I love to eat. Food rejuvenates and nourishes, and sometimes reminds you of the cloying sweetness of "Ode to Autumn".
This is my little paradise where the little whiff of heaven or tastes of Valhalla gets recorded...
Rain pittered and the some drops pattered on the iron staircase outside the kitchen window. My stomach demanded victual succour while the cranium tempted the eyes into succumbing to a rather tempting slumber. A cauldron of stock from gleaned from the remains of the last potluck at my place was almost a divine suggestion at this point.
Pork Bone Soup Stock
A quick look at the crisper reminded me of a weekend cleaning fervour. Drat! No vegetables. Oh look! A neglected onion, a nub of ginger, and a handful of garlic. My heroes!
Rough chopped, the garlic browned and wafted an aroma that waited to sizzle with the onion slivers in the sauce pan.
Garlic getting browned
The onions join the garlic
Decisions! Decisions! Clear soup or thick? Nah! Neither. Something umami and rich. And it'd better be quick!
Soy sauce and oyster sauce
A quick dash of soya sauce (to reinforce the umami) and a gob oyster sauce later, the mix was getting ready to embrace the broth. Ah! The meat... I quickly got out the shredded pork pulled from the stock pot along with the shoulder bones and magically the hungry kittens appeared, howling for their share. (You cannot fool the feline nose!)
Shredded Pork from the Soup Bones
Add the shredded pork
Dora Dora Kitten is eyeing the meat!
Boiled Pork Skin bits
While the pork soaked up the goodness of the soy, I remembered the pork skin from the stock. So, I quickly chopped some and threw in the bits to add a bit of a bite and texture. The pork skin bits begged to bind things a bit, so they joined the mix and sputtered a bit.
Getting ready for the broth...
Noodles! Ah dang! Of course... A wee bit of rummage in the larder revealed some dandy tea powder and buckwheat soba noodles.
Japanese Buckwheat Soba Noodles
Add the noodles
The broth went in little at a time, deglazing the saucepan and then, in went the noodles...
The Pork Broth
A splash of Chinese rice wine
... and then I ladled in lot of broth from the stock pot. Everything cosied up to each other and soon was bubbling contentedly in the sauce pan. So I splashed in a wee bit of Chinese Rice Wine for luck and turned the heat to a gentle simmer for a while.
Ladled into a bowl, bits of rescued cilantro and drop of toasted sesame oil now crowned my midnight saviour. Slurp!
Silent and cold is the morning in Kolkata. Fixating oneself to the comfort of the bed and within the warmth of a কম্বল (blanket) is a natural reaction.
Crisp, piping hot, deep fried dal puri from the nearest neigbourhood কড়াই (kadahai) is one of those things that can draw one from the womb (perhaps) or at least the কম্বল (blanket)...
Dal Puri
The dal puri from the muslim eateries around my place in Ripon Street is a creature distinct from similar species from the Bengali or any other part of this nation, separated by the taste of the filling and the texture of a deep fried concoction. The Jaipur kachori comes closest to the texture.
It is had in winter with copious soup plates of piping hot Nihari and Paya during winter mornings.
I decided to cook something simple at home for lunch. So I made some Aloo Methi and Aloo Karela... (I hope to put the cooking experience up in a separate post)
Karela... করোলার তরকারি
Aloo Methi...আলু মেথির তরকারি /आलू मेथी
Lunch done and a little siesta later, my dad wanted to visit an old friend of his from his office days. So, we hopped onto a taxi and landed up in Lake Garden.
Enroute, across a railway crossing the তেলে ভাজা (telay bhaja) stall beckoned like a siren from the rocks. So we had to try the piping hot fare that invited us so :P
তেলে ভাজা (telay bhaja) stall
ধনে পাতা ভাজা (Dhania patta fritter)
আলু বড়া (Aloo fritter)
আলু বড়া (Aloo fritter) being devoured
The delights of a nourishing road side economy in early evening is beset with tempting fare. So. Next it was a ফুচকা ওলা (Phuchka Wala) who started his evening with us as his first customers.
Beware! This is NOT the paani puri or gol gappa! Growl and Grr just in case you decide (and dare) to get mixedup between these!
A ফুচকা in hand
A beautiful গন্ধরাজ লেবু (Gondhoraj Lemon) makes things aromatic
তেতুল জল, আলু সিদ্ধ, মটর সিদ্ধ, মশলা এবং কিঞ্চিত লঙ্কা গুড়ো ... আর একটু বিটনুন (Tamarind water, boiled yellow peas, mashed boiled potatoes, and phuchka masala... With a dash of red chilly powder and rock salt
Here we go...
Then of course there was some ভাড়ে করে চা (tea in earthen kulhads) from the nearest stall followed by Tamilian home cooked savouries and excellent filter coffee. The latter of course was at the home of the people we visited.
Once back home, the left overs from lunch got rejected for dinner owing to typical Bengali-esque idiosyncrasies that I have escaped for the last 15 years (রাত্রে তিতো খাইলে অম্বল হয় !)
So I got my dad some Sino-Nepali clear chicken soup (though I was looking for the Chinese made Maida Surua (that is now extinct in Ripon street)), while I settled for an egg chicken kati roll...
Kolkata style Chicken Kati Roll in the making...
Presenting... The Egg Chicken Kati Roll
Presenting... The Egg Chicken Kati Roll
Within the Egg Chicken Kati Roll
Clear Chicken Soup... A valid contrast...
Then I decided to have a look-see at the decked-up-for-Christmas Park Street...
No festivity in Bengal. Let me reiterate. Nothing festive... is possible sans food... Hence the crowds thronged the music arena at Allen Garden and of course--the plethora of food stalls doing brisk (and insane) business...
One was spoilt for choice between authentic chinese, anglo-indian, muslim, and bengali cuisine. Apart from the adapted (and hence not so authentic) Thai, Japanese, and of course the ubiquitous Momos!
Of course there was confectionary from Flury's and a host of interesting places and even the humble candy floss!
