Calcutta Street-Food

It might sound like a cliché but I firmly believe that the world is divided into two kinds of people: those who live to eat and the other variety who have more important stuff to attend to, so eating in not a priority. I can't disdain to discuss this latter group in my blog! I, needlessly to clarify, belong to the former bunch even though in the last few years the dare-devilry associated with eating whenever I feel like, whatever I feel like has diminished a little, unfortunately. There are mundane technicalities like watching what you eat, not eating unhealthy food, blah blah blah. At some point, I guess, these details are important just to preserve the body that eats and craves for the food.

And the last few days it has been craving for street-food from Calcutta. By street-food, I don't mean food sold strictly on the street, but mostly the stuff not made at home, at least not regularly. And even if it is made at home, it doesn't really taste the same. There is a deliciously delightful list of food that I have been missing lately. Here it is:
kati roll/egg roll
shingara (samosa, though the shingara from the local mishti-r dokan--sweetmeat shop tastes very different from samosas elsewhere)
phuchka (conceptually similar to the golgappa and panipuri, but taste-wise it is in a league of its own!)
jhhaalmuri
bhelpuri
batatapuri
moghlai porota (typical to Calcutta, an egg or meat-stuffed paratha served with a distinctive alu sabzi-potato curry)
fish fry (bhetki fillet in a special batter)
chop: chicken chop, mutton chop, vegetable chop (I have been told that what I mean by chop is sold as cutlet in other parts of the city; it is basically a bread-crumbed fried snack containing either meat of vegetables)
telebhaja/alur chop/ pe(n)yaji (perfect accompaniments to muri or puffed rice and tea)
biriyani (a Calcutta special with alu, eggs and no curry or raita accompanying this specialty dish; my favorite is from Royal in Chitpur though I'm quite fond of the variety from Arsalaan in Park Circus)

This list is by no means a comprehensive catalog of the roadside culinary concoctions found in Calcutta but merely a glimpse of the stuff I have been missing heavily recently. I should also make a special mention of the Chinese food in Calcutta. It is unlike anything I have eaten anywhere in the country or even in Singapore or the US. I'm sure if it is a product of a large Chinese population in Calcutta or a combination of Bengali and Chinese culinary styles, but it sure tastes great and very different from Chinese food elsewhere.

And of course, I'm missing mishti, Kolkata's biggest export apart from Rabindrasangeet, I guess. I'm missing the syrupy rosher mishti and the dry shondesh and the mishti doi and jileepee. I look forward to eating them all when I'm home in a few months!

Talking about food or writing about it makes me happy (as does cooking and eating it, of course). One of the biggest advantage of living in the Unites States is being able to savor so many different kinds of food from all over the world. I just love the variety and the opportunity to continue to indulge in something that is for me the reason and the source of sustenance of life: FOOD!