is generally an open air market and its a known fact Bengal has lot to offer in terms of vegetables and fruits. Sealdah market, Gariahat Market etc. of Kolkata and Polton Bazaar of Dhaka can be seen as the busiest markets. A host of gourds, roots & tubers, leafy greens, succulent stalks, lemons & limes, green and purple eggplants, red onions, plantain, broad beens, okra, banana tree stems and flowers, green jack fruit and red pumpkins are just some of what you’ll see if you visit!

Fish Market which is referred as ‘Macher Bazaar’ in Bengali has also lot to offer.No state in India can offer you so many Fish options.It is very intersting to know visitors from outside Kolkata visit Fish Markets as a tourist spot.They are fascinated by the lively koi (climbing perch), the wriggling catfish family of tangra, magur, shingi and the pink-bellied Indian butter fish, the pabda. Among the larger fish, rui (rohu) and bhetki weigh upto eight kilograms. Baskets of pink and silvery ilish (hilsa) match the shine on the glistening blade of the fishmonger’s boti. And the fish itself is eaten from top to tail!

No straight from the market the Bengali Babus hand over all the shopping items to their wives called “Ginni’ and his duty is over. Now Ginni Maa will move to kitchen for the preparation. If we have a close look inside a Bengali Kitchen we can find so many special Utensils and Masalas that are unique only to Bengal.The kitchen also called ‘ranna Ghor’ or ‘Ranna Bari’ was used as a purpose of cooking. However storage and Eatery areas were different. Its quite intersting to know that separate Charcoal and woods were used to cook Vegetables, Rice,Fish or Mutton.But now Electric Gas is very commonly used.Among the cooking vessels that include are the karais (woks) where most of the cooking and frying is done, the tawa (griddle) on which rotis and parathas are made, the handi - a special large pot for cooking rice and the handleless modification of the sauce pan - the rimmed, deep, flat-bottomed dekchi are all hallmarks of the Bengali kitchen. And of course you will also find the pressure cooker which is indispensable to any Indian kitchen. As for the other utensils you absolutely can’t do without the hatha (ladle), the khunti (metal spatula), the jhanjri (perforated spoon), the sharashi (pincers to remove vessels from the fire), the ghuntni (wooden hand blender) for pureing dal and the old wooden chaki belon (round pastry board and rolling pin).The action in the kitchen begins with the cutting of fish and vegetables and the grinding of spices. And this is when the two star attractions of the Bengali kitchen - the sil nora (grinding stone) and the boti (a cutting tool) appear. The items to be ground are put on the heavy sil, a pentagonal slab of stone and are crushed over and over by its moving partner the nora, a smooth black stone you hold with your hands. This inseperable pair lasts longer than a lifetime and is usually handed down from mother-in-law to daughter-in-law.

Common Bengali Style Cooking :
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1. Ambal : A sour dish either made by vegetables or fish.The Ambal is preapared with the pulp of Tamarind.
2. Bhaja : Fried items.Aloo Bhaja, Potol (Parwaal) Bhaja, Begun Bhaja (baingan) or Fish (Maach Bhaja) are famous.
3. Bhapa : Steamed vegetables and Fish.Ilish Bhappa is a world famous dish from Bengal.
4. Bhuna : An Urdu term used for fried items, fried for long time along with spices.Meats are used to bhoona items.
5. Chachari : A Vegetable item with varities of vegetables cut into pieces,sometimes with the stalks of leafy greens added, all lightly seasoned with spices like mustard or poppy seeds and flavoured with a phoron. The skin and bone of large fish like bhetki or chitol can be made into a chachchari called kanta-chachchari, kanta, meaning fish-bone.
6. Chanchra : A mixed vegetable item.Fish head is also used.
7. Dalna : Mixed vegetable or eggs are used to make dalna.Spices are added and the preparation is little thick pulpy.
8. Dam : Vegetables and specially meat cooked in a covered pot and cooked slowly over a low heat.
9. Ghonto : A mixed vegetable item, vegetables grounded finely and cooked with both a phoron and ground spices.
10. Jhal : Literally, hot. A great favorite in West Bengali households, this is made with fish or shrimp or crab, first lightly fried and then cooked in a light sauce of ground red chilli or ground mustard and a flavoring of panch-phoron or kala jeera. Being dryish it is often eaten with a little bit of dal pored over the rice.
11. A light fish or vegetable stew seasoned with ground spices like ginger, cumin, coriander, chili and turmeric with pieces of fish and longitudinal slices of vegetables floating in it. The gravy is thin yet extremely flavorful. Whole green chillies are usually added at the end and green corriander leaves are used to season for extra taste.
12. Kalia : A rich preparation of Fish, Meat or Vegetables along with Ghee and garam masala.
13. Koftas : It is also called Boras in Bengali.Prepared with vegetables and minced meat. It is served with thick Gravies.
14. Korma : Another term of Urdu origin, meaning meat or chicken cooked in a mild yogurt based sauce with ghee instead of oil.
15. Pora : It is an item usually burnt over furnaces (Unun-In Bengali).Brinjal, Parwaal Tomatoe are famous Poras. It is a custom to take Pora at the begining of Meal.”Porar Mukhe Sob Bhalo” (Taking Pora will make your Tongue taste better) is a famous saying.
16. Tarkari : A general term often used in Bengal the way `curry’ is used in English. Originally from Persian, the word first meant uncooked garden vegetables. From this it was a natural extension to mean cooked vegetables or even fish and vegetables cooked together.

Serving Bengali Foods:
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Traditional way to serve Bengali foods is something like this: Separate Small Carpets also called ‘Asans’ are arranged for each individual.In front of Asan large platter made of bell metal/steel or on a large piece of fresh cut banana leaf is placed.In arround the platter there will be an array of Bowls called ‘Bati’ in Bengali are arranged which contains Chicken,Mutton,Fish,Dal,Tarkar i,Shukto,Chutney,Deserts.In the centre of the platter hot Rice is served along with a slice of lime and salt allong with green chillies.Fried items are kept at one side.At the centre of the rice fresh pure Ghee is poured.

In Bengal people use their hands to eat food,otherwise how it is possible to eat the fish Like Ilish or Koi that contains Hectic bones.Also scientifically eating with hands gives a separte taste to foods and a great satisfaction.The other peculiarity about the Bengali eating scene is the unashamed accululation of remnants. Since succulent vegetable stalks, fish bones and fish heads, meat and chicken bones are all meticulously chewed until not a drop of juice is left inside, heaps of chewed remnants beside each plate are an inevitable part of a meal. Wether you have one or twenty dishes,in Bengal the eating style is to have each dish separetly with rice n order to savour its individual bouquet.Vegetables, especially the bitter ones, are the first item followed by dal, perhaps accompanied by fries or fritters of fish and vegetables. After this comes any of the complex vegetable dishes like ghanto or chachchari, followed by the important fish jhol as well as other fish preparations. Meat will always follow fish, and chutneys and ambals will provide the refreshing touch of tartness to make the tongue anticipate the sweet dishes.

How Bengali food differs with any other food culture in India?
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Bengal has innumerable lakes and ponds and the availability of fishes are countless.The preaparation of fishes are different from rest of India.The style you will never find else where in India.Fishes are steamed or braised and also they are prepared with vegetables and usage of mustard paste is seen commonly. Poppyseeds are very famous and used in varieties of fish preparation.Not only fish ‘Posto’ is a very famous food for all Bengali.

Bengali master in Vegetable cooking. They prepare varieties of dishes out of the vegetables that grow here.Not only this various ‘Ambroisal’ foods are prepared from left overs like ejected peels, stalks and leaves of vegetables.They use fuel-efficient methods, such as steaming fish or vegetables in a small covered bowl nestled at the top of the rice cooker.

The usage of spices both for Fish dishes and vegetable dishes are unique and this combination cannot be found in Rest of India.Example can be Kalonji (Kalo Jeere) and pach phoron. Panch phoron is a five-spice (a mixture of cumin, fennel, fenugreek, kalonji, and black mustard). The trump card card of Bengali cooking probably is the addition of this phoran, a combination of whole spices, fried and added at the start or finish of cooking as a flavouring special to each dish.Black Mustard are very famous among Bengali cuisines and is highly used as paste.

Bengali sweets are really unique not over in India but also over the world. Rassgollas, Kheer Kodom, Malai Chop, Sor Bhaja, Rajbhog, Sita Bhog, Mihidana, Doi and lots and lots to name.

http://www.pak-times.com/2009/05/13/...ture-in-india/

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~Khak~

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

restlessoul

Quite interesting and exhaustive. The 'fish' is fresh water fish. Of course Bhetki is an estuary fish. The 'pink-bellied Indian butter fish/mango fish' is most probably 'Topse'.
Bengali sweets are unique amongst other Indian sweet as they are prepared primarily from 'chchana' i.e. curd/paneer, a form of cottage cheese the Bengali's learned from the early Portuguese settlers - the famous 'Bandel Cheese'.

indracal

I've been hearing long time about Allen's prawn Cutlet in North Calcutta. I'm not sure of it's location, can anyone help?

I can avail metro from South Kol to reach somewhere around I'm sure, but I need some direction.

Also the availability time is a question - heard that they go off the shelf very quickly

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jollymazumdar

Yes, Kolkata is a foodie's paradise. It has wide range of food to satisfy the appetite of everybody.

indracal

Did a little more homework and found this Wikimapia link - which supposedly shows the Allen's kitchen - famous for prawn cutlets.

It seems, I need to get down at Girish Park metro station and then go towards Beadon street crossing and walk straight further north along C R Avenue. After some walk I should see it on the right hand side.

Can any one confirm if the above direction will work? Also when is it generally available?

Many thanks in advance!

EDIT: Just read in a comment here that it is beside Dorjipara park - so the direction is correct I guess - how far is Dorjipara Park from Girish Park metro station?