Think mustard oil and the first thing that comes to mind is Bengali cuisine. A quintessential part of Bengali food, you can never separate mustard oil from the dishes. And then comes the distinct aroma of tempering. The ‘Big Bong Theory’ is something like this - if you don’t use the right ‘phoron’ (seasoning used for tempering) for the particular dish, you can never get the perfect taste, explains Chef Bulai Swain of Euphoria Fine Dining Restaurant.
As we entered Euphoria restaurant that is hosting a week-long Bengali food festival, the strong aroma coming from the dishes laid out before us hint at what the chef was talking about. I like the way the chef has selected the dishes for the menu; it offers an elaborate choice in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian sections. One of the specialties of traditional Bengali food lies in the perfect blend of sweet and spicy flavours, evident in most dishes. The menu includes some of my top favourites - the ‘kosha mangsho’(mutton curry), ‘chingri malaikari’ (prawn malai curry) and ‘bhetki macher paturi’ (a popular dish made with fish wrapped in banana leaf with mustard paste and slow cooked in steam). In the vegetarian section, there is the traditional Bengali dish of mixed vegetables called ‘shukto’. It’s one of the most difficult dishes to perfect and, like me, every Bong will tell you that the best ‘shukto’ they ever tasted was the one made by their moms! But interestingly, every household in Bengal has a different version of ‘shukto’. This Bengali dish is made of vegetables cooked in mustard based gravy with bitter gourd being an essential part of it. “The tempering used in the dish is the ‘panch phoron’, a mixture of equal quantities of fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, onion seeds and cumin seeds,” says Chef Swain. For those new to Bengali cuisine ‘shukto’ is a must-try, notwithstanding its mild bitter taste.
The monsoons can be best enjoyed with ‘kosha mangsho’ and steamed rice. So we don’t waste much time on thinking where to begin and instantly embark on the feast. Among the myriad renowned Bengali dishes, this one never fails to impress. We end up licking our fingers to kosha mangsho’s velvety gravy and biting into the juicy pieces of the meat.
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Fish lovers will have good variety to select from. You have ‘shorshe macher bhapa’ (fish in mustard gravy), the mouthwatering ‘bhapa chingri’ (steamed shrimp with mix of mustard and poppy seed paste) and ‘maach bhaja’ (fish fry) that goes well with moong dal and rice. No Bengali feast is complete without ‘aloo posto’ (potato in poppy seeds). So we recommend that you try this out. The chef has made an attempt to bring out the authentic taste of the dish. Wrap up the feast with a sweet chutney made from tomato and dates. The food festival is on till June 28.
Timings: Open from dinner (7.30 p.m. onwards)
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Date: Till June 28.