I moved into Mumbai from Kolkata 20 years back. I was not a fan of Bengali food till then, but missed it after I left home. I would go to the Bengal Lodge terrace mess (now shut) near CST back in the day for affordable Bengali thalis. When feeling rich, to Only fish which later became Oh! Kolkata. Expensive for early jobbers. Later Calcutta Club opened at Oshiwara, and then Bhojohori Manna, which offered affordable, ‘homely’ Bengali food. A lot has happened since then. I believe there are restaurants serving Bengali food in areas such as Navi Mumbai. Mustard opened at the premium end in Worli. Restaurants faced a bit of a shakeup during the lockdown but that is when the home chefs and caterers emerged and this instalment of the #foodocracykitchens is about that.
You have Ananya Banerjee of the Saree Chef with her weekend specials based of memories of Kolkata and we have had some amazing food from her during the lockdown, Madhumita Pyne of Insomniac Cook and there was some Kolkata inspired dishes in Shubasree Basu’s Hungry Cat Kitchen too.
In this episode on #finelychoppedTV, I tell you about the fish thali that I tasted from Nandini Deb’s newly launched Bengali food delivery service called Bangali Babu (on Instagram as @teambangalibabu). She is a Shovabazar girl from Kolkata who now pursues a career as a playback singer in Mumbai. She and her fiance are food lovers and started a Lucknowi food delivery outfit called Lucknowi Chowk during the Lockdown and one had some lovely biryani and kebabs from there earlier.
Under Bangali Babu, she has introduced dishes that she has learnt to cook from her father and her grandfather (who are Bangals, originally from East Bengal) and her grandmother and her mother (who are edeshi, ghoti, from west Bengal).
The limited number of dishes one tried… the subtly flavoured kaacha mooger dal, the vibrant ghonto and the mustardy and tangy doi maachh…did give the feel of a well balanced meal that spoke of home. My wife Kainaz, a Parsi who fell in love with Bengali food post marriage, enjoyed it too.
Great to see the Bengali culinary flag high in Mumbai. Goes to show that a lot can happen in 20 years!