Oh Kolkata!

 

Oh Kolkata!

For every visitor to Kolkata, the centuries-old city holds a different meaning.

For the religious and the pious, the bamboo framework of the pandals coming up for the annual Durga puja, just a couple of weeks away, hold the promise of elaborate celebrations and intense devotion and fervour.

With this, festival-shopping is also picking up which would thankfully provide an opportunity to small businesses to make up some of the losses suffered during the Covid-time. Shoppers too are getting their purses ready for the purpose. I hear from many people that Kolkata is the shopping destination for clothes for weddings and they too are planning their trips for the wedding season soon to start.

Photo: The Statesman

There are the scholars and music-lovers, who go to the city seeking food for their minds and the soul.

For the civic authorities, this is the time to take the brunt of the inactivity and apathy of government machinery which has not found a solution for the troubles the public suffers during monsoons. The heavy water-logging on the Airport Road following the heavy rain on Monday, was ample proof of that.

I was not a contender for any of these categories nor had I the itinerary of an ardent tourist when I boarded the flight to Kolkata. One aside, the absence of the suffocating Covid-proof gear – the PPE kits, the mask and the face shield which one had to don during flights earlier, was a pleasant surprise for me.

No, I did not visit any museums, important buildings, bars or restaurants. My mission, besides meeting some people I had not met before, was epicurean and downright basic - to try out authentic Bengali cuisine, especially macher jhol (fish curry in mustard gravy), the famed delicacy of the state. Imagine, not-a-fish person, taking a flight to go eat macher jhol, the Bengalis must understand my seriousness!

It was just one of my lucky times, I daresay. Neha not only fed me, but accompanied me to the Belur Math and Dakshineshwar temple. She even took raincoats along to keep my skin dry in the rain which fell undecided between drizzle and lashes. On this rainy Monday morning there were hardly a dozen people in the temple which I am told teems with devotees at all times. My feet slipping on the red tiles, I managed to introduce myself to mother Goddess Kali and say a hello to all the shivlings. Who knows when one might need their blessings!

And true to my objective, I finished my temple trip with masala chips and baked fish with tomato.

Ganga (Hooghly) water sprinkled from bottles and small jerry cans for religious and other ceremonies had not prepared me for the vast mud-hued expanse gurgling between its banks as heavy rain kept adding to the volume. The Belur Math staff were vigilant that we did not take photos, not only of the math, but also of the river. I cannot fathom why the mighty river which accepts all the physical and emotional dirt and waste that people purge along its course, would consider it an indignity to be photographed in all its glory, by me.

Photo: Neha Sawalka

But coming to the point- I not only had macher jhol prepared from both -hilsa and catla, but vegetarian delights as well. Young couple Avinash and Neha Sawalka were excellent hosts and went the whole hog. Just look at this.

Clockwise from left: macher jhol, chholer dal, aloor dum, parwal, mishti doi, baked Sondesh, baingan bhaja, baked rashogullas, rice and fried papad. The hot puffed luchis coming straight from the wok and the achari fish are not in the picture.

I faithfully followed my old friend Ayesha’s tip and gorged on baked rasgullas and baked Sondesh too.

All this was home-prepared food and you can imagine how overwhelmed I felt that somebody had gone to all that trouble to serve and authentic spread.

I had only a cup of tea at Flury’s and skipped the old restaurants Skyroom, Aminia, Nizam (especially for kathi rolls), Trincas, Peter Cat,  Moulin Rouge (shown in Parineeta) or any of the ones in Chinatown, Mani mentioned with nostalgia that he used to frequent when as a rooky officer he had shallow pockets.

Short of time I continued my journey on the macher jhol road in a restaurant the next day with bhetki, macher paturi, ilish shorshe, fish fry, smoked and bhapa (steamed) ilish (Hilsa) but I did not feel as free to take photos. Sweet and salty chholer dal besides luchi were repeated that day too .

No, I do not plan to try out these recipes myself because if they do not come out well, I would have to eat the whole lot myself.

Instead I plan to visit the city again with the same aim. Even gods have their favourite foods or so we believe, then how can I, a mere mortal, resist the temptation? If you go to Kolkata and taste first-hand the delicacies that I might not have tried or forgot to mention, please drop a line.

Note: I shall be traveling for a few days, so look for this place after exactly a fortnight.

                                                                                               - Anupama S Mani