Chasing a plate in . . . KOLKATA
Kiwi YouTubers Thomas and Sheena Southam are on an eternal quest to find the most delicious local food the world has to offer. This week, they check out the best bites in the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal.
Kolkata has one of the most exciting food scenes in India. Kolkatans are justifiably proud of their unique food: street snacks like the kati roll (a flaky flat bread stuffed with juicy marinated chicken); rich, milk-based sweets and a love of fusing Indian flavours with English and Chinese dishes. All this in addition to a multitude of traditional Bengali dishes. If you love to eat, you’ll be doing a lot of exploring: this city is dotted with street food enclaves where you can spend a couple of hours hopping from one stall to the next. Here are a few of our favourite dishes.
1 Singhara and raj kachori at Tewari Brothers
Embrace the Indian tradition of chaat and a whole world of flavours and textures will open up. Chaat are savoury snacks best enjoyed standing on the street and taking a small pause during the day.
They’re made up of a slew of ingredients which may include tangy tamarind chutney, creamy yoghurt, spiced potato, crunchy chickpea noodles ( sev), or deep- fried thin and crispy dough balls called puri. No matter the combination, it’s guaranteed to be delicious.
Tewari Brothers is a local institution famed for using desi ghee (a type of clarified butter produced from Indian cattle) in its sweets and chaat.
Come here in the afternoon to munch on singhara (what they call samosas in Kolkata), flaky pastry stuffed with garam masala spiced potato and topped with a generous ladle of tamarind chutney.
Each bite is reminiscent of a Christmas mince pie: flaky pastry, aromatic and with sweet spice.
And don’t forget to order the raj kachori: a crispy wheat flour ball the size of your palm filled with spiced potato, lentils and chickpeas doused in tamarind and coriander chutneys and yoghurt before being sprinkled with spice, coriander and sev. It’s a behemoth of a snack full of variance in texture, temperature and flavours.
Eat at: Tewari Brothers, 3A, Jagmohan Mullick Lane. Daily, 7am to 9pm
( singara and kachori available from midday).
2 Mutton biryani at Dada Boudhi Hotel
It’s the addition of the humble spud that sets Kolkata’s biryani apart from all others: whole potatoes cooked with chicken or mutton (which is often goat in India), basmati rice and spices in a giant handi (biryani pot) sealed with clay. The result is rice that is intense with the flavour of spices and slick with oil and potatoes that are soft and full of meaty, spicy flavour. The potato was originally added as a way to cut down on costs: substituting spuds for meat came about back in 1856 at the royal kitchen of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who was stripped of his wealth and expelled from Lucknow by the British. Happily the tradition lives on! There are countless restaurants dedicated to biryani in Kolkata but our favourite is from a no-frills roadside restaurant called Dada Boudi Hotel. The lines of people queuing for takeaway and the constantly full restaurant are testament to the quality of this dish. The heaping pile of basmati rice is light and fragrant with cardamom, the goat is melt-in-your-mouth good and the piping hot potato is incredibly creamy. Follow the lead of the locals and tuck in with your hands for one of the most satisfying meals you’ll eat here.
Eat at: Dada Boudi Hotel, 1, Ghoshpara Rd, Barrackpore. Daily, 11.30am to 10.30pm.
3 Chicken stew and butter toast at Chitto Babur Dokan
You can glean the history of Kolkata from its food. That’s particularly true with this dish served at Chitto Babur Dokan, a fourth-generation family stall. Kolkata was the former capital of the British Raj: 70 years ago. Chitto Babu took a recipe for English chicken stew and tweaked it to suit local tastes. Kolkatans have been eating it ever since. Think a piece of chicken on the bone, papaya and carrot wallowing in a rich, chicken broth served with a side of toast crisped over charcoal and slathered in butter for dunking.
The experience is part of this stall’s appeal: crowds gather round shouting their orders, piping hot tea is pulled to create a frothy brew and diners huddle over their trays tucking into one of the city’s best comfort foods. Make sure you leave room for a glass of hot creamy buffalo milk from Sharma’s next door.
Eat at: Chitto Babur Dokan, 3, James Hickey Sarani (Dacres Lane), Peerless Bhawan, Chowringhee North. Daily, 6am to 9.30pm.