Celebrate Bengali New Year with classic yet quirky cuisine

To celebrate the Bengali new year, a home chef is dishing out classic preparations in tweaked, eclectic formats

When I was growing up, Poila Bishakh symbolised heat, sweat, new clothes, Norwesters (pre-monsoon showers that hit parts of eastern India) and food. There would be a traditional spread with different kinds of freshwater fish in my home. So many in fact, that we would happily ignore the meat," says home chef Subhasree Basu ahead of a pop-up that draws inspiration from the many facets of the Bengali New Year, which like most festivals observed by the community, is rooted in culture and cuisine.

Subhasree Basu

But Basu doesn't stop at churning out heirloom recipes, most of which she sources from old and worn-out copies of Prajnasundari Debi's books. Debi, who hails from the Tagore family, has an array of books featuring imaginative recipes and now, Basu draws from them to understand how to play around with ingredients. This comes through in her latest menu, which will be available from today, and features eclectic dishes.

Crab and spinach bake

Take, for example, the chingrir croquette, inspired by the Portuguese rissole. "Except that instead of a pastry, I have made it wear a coat of crispy vermicelli. This makes it crisp on the outside while retaining the gooeyness of the shrimps in béchamel sauce inside," Basu explains. It is astounding to hear of things like chicken malai curry, a traditional Bengali recipe that is quintessentially made with prawns. She reveals the reason, "There is no precedence of having chicken in a malai curry, but chicken is universally accepted and many people are allergic to shellfish.

"An interesting thing here is that different households have different recipes for malai curry. Some use ginger and garlic while some sneer at the idea of using garlic at all! Likewise, some people use ghee and some use mustard oil. Bengalis are divided over how this dish should be cooked. In our case, we keep the spices to a bare minimum and rely on a healthy amount of marination time," she adds.

Mutton korma pulao

On offer are other treats like mutton korma pulao, which is a rice-based dish with slow-cooked mutton in yogurt and dry fruits; pork diye shorshebatar jhol, a unique (and almost unheard of) pork dish that gets a classic Bengali touch in the form of shorshe bata or mustard paste, and is made with raw mangoes and served with cashew rice; and kankra palong bake, a homage to Calcutta's colonial-era club culture and cuisine, a baked delicacy made with crabs, spinach and a whole lot of cheese.

"I wouldn't want to call these dishes 'fusion' because at its heart, they are the same. I have simply played around with the format to bring about some newness, hoping that our clients will appreciate it," Basu shares.

At: Hungry Cat Kitchen
On: April 13 to 15 (Lunch and dinner slots available)
Call: 9820928658
Cost: Rs 4s 00 to Rs 550

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