Kolkata: City of Joyful eating
Kolkata recently featured as one of the top foodie cities in the world in Eater’s elite list ‘Where to Eat in 2023’. One might be surprised to see grimy, old Kolkata rub shoulders with the likes of Sardinia, Manila, Dakar, Albuquerque and Guatemala City, but look below the surface and you’ll discover its complex array of dishes, street food, culinary influences and cooking techniques unseen anywhere else.
Between the East India Company receiving a trading license from the Nawabs of Bengal in 1690 to the moving of the capital from Kolkata to Delhi in 1911, Kolkata’s diverse cuisine was shaped over centuries by numerous historic events — the creation of Kolkata when the British amalgamated three villages of Kalikata, Sutanuti and Govindapur, its emergence as a riverine trading outpost, the migration of trading communities from the Armenian, Baghdadi Jews, Chinese to the Marwaris, the rise of the bureaucracy, the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, the annexation of Oudh and the freedom movement.
Trader Tong Atchew, believed to be the first Chinese settler in the region, received a grant of land from the British in exchange for tea. The first wave of Hakka Chinese immigrants moved to Bengal to work in his sugar mill and British tea estates in the early 18th century, and settled down in Atchewpur (Achipur), an enclave on the banks of the Hooghly, 33 km from Kolkata. They later moved to Tiretta Bazaar in Kolkata, named after a Venetian land surveyor Andrew Tiretta. This became the city’s first Chinatown.
Known as the oldest family-run Chinese restaurant in India, Eau Chew is literally translated as “Europe” in Mandarin and served predominantly British officers and employees. Roasted chilli pork, Josephine noodles, and the famed Chimney soup are still available.
Tangra, home to the majority of Chinese-run tanneries, became the site of the city’s second and newest Chinatown. Many Chinese restaurants opened up in the area, establishing the “Indian Chinese” palate by combining Hakka, Sichuan, and Cantonese flavours with a local twist.
The last Nawab of Awadh (Oudh), Wajid Ali Shah, travelled to Kolkata to petition the Governor General after the princely realm was annexed in 1856. Nonetheless, he spent more than two years under house arrest at Fort William after the First War of Independence in India began in 1857. While the Hooghly reminded him of his cherished Gomti, the Nawab grew fond of the city.
He settled down in the quiet suburb of Metiabruz, where he patronised the arts. With his privy purse greatly curtailed, the lavish feasts for his vast retinue were a strain. He is believed to have introduced the potato and egg into the biryani as austerity measures.
Brought to India by the Portuguese, the tuber was exotic enough, yet not as expensive as meat. And that’s how the Kolkata biryani was born and Mughlai cuisine found a foothold in Kolkata.
When the British built the railways to expand trade in tea and Burma teak, steamers ferried goods, passengers, forest rangers, British officials and zamindars from the railhead. Mogs, a Burmese hill tribe from Arakan, were ace cooks who picked up European flavours aboard Portuguese pirate ships.
Unlike Hindu or Muslim cooks, Mogs were Buddhist and had no qualms about preparing pork or beef, so the British employed them on these steamers. Their unique smoked fish is infused with a delicate smoky aroma by charring puffed rice, jaggery and husk! Over time, this ‘steamer cuisine’ crept into the Raj-era clubs of Calcutta, where it was polished into Continental and colonial fare.
The Kabiraji cutlet is one of the city’s distinctive culinary trademarks. The gilded cutlet is covered in a lacy filigree of whisked eggs and is made of fish, chicken, or mutton mince. It’s interesting to note that the name has two possible origins: one is derived from the apocryphal mispronunciation of the word “coverage,” as the coating completely encases the cutlet, and the other is from kabiraj, the traditional baidyas or medicine men, as the recipe included nutritious herbs like coriander in addition to turmeric, ginger, and garlic!
The rise of the babu culture and outstation migrants triggered the pice hotel
phenomenon where one could eat their fill of bhaat-dal and fish curry for as little
as one pice.
Each item of the meal was individually priced — from the lime to the salt, so you only paid for what you ate! Century-old haunts like Tarun Niketan Hotel, Siddheshwari Ashram and Swadhin Bharat Hindu Hotel continue to draw patrons from far and wide for quintessential Bangla cuisine.
The well-known kathi roll from Kolkata is credited to Nizam. It was also an unintended success, like many great inventions. Sheikh Reza Hassan left Benares in 1900 and opened a tiny paratha and kebab stand on Hogg’s Street in Kolkata.
According to legend, an Englishman hurried in for a quick bite but left annoyed because he didn’t want to get his fingers messy. Reza came up with the brilliant idea to roll the kebab in a paratha and wrap it in thin butter paper before giving it to the sahib, and voilà — the Kolkata roll was created! He gave his eatery the name Nizam’s in honour of his son Nizamuddin and began grilling meat using kathis (bamboo sticks) instead of iron skewers in 1964, giving rise to the term “kathi roll.”But is there more to Kolkata than rolls, biryani and kasundi (mustard sauce)?
Not far from Nizam’s stands the historic Hogg Market (better known as New Market), named after Sir Stuart Hogg, the Calcutta Corporation Chairman. Within
the narrow alleys lies Nahoum & Sons, a Jewish run bakery that serves delicious macaroons, cakes, cheese straws, date sticks and rum balls. Since more than a century ago, the modest snack store Laxmi Narayan Shaw and Sons in Sovabazaar has sold a variety of telebhaja (fritters/pakodas). These pakodas were once frequently ordered by revolutionaries congregating across the street, and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose came to love them. On January 23, which is Netaji’s birthday, the store still gives away free pakodas to customers. Subsequently, it gained notoriety as Netaji’r Telebhaja’r dokaan.
Serious food enthusiasts frequently visit certain restaurants for particular dishes, such as rezala at Sabir’s Hotel, mutton chaap at Royal Indian, pasinda kebab at Aminia, tikia kebab at Shiraz, sutli kebab at Adam’s, nihari at Islamia, biryani at Arsalan, luchi-kosha mangsho and kochuri-aloo tark at Golbari.
During a cuisine tour, we stopped by College Street’s legendary adda Indian Coffee House and Paramount, a sherbet shop that once served as a cover for clandestine gatherings of revolutionaries and continues to serve its signature dhaab (tender coconut) sherbet. So when are you having a taste of Kolkata?
(The authors are travel/food writers and culinary consultants “loosely based” in Bengaluru. They run a travel/media outfit customising solutions for the hospitality industry, have authored guides and coffee table books, set up an award-winning restaurant and feature as ‘Dude aur Deewani’ in a food-based digital infotainment show. Follow their adventures on Instagram: @red_scarab or their Facebook page Red Scarab.)
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