Rastar Khaoa

I had a chance to go through an article on street food, in a reputed newspaper published from Calcutta. The author, a food columnist, had written a lot about the street food in Delhi, especially the walled city.
With due respect to the author, and on account of mine being a true blue Bengali, I however, found the whole thing far too ironical. A paper being published from Calcutta, singing paeans about Delhi’s street food……..hard to digest boss. Here, I must add a disclaimer. It is not a Delhi vs. Calcutta thing going out here. Every city has its speciality as far as the street food culture goes. And no one city is the best. But somehow, being a Bengali, I could not resist the temptation of putting Calcutta on a higher pedestal. I know I am contradicting myself.
Calcutta is the melting pot of the culinary specialities of almost all the regions of the country. At the same time, it has its own history and specialities as far as the street food culture goes. So while you have stalls selling Dahi Bada and Pav Bhaji you can also see long queues outside shops selling Kobiraji and rolls. Kebabs too are a hit there so is biryani. Here I can say that Delhi could not lay any claim to the kebabs being its own. However, Calcutta can lay a stake to the rolls which almost everyone in the country so loves to devour. Here goes the story. An English officer loved to have his mutton curry and parathas but did not love the oily fingers which resulted. So the owner of the shop which sold the paratha and mutton curry started rolling the mutton curry in the parathas and thus was invented the mutton roll. The roll now has many variants. Egg roll, chicken roll, egg chicken roll and also has the vegetarian varieties, the veg roll, paneer roll and the mushroom roll.
The bhel puri which I had outside Rabindra Sarovar was one of the best I have ever had in my life. In fact better than what I had in many places in Bombay. And the jhalmuri and the phuchka, well almost everything tastes so good in Calcutta. The jhalmuri wallah at the Lord’s Bakery turning on Prince Anwar Shah Road and the phuchka wala at the Gariahat junction are simply marvellous. And the rolls at Hot Kathi rolls near the Asiatic Society museum can put your salivary glands into action even as you pass by the shop. There is also a Biryani walla near the Park Circus connector whose name I don’t remember now. I have heard that Hyderabadis visiting Calcutta pay a visit to the shop at least once.
Now on to what Calcutta is so famous for. Telebhajas. It is a generic term covering almost everything fried. It includes peyajis, begunis and of course the other mouth waterers like kobirajis, cutlets, chops and what not. Talking of kobiraji, it is actually the Banglicised version of coverage. That is the main item (fish or mutton) is covered with a layer of egg. So you have fish kobirajis and mutton kobirajis. Coffee house (any self respecting Bengali knows about Coffee house, irrespective of whether he has ever been there, yours truly included) is famous for its kobirajis and cutlets. However, the best cutlets I have tasted in Calcutta are from a nondescript shop in Deshopriyo Park near the Rash Behari Avenue connector. But since I have not been to coffee house, I cannot and will not claim that they are the best.
What I have mentioned here is a list of the “very best” , integral parts of Calcutta’s street food culture. There are many unsung heroes too. In different areas of the city. And though they did not find a mention here, as you read, they might be fulfilling the culinary desires of hundreds of Calcuttans.