Where Food Is The Festivity
There is no foodie worth their salt who has not indulged in street food. It is more so in Calcutta and and in the East. Puja shopping being synonymous with street food , Barbeque Nation (BN), the pioneers of live grilling in India, is organising an ongoing Eat Street Festival, in all of its 13 restaurants in the eastern India including 5 in Calcutta at Park Street, Lake Mall, Sector 5, City Center 2 & Diamond Plaza till this September 22 during lunch (12:30 to 3:30 pm) and dinner (6:30 to 10:30 pm) Echoing the same sentiment Cluster Chef, Romit Mukherjee explained, “This mini food festival – generally our food fests run between 18 to 22 days – is a palate cleanser before the big eating draw.
We are concentrating on the eastern part of our operations, so there are relevant representative dishes but we also have Incorporated items from Northern parts of India as well. Exhausted Shoppers can start off with unlimited exciting comfort-foods in a healthy and hygienic environment, before heading for our renowned Buffet spread, which is also part of the festival.”
We commenced with a delicious resplendent red, guava mocktail before venturing to the first of the ‘hero’ dishes, Sarson panifal Kofta with soya, from Northern frontiers, is a refreshing water chestnut kebabs with soya marinated with Bengal mustard and cooked to perfection giving a pungent and spicy flavor. Lakhanpur Ke Bhalle, aka, ‘Gulgule’, is truly a warm delicacy from the cold J&K- Punjab border area. Those shallow fried gram flour balls are the spicy treat to beat the heat. A special Bengali influence was made incidental with the curd to further smoothen the flavor. In Chicken Keema Masala Pav, from Lucknow, cooked in the Keema (minced meat) is marinated with yogurt and a blend of spices like in Awadhi style to give it a smooth smoky flavor. We spooned it between to fresh ‘pavs’ and munched away. Jharkhand and Bihar found representation in Litti Chokha, a ubiquitous traditional complete-food made of whole wheat flour pot stuffed with Sattu (roasted gram flour) & herbs and cooked in a clay oven. It is served with a brinjal and potato mash. And no we don’t forget that delectable brush of ghee (clarified butter).
It’s hardly available here, so this one’s a big draw. Tandoori Bhutta, from Punjab / North, a juicy turmeric-spice smeared corn on the cob is roasted in a clay oven, coated with butter after it’s done and cut into bite-sized pieces. Another one from North / Punjab, Tawa Mutton Masala its a spicy, aromatic and rich Mughal style mutton preparation, we are with ‘pav’.
Besides one can also have Momos – chicken/veg Momos: (from Darjeeling / North East). These steamed white-flour jackets distended with chicken or vegetables served with a mean Chilli sauce brought in the subtle dimension of street food. Options round off with Aloo Tikki Chat (from north Central and Eastern India) – omnipresent piquant potato croquette and Samosa Chat and Pav Bhaji: (the Calcutta variant) is exactly what you expect!
The buffet, which is attached to the street food festival, changes every day has veg & non-veg soup, 5 non-veg, 10 veg dishes, 9 salad, and 15 deserts items besides usual condiments and accompaniments.