Oh My Sonar Bangla- For the Love of Bengal Today, I feel a little urge to have a good Bengali Food. Soon, the times of childhood flashed before my eyes, where the daily food was so amazing that it has reached a level of fantasy in Life In this Metro. And this crave of my tongue reminded me of the dishes I loved so much, and list went on and on. The most beautiful moments of my childhood were when all we friends, after our tuitions used to eat Mughlai Paratha or may be an Egg Roll or Chowmin! The most amazing thing about those were, the fact the summation of all our pockets never went beyond 30 bucks and we still had enough to share between three! Mughlai paratha which used to cost Rs. 14 then used to be a luxury and once a week affair. A 100 Rs. Mughlai of C R Park, can hardly stand in competition in taste. A ten rupee plate Chowmin was the first casual on street breakfast sort of thing when we saw Maggi only in ads in TV. What taste man! Simple 5 min pan fried noodles, with lots of veggies will make you feel- just wow. And that tomato sauces, on top of it. While writing my taste buds have gone into trans and the tongue has started to drool. The talks of the girls at school and a new girl at tuitions were shared with an Aaloo chop of 1 Rupees and a cutlet of Rs 4. Well it’s still available in C R Park, but god knows if it’s the company I miss or the taste, but it’s never the same. I remember the early morning science tution at 6 am a little far from home, made me miss the morning breakfast at home- for good! I started having 1 rupee 25 paise kachodi and chana dal at a tapri which was way lower in comparison to anything which we can call as restaurant! 4 deep fried hot kachodis for Rs 5 is what I remember as the tastiest breakfast I have ever had. Probably the continental breakfast at the business hotels I have stayed hardly can touch that feel. It’s been years when I have had breakfasts like that at 7.30 am. The pune times did have the early morning Mohit’s Idli Wada Sambhar, but nothing could come close to that Kachodi! That chole bhature of the mitthaai wala shop, I am still to eat the chole bhature of that taste in Delhi. May be, that’s the first time I ever tasted a chole bhature and my mind has accepted that this is what a chole bhature should taste. A little tint of sourness in bhature, made it so different. The overnight mix of Curd and dough gives it that typical taste. And the lighter gravy Chole, just became rare after I left Bengal. Its now, that oil smashed deep coloured scary chole, which people don’t even finish in Delhi. For those who are obsessed with this Punjabi Dish, visit Bengal, I can say for a Revisited version. I remember my singhada (Samosa) and jalebi combination, weird for most people I know, but it’s been a treat to eat together in one plate, One rupee singhada and one rupee jalebi! I thought hard, that has there been one single time, when I travelled in a train in Bengal and I did not eat Jhalmudhi. I could not recollect one single incidence; a plain 5 rupee dish, with so much of flavour into it. From a little sweet to tangy tomato sauce with a super spice chopped green chilly. And every time it’s served by that hawker, almost everyone asked for an extra coconut piece. the white small coconut piece given separately to neutralise the flavour when it becomes too spicy to handle for you. I still remember the flavours, however, it’s very simple to make, but never could manage to get the exact taste of those hawkers making this in 2 minutes in trains; they could cut onions standing in 10 seconds, finely chopped and mix everything and serve you freshly made. Then the occasions at home, the kaaki maa made- aaloor dom (Aaloo Dum), was simply outstanding even when it was made for a hundred people. My mom too could not manage to exacly copy that dish for the serving of 4. The khichdi of Bhog and the payesh along with it- mind boggling! I could never have eaten it ever, if I was born in Punjab. Sweet Payesh with Salty Khichi and a tomoto sweet Chutney- what sort of combination is it? This was asked to me by a Punjabi friend and I could only answer- after an half a day long fast- it’s your Short Cut Trip to heaven. I look back at lunches at home! There were rules- the non- veg item had to wait till I finish the karela and the postu and shukto! The begun bhaja and the moong dal were simply amazing with plain rice. The mutton curry and the chicken kosha which came at the last of the lunch were one of the best non veg items I have had in my entire eating explorations across India. The fish made by mom was always nothing less than superb. The hilsa made with mustard paste steamed in banana leaf, whenever cooked, used to be an event of the month. The fish fries eaten before the servings were simple pleasures of life, which now have literally become rare. At the end the sweet mishit doi and the soft mild sweetened rasgulla have made my day countless times. Everybody have heard of Bengali sweets and probably tasted it in Haldiram’s and Aggarwal’s but, that’s not even close to what we call sweets. The khijur gud rasgulla, the tripti bhogs will make your tongue taste bugs re- program about everything you have ever tasted as sweets before. I have been a foodie all my 11 years of residing outside hometown and I have tasted and loved food from Chennai’s chettinad to Laddakh’s thupka. From mumbai’s vada pav to Lucknawi kababs. Delhi come close while offering some amazing dishes to me, but Bengal will always and forever fascinate me with its taste variety and the prices at which food is offered to people. If there’s ever a saying we work to get food and we live to eat, being from a place like that- I will always love to eat, to live a little more. Sunil Saha 06-08-14 2.29 am
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 21:04:55 +0000