Food, Glorious Food In Kolkata

For anyone who has lived in Kolkata for long, Durga Puja is more than just a religious affair. Preparations for the coming year begin almost as soon as the current Pujo is over and hence, Durga Puja is a way of life for the people of Kolkata. The five days&nbspof celebrations are a heady mix of food, love, culture and a good dose of lively chaos.

&ldquoMost festivals in India share and support a single concept. They might be multi-lingual or multi-cultural but they all have one unique common quality i.e. binding communities. It&rsquos an opportunity for communal bonding, and Durga Puja is one such festival,&rdquo says well-known radio jockey Mir Afsar Ali, who is also a television anchor and actor.

There are&nbspseveral small aspects that give Durga Puja its present identity - from the actual Pujo, the adda sessions to the food of course You cannot miss Kolkata's food, especially during Pujas, if you consider yourself a serious foodie. 

The day of an average Bengali during this period begins with several bhars&nbspof tea, at least two different newspapers, a few radhaballabhis (yes, those deep fried stuffed beauties) with cholar dal (Bengal style gram lentil, sweetened like the average Kolkata population). It&rsquos hard work for the local or para sweet shops but during Pujo, they tend to get the combination ready as early as 7am (sometimes even earlier)  so people can fill themselves up after a long night of pandal-hopping. 

A multi-course Bengali meal[/caption]

If you find yourself in Kolkata, some noteworthy places to try the famous Bengali breakfast are Sri Hari Mistanna Bhandar in Bhowanipore, Mrityunjoy Ghosh and Sons on Sarat Bose Road near Lansdowne Road and the famous Nandalal Sweets in Sukiya Street.

Luchi is another typical breakfast item in Kolkata. Most holiday breakfasts&nbspinclude a plate of luchi with aloo dum. But, somehow, other than Bengali fine-dining restaurants like Bhojohori Manna or 6 Ballygunge Place, luchi isn&rsquot usually found in any general shops whereas radhaballabhis can be found aplenty.&nbspThe Durga Puja  bhog too always includes luchi, but more on that later.

Breakfast done and dusted, it&rsquos time for adda. What is adda In other words, it is when you sit with a bunch of friends and have hearty discussions about almost everything under the sun - from politics, food, music to&nbspMohun Bagan. And before you know it, it&rsquos time for the lunch. The quintessential fish thali (sometimes with meat) is always a good option. 

Most&nbspgood restaurants in Kolkata prepare their own version of the set lunch (rice, dal, fish, vegetables and aloo bhaja) along with an a la carte menu. But let&rsquos not forget the typical Bengali 'pice' hotels (with the freshest catch of fish and rice served on a banana leaf). They give restaurants stiff competition by serving equally scrumptous&nbspfares at a fraction of the prices. Few noteworthy 'pice' hotels in the city are Adarsha Hindu Hotel in Gariahat, Swadhin Bharat Hindu Hotel in College Street and Siddheswari Ashram near New Market.

The insiders or who&rsquove given chanda (i.e. donation) are entitled to get the Prasad of the goddess aka bhog. It&rsquos usually khichuri with labra (mixed vegetables of sorts) and porebhaja (fried vegetables). However, you&rsquoll still be served bhog if you&rsquore not on the list. It&rsquos Durga Puja after all and the bhogs are a massive affair.

The evening starts with the arati (in front of the goddess) and the gathering soon shifts to somebody&rsquos residence. Snacks are devoured while another session of adda begins. Mostly chanachur and chips rule but a couple of Bhetki fish fingers never hurt anyone. And that&rsquos how the locals get ready for a night of revelry, food and pandal-hopping.

Chowmein at a roadside stall[/caption]

The dinner formula on most days is simple &ndash RBC. What you ask RBC translates into Roll, Biryani and &lsquoChowmein&rsquo mostly from roadside vendors. The kathi roll is such an important way of life for the locals. A rolled up paratha with egg and little chunks of meat smothered with sauce, onions and lime juice. Rolls shops are aplenty but one can check out Nizams and Baadshah at Esplanade, Kusums on Park Street and Bedwin at Gariahat.

Kolkata's famous kathi rolls[/caption]

Biryani here means the Kolkata style - ittar flavoured with a huge chunk of potato without which the dish is a strict no-no. Though one can give the biryani a miss during Durga Puja because shops tend to make it in massive quantities and it never turns out the way it usually tastes on regular days. However, in case you want to taste it, head to Shiraz at Mullickbazar, Zeeshan at Park Circus, Mezban at Ripon Street or Royal at Chitpur.

&nbspThe &lsquochowmein&rsquo a.k.a hakka noodles are mostly prepared at the roadside stalls along with rolls. Some even use a strange mix of spices which can include five-spice powder and leftover chicken gravy While heading to proper Chinese restaurants, the locals love devouring the roadside variety during the Pujo from the many lanes and bylanes of the city.

Bengalis love their mishti[/caption]

In between this chaos, please do not forget the lifeline of us Kolkatans &ndash sweets. We love sweets. We eat them when we are sad, we eat them when we&rsquore happy, we eat them on any occasion basically Varieties of sandesh is usually the main choice but never forget the ones dipped in syrup or coated with sugar. Head to Bhim Nag&rsquos in Bow Bazar for ledikini, Girish Chandra Dey and Nakul Chandra Nandy near Girish Park for sandesh and of course KC Das for the rosogolla   

So, on this happy note, come to Kolkata during this Durga Puja and we promise you a gastronomic experience you&rsquore not going to forget anytime soon

Indrajit is a Kolkata-based food blogger whose lip-smacking articles can be found on moha-mushkil.com

See wbtourismpuja.in & wbtourism.gov.in for more details and download the Sharadotsav App by the Dept of Tourism available on Google Play Store.