Street foods for breakfast in Kolkata

People of Kolkata love to have breakfast in the form of singara (samosa) or kachuri and jiipi (jilebi). This is a combination that many households follow even though they might have regular breakfast later. The bottom line is their inherent weakness for these items. Believe it or not, the vendors begin their activities much before the day breaks. The singara and kachuri are deep fried stuff and require some preparatory work. Once they are ready, the items vanish before the snap of the finger. The next batch of customers have no other option but to wait.

As to the jilebis – these are sweet. Those who live in Kolkata love sweets. Yes, many of them know that these are harmful to health, especially those who are diabetic. In spite of this, they feel items like jiliebis can bring zing into life. This item are fried in full view of the public. They are then immersed in a huge container of sugar syrup, removed and sold to the customers. These, like the singara and kachuri, are fast moving items and vanish in the twinkling of the eye. Those who arrive late have to repent.

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Momo and sushi gear up to dislodge jilebi and pedhas (satire)

Lord Shiva was pacing up and down his cave in Kailash – he was watching an Indian city gradually turning Japanese and he did not want the identity to be lost.
Devi Durga was keeping an eye on him from a distance – she knew the signs. When he was disturbed, the Lord would go into the mute mood and she just could not tolerate him when he became silent.
‘What is biting you?’ she finally asked.
‘Have you not seem today’s TV news?’ he shot back.
‘There is nothing new,’ she replied. ‘The news was about snowfall in Kashmir, in Nainital, in Amarnath ..’
‘That is not news,’ Shiva grunted. ‘When it is winter and the temperature drops, snow fall is normal. I am talking about Japan.’
Durga was taken aback.
‘I must have missed it,’ she apologized. ‘I was in the kitchen trying out a new dish. It’s all about leaves and how to cook a khichdi of leaves. The celebrity cook used at least ten different varieties of leaves – and, she served it up on a banana leaf!’

‘Please don’t test my temper,’ Shiva growled. ‘I am talking about one of our cities turning into Japan. There is a huge program and soon we will have Japan right here in our country.’
Durga smiled.
‘Oh, you mean the bullet train?’ she asked.
‘No - I mean bye-bye to drains,’ Shiva said. ‘Once the city transforms into a mini Japan, what will happen to all those sadhus who earn their daily bread by sitting on the banks of the Ganga? And – all those bulls on the roads? And – the beggars? They are not seen in Japan.’
‘They will certainly be rehabilitated,’ Durga assured.
‘OK – and all those mithailwallahs? Will they shift to selling momos and sushis?’
‘Well – they are good to eat. The people will love the change from century-old jilebis and pedhas. Actually – they are bad for health. Too much of sweets leads to diabetes and obesity.’
‘My dear, you seem to have an answer for everything.’
Durga smiled.
‘Let me tell you a secret.’
‘What?’
‘An MOU has been signed to set up an academy in this city – it will teach how to make the mouth-watering momo and shushi.’ (to be continued …)

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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School days – the fast food culture

In my school days, fast food range was limited and would end with singara (or samosa), a triangular shapes shell made of kneaded flour and stuffed with mashed potato. Then there was the jilebi – a sweet item that required expertise to create. The mixture would be released directly into boiling oil and the creator would keep on twisting his wrists to ensure that the link never got broken.

Another fast food was the kachuri – these came in the form of flat casing of kneaded flour stuffed with a paste of dal. In winter, the stuffing would be of kadaishuti or green peas. Here again there were two varieties – one was with the peas made into paste and the second was with the peas boiled and left whole but seasoned with spices.
The second variety was a specialty of Dwarik Ghosh – these would be fried in pure ghee and the taste would be heavenly. The number of items was always limited every day and would be available only in the evening - unless one arrived on time, one would have to leave empty handed.

Then there were the high end fast foods like Mughlai Paratha or the vegetable chop or mutton cutlets or Kabiraji culets – these were not meant for children hence, I had to wait till college to taste these forbidden fast foods. (to be continued…)