As a Bengali, the question I often get asked is: “Do you eat fish all the time?” and “Are most of you non-vegetarian?” I have to think the answer through, because the question isn’t completely wrong, nor is it right. We don’t only eat non-vegetarian food. There are some truly unique vegetarian dishes including aloo posto, made of potatoes and poppy seeds, shukto, a mixed-vegetable dish with a strong bitter flavour, mochaar ghonto, made from banana flower, the ever-popular luchi-alur dom, a variety of chutneys and a mind-boggling array of sweets, for which Bengal is rightly famous. However, non-vegetarian food does dominate the table.
There is no better time to talk about Bengali fare than during Durga Puja. Bengali restuarants have planned special menus that include non-vegetarian fare primarily from Saptami (October 8) to Dashami (October 11).
Bhojohori Manna
This is one of the most frequented restaurants for their delicious food and affordable prices. The restaurant, located in Koramangala and J.P. Nagar, have planned an exhaustive menu for Puja. There are items such as doi potol (gourd marinated in curd), doi mangsho (curd mutton), chaana koraishutir korma (a preparation made of paneer and green peas), golda chingri malai curry (large-sized prawns made in malai), mishti paan, anarasher chutney (pineapple chutney), ilish barishal, etc. For October 11, the menu includes alu phulkopir koraishutir torkaari (potato, cauliflower, green peas curry) and notun gurer ice cream (made of liquid jaggery).
Oh! Calcutta
Although a little bit on the expensive side, Oh! Calcutta on Church Street is undisputed for its excellent food. We are informed that the special menu includes four starters, two vegetarian and two non-vegetarian. For main course, there are six items for non-vegetarian and six for non-vegetarian. The generic items include kosha mangsho (dry mutton curry), mochaar ghonto, daab chingri (prawns made in the juice of coconut), koraishutir kachuri (green peas kachuri). Desserts comprise payesh, malpua (deep-fried pancakes) and bhaapaa sandesh (steamed sweet).
Esplanade
Another restaurant most Bengalis swear by. Tarak Chandra, restaurant manager at their Indiranagar branch, says a special buffet has been planned. “We have six non-vegetarian items, which has four different varieties of fish, one chicken and one mutton preparation. Our outlet in Bellandur has five non-vegetarian items. Under vegetarian, there are items such as cholaar daal and alur dom. Sweets include pantua, rosogolla, malai cham cham, baked rosogolla.”
While these are the most popular restaurants, there are others such as Koshe Kosha in Koramangala and Bangaliana that are must visit too. If you haven’t yet tried The Kitchen of Joy in Indiranagar, take this opportunity to do so.
This place is well-known for its quick bites and snacks that include some mouthwatering rolls and yes, rosogolla too.
After reading this if you are “jibhey jol eshey jabe,” (to salivate) a heavy traditional Bengali meal is a must.
