West Bengal - CuTI Part 1

I was born and brought up in Kolkata, West Bengal - so, of course, I never had a doubt where we would start the culinary tour.

Since I am currently going through a tonne of food blogs where the authors rant and rant and put the recipe RIIIIIGHT at the bottom - I will do no such thing because I know just how irritating it is (No one wants to know how much your husband loves this dish! Just gimme the recipe dammit!). So here are the links to the recipes I followed (where you will see the recipe at the bottom of the page :P )

Aloo Dum: vegrecipesofindia.com

Chholar Dal: kitchenmai.com

Luchi: No particular recipe followed. Prepare a maida dough, roll out the puris and deep fry in oil.

Aloo Posto: kitchenmai.com

Murgir Jhol (Bengali Chicken Curry): notoutofthebox.in

Basanti Pulao: www.rumkisgoldenspoon.com

Now that that's out of the way, you can choose to read, or not read, the personal stuff.

Everything that I put together this week had major nostalgic value for me. It brought back memories of all the Bengali weddings I unwillingly attended (and there were a lot - my mom was rather popular). Murgir Jhol, Paturi and Basanti Pulao were always worth the hours of social awkwardness ("Ooo maa look how chubby she's become!", "Hoodi baba, you were soooo tiny when I last saw you", "Do you know who I am? We met when you were 6 months old? Remember me?").

 

I wanted to make Paturi too but could not procure either banana leaves or yellow mustard seeds because of the strict lockdown at that point of time.

And Luchi with Aloor Dum or Chholaar dal are the best breakfast one can have. We so looked forward to holidays and festivals so we could feast on them. 

Aloo Posto, is just heaven. And it leads to the best afternoon siestas. That is all I will say and you need to take my word on this.

Here's a little bit more about each of the dishes. Please note, this was before I read up some more on food photography and so all the clicks are very OKAY.

Now that I've put together dishes from a few states, I've learned each place has their specialty spices and signature ingredients. In West Bengal these include, among many others, mustard oil, Panch Phoron, Posto, fish (of course!) and the love of Potatoes.

Panch phoron is a mix of 5 whole spices - saunf (fennel seeds), Jeera (cumin seeds), Rai (black or brown mustard seeds, Methi seeds (fenugreek) and Kalonji (Black caraway). It is used for tadka in many dishes and lends a distinctive Bangali-ness to dishes.

Aloo Dum

Aloo, or potato is very popular in West Bengal. That is an understatement. We add aloo to everything. Chicken - yes, fish - yes, biriyani - oh God yes! I've lived in North, South, East and West India and I am yet to eat a biriyani that I like more than the one you get in Kolkata. When I first tried Hyderabadi Biryani in Bangalore, I was very disappointed to find not a single potato in it. As I lived and ate some more, I realized the union of aloo and biriyani happens only in West Bengal. Sucks. You Aloo-less biriyani eaters have no clue what you are missing out on. 

Also, I know a lot of states have their version of Aloo Dum - but the Bengali one is pretty distinctive, with the deep fried aloos, the zing of mustard oil, and accompanied by luchis - they're pretty hard to resist.

Ease of cooking: 4.5/5

Taste: 5

Aloo Posto

Boiled and fried potatoes sauteed in a delicious paste made with poppy seeds (posto) and a bunch of spices. I had a pack of poppy seeds lying around and God only knows how many years I'd had it. Surprisingly, it was free of animal life and in very good condition - so I HAD to include this beloved childhood delicacy in this quarantine project.

Note of Caution:- You will have this for lunch, feel sleepy and lie down for a 15-minute power nap, only to wake up after 4 hours.  You will then have it for dinner because it's too tasty and sleep another 10 hours. You've been warned.

Ease of cooking: 5/5

Taste: 5

Chholar Dal

My mom used to make this at home very often. Though the recipe here did not mention adding raisins, mamma always added them and so I did too. And the dal was better because of it. It's a lovely combination, slightly sweet, but with green chillies - light and so fulfilling. I was so glad I made this because it took me back to my Kolkata days as a kid :)

Ease of cooking: 5/5

Taste: 5

Murgir Jhol

Featuring mustard oil, bay leaves and many more spices - this recipe also contains my beloved fried potatoes. When you have grown up eating chicken curry with potatoes, you always feel their absence in other chicken preparations (except in Butter Chicken, of course.. hehe). So I had made my peace with the fact that okay, restaurants outside Bengal do not have Aloo in their Murgi and Maachh preparations. But when I first prepared chicken at home post my wedding and was told by C (the husband) that he had never eaten chicken curry with potatoes, I was quite shook. "Didn't anyone make them like this at your house? Ever? Are you sure? OMG. My life is a lie."

I had decided to turn vegetarian 2 months ago and stuck to it. But this Murgir Jhol full of nostalgia made me change my mind. I was setting the plate for C and A (the kid) and then decided to take just a spoonful of the gravy for myself. And then before I knew it, I was devouring the dead bird with no guilt. So then I've told myself, post the culinary tour, I will go back to vegetarianism. LOL. Sure you will babe, sure.

Ease of cooking: 4.5/5

Taste: 5

Basanti Pulao

Basanti Pulao was generally prepared for us on occasions like Saraswati Puja, or the Bengali New Year. So nostalgia factor was pretty high here :)

It's just the right amount of sweetness and goes so well with the spicy chicken jhol. Like Jai and Veeru.  Munna and Circuit. You get the point.

Make it and eat!

Ease of cooking: 4/5

Taste: 5

That about wraps up the West Bengal section. In course of my research I found a lot more recipes I would love to try, possibly in the distant future. For now, we shall move on to our next state - Jammu & Kashmir.