Nick and I spent the past week in Calcutta/Kolkata and had a blast. The laid back and quieter setting made for a nice reprieve from the hectic streets of Mumbai. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the wider sidewalks made it much easier to travel by foot–my favorite way to take in a city. It is no wonder why Calcutta is considered the “intellectual capital of India.” People highly value education and the city is teeming with universities. College Street, in north Calcutta, holds some of the oldest coffee shops in town, where for generations, professors would sit and engage in adda (intellectual debate). The area is now pretty dilapidated, but I think it represents the character the city has. I had a couple of priorities while I was there: 1) To take in some of the sights–Calcutta is particularly known for both its colonial architecture and its mosques and 2) Eat.

CHAAT n’ CHEW

Chaat is the hindi word for street food, and Calcutta is a perfect place to sample some of India’s best. Here are a few of the delectable snacks I sampled:

Hot Kati Roll--Ready to Eat!

Open Egg Chicken Kati Roll

The kati roll (or kathi roll) is a Calcutta speciality. You can find food stands up and down Park Street (the main drag) that serve up paneer, chicken, and mutton versions of this classic. I indulged in the road-side snack more than once during my stay here. This would be the ultimate late-night snack, but I should count myself lucky that Hot Kati Roll, my venue of choice, closed at 11pm.

Kati Roll Chef preparing my Egg Chicken roll

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s how they make it:

1) Take freshly-made paratha dough and roll it out until it has a diameter of about 7 inches

2) Throw the dough onto what looks like a well seasoned, flat wok that holds about 2 inches of hot oil

3) Crack an egg on top of the dough and scramble that egg, Flip the bread multiple times until it is golden brown and saturated with scrambled-eggy goodness

4) Simultaneously, throw well season chicken chunks (or meat of your choice) onto the wok with red onion and green sweet peppers

5) Remove the bread from the heat and place the meat/onion/pepper mixture on top (see pictures)

6) Add sweet ketchup, hot sauce, raw red onion, and hot green chilies on top.

7) Roll up, wrap in thin paper, and enjoy while hot!

Yogurt-Filled Puchkas

Kati rolls were not the only chaat we tried. Puchkas are another common street food across India. Though they come in many varieties, the basic construct is a hollow, fried, egg-sized bread shell that is filled with various treats. A standard eat is the pani puchka, which is typically filled with aloo (potato mashed with Indian spices) and topped with a flavored water. My favorite was the dali puchka, which was filled with yogurt/curd and topped with fried crunchy squigglies. They were almost too beautiful to eat, but somehow I managed.

 

 

Indo-Chinese is also extremely popular, and super tasty. These fried noodles tossed in a light soy, ginger and sesame dressing were a huge hit with Nick.

Indo-Chinese Crunchies

Nick looooves the Crunchies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BENGALI FEAST

I had heard wonderful things about Bengali food and was eager to eat an authentic meal. Nick’s two co-workers, Puja and Rajrupa, were phenomenal hosts to us the entire week–going above and beyond any standard of hospitality that I’ve ever seen to ensure we enjoyed Calcutta. For our final lunch, they took us to a small Bengali joint called Kasturi. It was nothing fancy, just a few casual wooden tables serving up exceptional food, all of which we ate in traditional Bengali style–with our hands.

A Traditional Bengali Spread that includes lots of fish, veggies, and mustard. My favorite of the spread was the prawns with shredded yam leaves (kochu) cooked in mustard oil (top left in photo). The mustard wasn't too overpowering, yet it did an excellent job of clearing the nasal passages.

Patuli means "wrapped in a banana leaf" and this flaky white fish was steamed to perfection in a grainy mustard sauce inside this banana leaf.

Rajrupa, Puja and me, happy and full after our Bengali meal at Kasturi.