Culinary delights at C R Park

hunger pangs

If you are a Bengali in the quest of traditional fare, or a non-Bengali keen to try out fish chops, chicken chops, mutton chops, egg rolls, mughlai parantha and Bengali sweets, Chittaranjan Park, better known as C R Park is the place for you.

Be it the numerous sweet shops catering to the Bengali love for telebhaja (pakoras) and mughlai parantha, the take away joints for those lacking the culinary expertise or the time, or full-fledged restaurants for Bengali thalis, the teeming eating joints of C R Park are a tribute to the Bengali’s love for food.

One such shop in market number one is Rabi Snacks Corner which sells typical Bengali food items and attracts nearly 200 customers daily. “The number of customers increases on the weekends than the weekdays. We have so much sale that we need at least one additional gas cylinder every day,” says Rafiq-ul-Islam, manager of the food corner. The eatery also serves lip smacking chicken chop, mutton chop, egg devil, egg roll and chicken roll.

Another shop in the same market is Kolkata Hot Kathi Roll & Bar-Be-Que. Along with delicious Bengali snacks it also serves Chinese platter. But, the crowd-puller is surely the chop platter which is available in different varieties. “Although we have some stiff competition in the market, we still manage to earn a good amount of profit every day,” says Shopon Ghosh, one of the staff members of the shop.

“We come here often as it is the best place to get Bengali food items and snacks. Nothing can beat the taste of these food items,” shares Indrani Ghosh who is a regular visitor to market number two of C R Park. Another food lover S Roy adds, “We get so many options here in terms of food. I land up in this market quite often to buy chops and cutlets.”
The rates of all these food items are very nominal and range from Rs 25 to Rs 35 per piece depending on the snack item.

Bengali sweet shop Annapurna Mishtanna also does brisk business and offers the best rosogollas, and exclusive Bengali desserts like Kheer Kadam and Ras Malai. But the all time favourite is Sandesh (dry sweet). With a large range to choose from, what makes the sweets special is that it is devoid of the sickly sugary sweetness that marks most other Indian sweets. Annapurna Mishtanna here is also very famous for its typical Mishti Doi and samosas. A meal for two can be easily had at a nominal rate of Rs 200 to 250.

For those who crave for a proper main course, there is Maa Tara restaurant which serves ilish bhape (steamed hilsa) and chingrir malaikari (prawn cooked in coconut milk), Aloo Poshto, Bhetki Patori, Rahu Kalia and Kosha Mangsho, Mochar Chingri and Cheetol Macher Moithia are some other delicacies served here.

No matter which joint you prefer to frequent, when it comes to a family outing on special occasions like Poila Boishakh (New Year for Bengalis) and Maha Ashtami, nothing less than a full course Bengali menu will do the gastronomy trick.

For Bengalis new to the City, food is a major component of homesickness. Kolkata street foods like fuchka (gol gappas) and rolls are missed almost as much as thakuma’s (grandmother) cooking. Cashing in on the yearning, shops in these markets also sell gol gappas labelled as Kolkatar Fuchka.