Kolkata Kuisine - Mouthwateringly Scrumptious

Before I start my actual article, I would like to mention two names who inspired me to put up this blog - my colleagues, Priya & Chanda.

This Blog is dedicated to all those Kolkattans residing outside Kolkata or India and who terribly miss Kolkata food.

Being a typical Bengali girl, born and brought up in Kolkata, I have always been attached to Bengali cuisine. With Bengali cuisine the first thing that comes to my mind is no doubt phuchka. Phuchka is what we call paani puri or golgappa in Hindi. (Dont forget to visit my next post for the phuchka recipe, coming soon). The rest of the fabulous Bengali dishes are luchi (puri), cholar daal (channa daal), radha ballavi (daal-puri), tomato chutney and last but not the least, ilish maach (hilsa) and kasha magsho (mutton).

Though I am not at all a fan of hilsa fish or maach, but most of the Bengalees are crazy about it. The various preparations of hilsa involve shorshe ilish, jhaal ilish, tel ilish, ilish macher pata-paturi, ilyash mach bajha and ilish maach bhaape.

Also there is a huge variety of other kind of fish like, rui maach, koi maach, magur maach, bhetki maach. Bhetki maach reminds me of bhetki maacher pata-paturi. Chingri maach is also a big delicacy here. Dont forget daab chingri and chingri macher malai curry.

Another two delicacies I think belongs to kolkata, and one is definitely rolls. Any kind of rolls - egg roll, mutton roll, chicken roll, egg mutton roll, egg chicken roll and so on.

The other thing that comes to my mind is fish fry, made from white bhekti fillet, deep fried after coated in bread crumbs. Well by now i am really feeling hungry you know.

Among dessert I must add maalpuha, patishepta, pulir pithe, rosogolla, sandesh, payesh, rabri, mishti doi, etc.

Kolkata's biriyani is also quite different from other states, since its more of a Murshidabadi biriyani. No one can ever forget mutton biriyani and chicken chaap of Shiraaz, once someone has got the taste of it.

Kolkata's cuisine is very special coz' its neither too spicy nor too rich. But before I end this blog here I must add that mustard oil is a must must must thing when you are cooking Bengali dishes. No matter how much we talk about white oil and cholestrol free sunflower oil, cooking shorshe ilish or kosha mangsho in anything other than mustard oil is simply unthinkable!!!! So all you guys and gals out there who are by now salivating to the hilt make sure you cook a typical Bengali dish at least once in mustard oil to refresh your tastebuds....