Smita's Kolkata Chronicles

Bengal, the ‘sweet’ capital of India , excels in creative confectionaries. The generic name monda-mithai was given to Bengal sweets. While monda was khoya (milk solid) based, mithai used flour as the base material. Additional ingredients used were jiggery, coconut, puffed rice etc. The mention of Bengal sweets can be traced back to the medieval literature Mangal kavya .  Today, the iconic Bengali ‘ mishti ’ is mostly based on chhana (curdled milk, cottage cheese) as opposed to the khoya used in other parts of India. Assorted flavors are added to chhana giving rise to a plethora of sweets each renowned for its distinctive taste, odor, shape, color and texture. It is believed that the art of chhana making was introduced by the Portuguese settlers .  The six earliest sweet makers or moiras who left a permanent mark on the sweet canvas of Bengal were Paran Chandra Nag, Mahesh Chandra Dey, Nobin Chandra Das, Dwariknath Ghosh, Asutosh Sen and Ganguram Chaurasia. Bhim Chand...

  Awadhi cuisine is an extension of the Mughlai cuisine, which owes its origin to the Mughal dynasty. Mughlai cuisine was commercialized on a large scale in Calcutta in the 20th century. Royal Indian Hotel was the first restaurant serving this cuisine. It was founded in 1905 by a chef named Ahmed Hussain at Chitpore road. It has catered to several dignitaries. In 1997 it was renamed as Royal Indian Hotel Private Limited and is run by the third generation of the family. Aminia founded in 1929 when Maulvi Abdul Rahim purchased the 'Pehelwan Ka Hotel' at Zakaria Street to satisfy the whims of his son Mohammed Amin. Biriyani served with potato (a tradition which started at the kitchen of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah) is the popular fare here. Haleem and Nihari are signature dishes too. Nizam's restaurant was established in the Company Raj era and it pioneered the kathi roll. Sheikh Hasan Raja of Uttar Pradesh set up a koisk in Hogg market to sell paratha and kebabs. He purchased a...

Fresh juice was introduced to the diet of Bengali people due to British influence. Before that, people used to consume whole fruits and occasionally tender coconut water. Although the Moghuls were the pioneers of sherbet in 16 th century, these were prepared from concentrated pulps of different plant parts. Fresh juices from the tropical fruits were an essential part of British breakfast. Aristocratic and later ordinary Bengalis began to be attracted towards juices.  The first commercial juice bar, Kapila Ashram was established in 1907 by Hrishikesh Srimani, in an old building on Bidhan Sarani. Today this place is a mere kiosk due to the demolition of the old building.  Paradise was set up in 1918 at Bankim Chatterjee Street near College Street. It was founded by the renowned fitness trainer Nihar Ranjan Majumdar. In 1936 it was renamed as Paramount .  Acharya Prafulla Chandra gifted the recipe of the ‘ daaber shorbot ’, the best known delicacy here. The tender cocon...

The necessity for a separate market for the ‘whites’ arose out of their apathy of brushing past ‘natives’ at the local market.  This prompted the Calcutta Corporation to purchase and demolish Fenwick’s Bazar (built by Edward Fenwick) and in its place was erected the first municipal market of Calcutta.  This market situated at Lindsay Street also happens to be the largest retail market.  Built in Victorian Gothic architecture was inaugurated in January 1874 and given the pen name ‘New Market’.  Later on it was named Sir Stuart Hogg Market to honor the chairman of the Calcutta Corporation at the time of the market’s inception. The map of NewMarket Since then the market merchandises a plethora of items including fish, meat, flowers, confectionaries, clothes, upholsteries, ceramics, utensils, books, stationaries and all products imaginable. Today it is a one stop destination thronged by the ‘natives’ and occasional ‘white’ visitors. Nahoum and Sons is a well known co...