HERITAGE OF KOLKATA (কোলকাতার ঐতিহ্য)

The Standard Life Assurance Building - Kolkata

The Standard Life Assurance Plc is one of the oldest & largest insurance companies in the world. It was originally a Scottish company, founded in Edinburgh in the year 1825 and was known as ‘The Life Insurance Company of Scotland’. Later in the year 1832, the company changed it’s name to ‘The Standard Life Assurance Company’. The company grew rapidly and also opened up overseas business, targeting the British Colonies. By end of 19th Century the company had business interests in Ireland, Germany, Canada, Egypt, India, Shanghai and the West Indies.

The company clearly saw opportunity in providing life insurance cover to British subjects settled in the colonies around the word. Most of the insurance companies were reluctant to provide life insurance to European people residing at these colonies, particularly in Asia, due to high mortality rate. And indeed this was a problem in India as the British and Europeans couldn’t cope with the heat and dust of the tropical weather and succumbed to deceases like malaria, cholera & black fever at very early age pulling down the average life expectancy. However Standard Life Assurance saw opportunity in this and aggressively built up business. In the year 1846, the company had set  up the ‘Colonial Life Assurance Company’ (the Colonial), which was specifically designed to handle business in the British Colonies and India, and could offer attractive terms based on the Colonial's more accurate assessment of mortality risk in the countries concerned. The Standard's association with India had begun with the founding of the ‘Colonial’ in 1846. Following the merger of the two companies, all Standard business in the East came under the control of the Calcutta office.

Later as the business grew, the company decided to set up it’s own office building.  Accordingly a plot at the corner of Dalhousie Square (South) and Red Cross Place (formally Wellesley Place) were acquired and a fine building was constructed between February 1894 & May 1896. The building is a classic example of colonial architecture with strong Victorian design influence. It has a prominent presence with the multi-domed tower on the north  east corner and a huge ornate archway  over the main entrance. There is a triangular pediment at the very top over the arched entrance where the sculpture representing the famous logo of Standard Life can be seen. Designed by the sculptor John Steel, the motif of the biblical ten virgins were adopted by the company as it’s logo. This is derived from the holy bible, parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13,). The story in essence advocates people to be always prepared for the future contingencies and this co-relates with the need for life insurance.

Also just on top of the main entrance of the building, there are two bas-relief figures. The figure on the left of the archway is a young lady carrying a lamp and on the right it’s the figure of Grim Riper carrying a skull at the right. The two figures represent Life and Death respectively.

This beautiful building was designed by Fredrik William Stevens, the same man who had designed the ‘Victoria Terminus’ of Mumbai.

The HONGKONG BUILDING – Dalhousie; Kolkata

The Modern and the old..

A sportscar zooms past the HONGKONG building in Dalhousie, housing the eastern zonal head office of the global financial giant “The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation.”

Though HSBC opened it’s first branch in Kolkata in the year 1867, the current place was occupied by them at a later date. The site that Hongkong house currently occupies belonged to Mackenzie Lyall, auctioneers, who had monopoly in auctioning of opium. In fact HSBC, in it’s earlier days, was known to have made money by financing opium traders of China. This grand building was constructed in the year 1922, by Sir Rajen Mookherjee’s firm, Martin & Co. at a whooping cost of Rupees Twelve Lacs. But then globally HSBC is known to spend lavishly on their office buildings in major cities around the world. In many cities HSBC office buildings are landmarks.

It is believed that the designers of this beautiful structure with Edwardian & Neo-Gregorian style stone façade, were people from Palmer & Turner of Hong Kong. The Shanghai head office of the bank at the Bund area, facing Whampoa river which came up in year 1926, just four years after the HONGKONG house in Kolkata was completed, was designed and constructed by Palmer & Turner. One can see lot of design influence of the Kolkata building on the Shanghai head quarter. Later in 1935, the same firm also designed and constructed the Global Headquarter of HSBC at 1 Queen’s Road Central, Hongkong.

St Patrick’s Kirk: Dalhousie Kolkata

If you are wondering what a “Kirk’ might be, let me tell you it means a Scottish church.

Scotsmen are always keen on establishing their own Identity apart from the British. Kolkata under British rule was no exception where a considerable population of Scottish people came and settled down. Dr. James Bryce, a Scotsman took the initiative to build a Church in Kolkata for the Scottish community.

It stands tall at Dalhousie Square in Kolkata, just beside Writer’s Building.
It’s a magnificent white building, and bears a tall steeple crown with a weather cock on top of it. True to Scottish spirit, the steeple was made taller than the St. John’s church, (diagonally opposite to Raj Bhawan) the Anglican Cathedral of Kolkata.

There are six pillars of Tuscan order adorning the front.

The architect of this beautiful church was M/s. Burn Currie & Company. The construction had started in 1815 and was completed in 1818.

BASU BATI – BAGHBAZAR: Frozen in time

It was a hot and sweltering Sunday in the month of May. The heat was unbearable at 11am in the morning. Not the best weather to venture out but we had no option as we were told to come only at this time when the permission to enter the historical Basu Bati at Bagbazar was granted to us. Getting the permission itself was a long story but I will not elaborate on that. So the three of us got going. The destination was 65/2, Baghbazar Steet, where the mansion stands.

This is one of the prominent heritage properties of Kolkata owned by a Bengali Zaminder family. The Basu family had zamindari in Gaya and one of the many families of landlords who built up a fortune from Zamindari.

Mohendra Basu, the eldest son of the Basu family acquired the land where the building stands. His two brothers Nandalal & Pasupati Basu constructed this fine house and started living from the year 1878.

We left the busy Baghbazar Street and turned right onto the narrow lane. After fifty yards or so the narrow lane flanked by the thickly set houses suddenly opened up and the mansion with it’s huge doric styled pillars loomed large before our eyes in it’s full glory. The giant pillars at the front reached upto the roof and made up the porch. On the level of first floor, a platform like veranda with ornate wrought iron railings filled the void between the giant pillars and the main wall of the house. The wings of the house spread on both sides of the towering porch. On our right was a walled garden, obviously not too well maintained, lined with huge trees and thick shrubs underneath. The left wing is fenced off seemed to be in better shape with human habitation and a garden which is obviously taken care of.

Just beside the main entrance there is a marble plaque which says Rabindra Nath Tagore came to this house on October 16, 1905, on the day of ‘Rakhibandhan; to mark protest against division of Bengal by British Government. A ‘National Fund’ was also created in his presence for the sole aim of upliftment of the commerce and industry run by our countrymen.

We entered through the main door which opens up to a huge courtyard with a raised platform or ‘Thakurdalan’ on the opposite side where pujas used to be held. The main double storied dwelling area encircled the courtyard from other three sides with a running veranda with blinds. Across the length of the veranda are the row of rooms which conforms to the typical construction of Bengali houses of the rich during 18th and 19th century.

The show stealer of course is the magnificent “Thakurdalan” which hit’s the visitors eyes with all it’s grandeur. It is one of the largest Thakurdalan I have seen so far. A flight of stairs from the courtyard lead to the main platform where six huge ornate ionic style fluted pillars stood guard. Behind the main pillars there are four pillared archways which lead to the inner sanctum where the idol would have been placed during Pujas. The top portion of inner wall over the archways was once painted with murals but obviously the fine artwork couldn’t stand the wrath of time and negligence and only hints of the once beautiful murals could be seen now.

It was interesting to note that the main pillars on the outside are definitely influenced by European architecture prevailing in 19TH century but the construction of archways on the inner sanctum bear a strong hint of Muslim architecture. Of course I am not an expert in this field therefore I cannot say with certainty but this what I felt.

The huge mansion is now in dilapidated state and obviously the current owners are not maintaining or not in a position to maintain this heritage building as it should be. Nevertheless if still exudes the remnants of it’s past Glory when Bengal was leading in both culture and commerce.

 Some of you who watched the Bengali movie “Baishe Shrabon” (২২শে শ্রাবণ)have seen this house as a significant part of the movie including it’s climax scene was shot here.

For more detailed history of this house, I would urge the readers to go through the blog of my friend, Amitava Gupta, an avid blogger on history & heritage whom I accompanied. This is a fantastic read and gives the readers a lot of useful insight.

Ruined Heritage of a Gloried Past - Blog by Amitabha Gupta

STREET FOOD OF JAMSHEDPUR:

Jamshedpur is a beautiful industrial town and had been home to many Bengalis since JRD Tata first set up the Integrated Steel Plant here sometime in the year 1907. Since then this little town was hub for huge Industrial growth as many other factories, from Tata group as well as other companies were set up.

I have been going to Jamshedpur since long, often to visit relatives and now mostly on business tour. This was the first planned township I had seen and I was enchanted by it’s beauty and cleanliness. The city had attracted a huge Bengali population over the years and many of them had made this city their home. Since this was small town and almost everybody worked in TATA group, there was a strong communal bonding and lot of socializing between families. Anybody from Jamshedpur would vouch for that. Unlike large cities, this city had very limited means of entertainment, so people mixed with each other a lot and that formed a very strong connection between families and with the city.

Since I have been travelling at regular intervals to Jamshedpur for some time, I started exploring about the street food that the city has on offer. Being a Bengali dominated city, I was certain that I will not be disappointed. So my search did yield some results, though admittedly I did not come across many. However I am trying to collate them in one page to give my readers and prospective travellers to Jamshedpur as to what they can expect.

One word of caution though. There is nothing I found which could be turned as ‘outstanding’ in culinary standards or something extraordinery. I did not expect so. I never for a moment tried to draw a comparison to street foods of Kolkata, that way it wouldn’t hold a candle. But at the same time what I found also didn’t exactly disappointed me.  I went out with an open mind to taste whatever is on offer. Most of the places were suggested by my friends and acquaintances from Jamshedpur. For most of them it’s not just about food but fond memories of a city they love, Most of them are now spread out at different places in India and abroad, but when they talk of the egg roll from Shera, or the chilly pork from Franks, their eyes twinkle as sweet memories flood in. That’s the essence I tried to feel and I have not biased myself on the taste and the quality alone.

My search is still on and if my readers who are / were from Jamshedpur or been there, can suggest more places which might have escaped my search till now, I will be gladly exploring. So read on.

BGC

Sakchi Bazar; Jamshedpur

If you happen to walk down Sakchi Bazar area in Jamshedpur in the evening you will be greeted by the intoxicating aroma of chicken being grilled on charcoal oven. The source is "Balbeer Grilled Chiken" or "BGC".

Do not let images of KFC outlet come into your mind. "BGC" operates on a humble pushkart at the road corner. You will see heaps of marinated chicken on the aluminium bowls. You can order a full chicken or choose to have a breast or leg piece. Chickens are continuously being placed on the wire mesh over the glowing charcoal and grilled to perfection. Two attendants are always busy turning over the chicken pieces and fanning the fire furiously at the same time. What comes out is pure bliss. The pieces are soft to the core, juicy and the burning charcoal fire gives it a unique smoky test.

And yes this joint also sales delicious chicken liver fry which is a fantastic accompaniment with drinks.

Set up by Balbeer Singh almost 45 years ago, the outlet remained same all through and of course retained the taste which made it famous. The joint is currently run by ever smiling Harjinder Singh, son of Balbeer Singh. The secret of the taste lies in the usage of special herbs used in margination which is done in curd, precise grilling and of course the garlic chatni that goes with it. On a cold wintery evening having chicken here, basking in the gentle warmth emanating from the charcoal fire, is definitely a unique experience.

One thing I wondered about, we never could be entrepreneurs. Colonel Sanders must have had started a humble outlet like this which later became a global business and brand called KFC. BGC remained glued at Sackchi Bazar on a push kart as it was 45 years back.

Shera’s Roll:

A Road; Kagal Nagar

Shera’s shop is rather ordinary looking open place covered by a tin shade on the corner of ‘A road’ at Kagal Nagar, just opposite the Axis bank, Sonari Branch. Many of my friends from Jamshedpur mentioned about Shera’s roll to me umpteen no of times and insisted that I go and try the roll there. Being from Kolkata, the Mecca of rolls, I was obviously sceptic. I had tasted the best here in Kolkata, the likes of hot kati roll on Park Street, Bedwin & Campari at Gariahat, Badshah near new market and of course the father of rolls, Nizams. So I seriously doubted if Shera’s roll would have anything unique on offer for me.

But then I was at Jamshedpur, got free by the evening and my friend Shankar who originally hails from Jamshedpur, was there too. So we decided to take time out, catch up on the old times and upon his insistence headed towards Shera’s roll shop.

The shop is on a corner plot. There are cemented benches and few plastic tables and chairs scattered around. Now it would have been quite a challenge to have the roll sitting at this place in the peak of summer but it has been raining in past few days in Jamshedpur and the weather was quite pleasant.

Sherabhai, the owner is a man in his late fifties who personally oversees the preparation. You can see him in the photo. He is the bald man. He is basically a ‘punjab de putter’ but born and brought up in Jamshedpur only. The shop was started some 32 years back by his brother and he had taken over after his demise. Apart from the roll you get the normal stuff like chicken, curry, tandoori, etc but the roll is his signature dish and he had been maintaining the same recipe over the years and never compromised on the quality which made him so popular among the locals. In fact if you ask any auto driver to take you to Shera Bhai’s roll shop, you need not give him any more direction.

Now is time for few words about the roll. I tried the ‘Egg Chicken’ roll. The parantha is large. I found it bit on the crisper side which is not bad. The chicken is prepared with the special recipe which is Shera Bhai’s trump card. It was marinated in masala & herbs and was sautéed’ on the large tawa before the filling inside the parantha. With a liberal dash of lemon It tasted quite nice. Now I would not dare comparing this with any of the Kolkata specialities which I mentioned above, but it tasted different. It is not about being better or worse but this has an unique taste of it’s own which I did not find anywhere in Kolkata.

You can definitely give it a try next time you are at Jamshedpur.

My special thanks to Shankar Ghosh Choudhury for playing the perfect host and letting me have the opportunity to savour this rather fine roll.

Atthe near Jamshedpur Court:

 Most of you wouldn’t be familiar with the word ‘Atthe’. Even I wasn’t until I was at Jamshedpur trying to dig out the street foods on offer. ‘Atthe’ is a special mutton preparation available at a roadside pise hotel near Jamshedpur court. It’s a regular hotel which you see everywhere, mostly found at the business areas of all the towns. They offer cheap and filling meal of Rice, Dal, Sabzi along with mutton, chicken and eggs to the masses.

This one is no different from those ubiquitous eateries, but their signature dish is mutton ‘Atthe’. Office goers, salesmen, visitors to the court and people from other Govt. offices throng this place to savour this special dish.

This is mutton prepared with liberal dollops of desi ghee and Khade Masale in a typical Dehati style. The meat used is ‘Rewazi’ which is high in fat content and found in a fiery red curry. It’s hot and has a rustic taste.Tough not for the faint hearted, tIt’s a heavenly affair to have the curry with rice and juices of Gandhoraj lebu squeezed in.

You can get a full plate and a half plate. The full plate will have four pieces of soft mutton of generous size.

If you are at Jamshedpur, definitely you can venture out and have a sumptuous lunch with Atthe. You also get the usual Dal, Subzi, Fish and chicken preparations, even mutton of plain variety but they taste just about average and nothing to write home about. You have to specifically ask for ‘Atthe’. 

MY TRYST WITH NORTH EASTERN CUISINE

I keep travelling to North East, almost all the states, excepting Arunachal Pradesh, for official work. In the last few years, as my work demanded, I have been travelling quite extensively to the North Eastern states. During these trips I have been privileged to have the opportunity to see the varied natural beauty of the states, experience the rich culture and savour some of their finest cuisine.

Being a typical gastronomically adventurous Bengali, I make it a point to taste the local delicacies wherever I travelling to.  Thus my love affair with North Eastern cuisine started. Over the years it’s only deepened and it’s so diverse, so different and so delectable, it makes me go back again and again to try newer varieties.

Now ‘North Eastern Cuisine’ is a rather generic term. Each of the seven states has their own variety of foods which is quite different from other, just as unique as their respective cultures. This has given a unique diversity of the culinary culture of North East and this is what I like and I am still exploring. You will note that while cuisine of Assam mainly revolves around rice and fish, In Meghalaya, Mizoram & Nagaland it’s more of Pork and Beef. Dog meat is also popular among locals in Mizoram and Nagaland. Duck and Pigeon meat is very popular in Assam and almost all restaurants specializing in Assamese cuisine serve them. There are different varieties of rice as well. Apart from traditional aromatic ‘Joha rice‘, one can taste ‘red rice’ as well as ‘black rice’ which retains respective colours after preparation. These are majorly produced in neighbouring Meghalaya. Also in Assam, sesame seeds, pepper and mustard are used as major ingredients for cooking. However the beauty is none of the preparations are rich, so digesting them is easy and I never experienced the usual heartburn a man on the wrong side of forty would normally feel after a heavy meal. In Mizoram, Manipur & Nagaland most of the preparations are just boiled. The flip side is most of the preparations would be bland for the taste of average Bengali. Also for pork preparations and preparations with Bamboo Shoots, or Akhuni (fermented soyabeans) the pungent odour is present which may not suite everybody. Lots of pickles made of dried fish, smoked meat, fermented seeds etc are used in the cooking. So largely I would say that you need to have an acquired taste to appreciate most of the preparations and if you are avert to boiled, soupy food you might not find them to your liking. However this changes when we look at lower Assam & Tripura. Tripura, a state dominated largely by Bengali population migrated from Sylhet district of Bangladesh, has a very strong influence of Bengali cuisine that is so unique to Sylhet.  Same trend can be found in lower Assam in Kachar district which is again dominated by the migrated Bengalis from Sylhet. Even if you look at the culinary history at Bangladesh, Sylheti cuisine holds it’s own distinct identity among all Bangladeshi cuisines and this also holds true when it comes to extremely rich cultural heritage of  Sylhet. A typical Sylheti cuisine will have abundance of fish and ‘Snutki’ or the sun dried fish takes centre stage. The variety is just amazing. And the preparations are rich and most often very hot, leaving you panting and gasping from breath and you could feel smoke coming out of your ears after tasting them. So a Sylheti preparation need to be approached with due respect or else it could have the unsuspecting go red like tomato on the face. Also every fish imaginable is turned into ‘Snutki’ and various preparations are made from them. Another unique item would be the ‘Nona Iilish’ where the revered Hilsa will be dried in quite different manner. To make ‘snutki’ normally the fish is laid out open under the sun till they are bone dry. However Hilsa fish is treated in a completely different manner to create the ‘Nona Ilish”. After the fish is caught, specifically the small sized Hilsa, fishermen put them in in large earthen pot in layers. One layer of fish is put at the bottom then it’s covered with layer of salt and then further layers are created with fish and salt alternatively till it reaches the mouth of the earthen pot. Then the mouth is sealed and it’s buried under ground. A typical place would be the sand beds of the river which gets ample sunlight. The salt acts as preservative while the fish gets dried up inside. Once its ready the pot is dug out.   

However my experience is rather limited to restaurants in Guwahati and other places which offer good local cuisine. I have shared my experiences at some of these restaurants which I really liked. But if you experience the real taste and the famed Sylheti hospitality you need to look elsewhere. If you are lucky enough and have the chance of  getting invited by locals on their festivals or you know somebody local who can invite you home and treat you with traditional home cooked food those would the best  food journeys of  your life. I got one such opportunity when my colleague in Aizwal had cooked dog meat at home and that’s one unique experience for me. The quest is still on and I will keep sharing my experience in this blog.  

SANGEI MANIPURI RICE HOTEL:

Paltan Bazar, Near Ulubari Flyover,

Guwahati

During February 2015 when I was in Guwahati, I had a great lunch at ‘Sangei Manipuri Rice Hotel’. This is at Paltan Bazar, on the main road near Ulubari Flyover. It’s a rather inconspicuous place and you really need to look hard to locate the modest entrance amongst the jumble of shops hanging their merchandise all over. The restaurant is on the first floor and offers traditional Manipuri Thali. More than a restaurant, I felt that this is akin to the famous pise hotels of Kolkata. A Manipuri version you can say and it also claims to be a ‘rice hotel’. The interior is modest with plain décor but it’s painted in bright colours and clean. They also have beautiful photographs of natural beauty of Manipur including many pictures of the famed 'Loktak Lake'.The waiters silently moved about in bright yellow shirt and red dhoti, further brightening up the place.

There is no menu card. You have look up the signboard as a point of reference, though the names of the items will sound alien. But don’t let that bother you. The waiters here are very polite and helpful.

The First thing you get is the basic thali, a steel plate with banana leaves neatly laid out on it. This contains a neat heap of rice and other assortments like pickles and salads made with bamboo shoot. You will also get bowls of dal and other vegetable preparations. 

They have rather strange names like ‘pokora, kangsoi, singju and champhut for them and I could not also identify the preparations and ingredients. Some of them I liked, some not so much, but overall it’s quite different from the vegetable preparations that we are used to and it’s a different experience. But the interesting part is when it comes to selection of the non-veg items. The waiters will silently bring a large tray where multiple bowls containing various preparation of fish of different species. You can pick and choose from Rohu, Hilsa, Pabda, Chital, Aar & Borail. The preparations range from plain jhol, Sorshe bata, Bhaja to bhapa. Also I found small fishes, like kajri or Mourola, deep fried and another preparation closely resembling our own ‘Muri Ghanto’.

Next comes the assortment of meat. This had everything, chicken, mutton & Pork. I could see boiled pork, fried pork, pork sausages, pork curry. Pork liver and also fried chicken wings, boiled chicken, mutton curry etc.

This was quite exiting, I almost felt a childlike glee. We had to pick and choose. The bowls on the tray were only for display. We had to point out the items we wanted and then it would be served hot. I admit we went overboard with ordering. It’s the same temptation you feel while in a supermarket when your good sense is clouded by the alluring displays and you end up spending much more than planned.

Nevertheless all the items tasted great and I will surely come back here on my next visit.

The pocket pinch for two should not exceed Rs. 500/- .The basic thali will cost you Rs. 60/- and there is a more elaborate one costing Rs. 80/-. Fish preparations range between Rs.100 & Rs.200/-. Chicken between Rs.100/- & Rs.150/- and pork items will set you back for anything between Rs.80/- & Rs.200/-. Check the photo of the menu board.

If any one of you is visiting Guwahati you can definitely try this place for a taste of authentic Manipuri cuisine and you won’t be disappointed.

BHUT JOLOKIA:

Above  Baskin Robbins, Zoo Road,

Near VIP Namghar, Zoo Tiniali.

Guwahati.

I had a rather sumptuous dinner of Traditional Assamese cuisine at “Bhut Jolokia” at Zoo Tiniali in Guwahati. And I made it a point to consume everything that swims, walks and flies at one go.

At around 8:30PM in the evening, when we walked in we found the restaurant quite empty. The décor was basic but neat. They had the tables and chairs made out of Bamboo, Jute with glass tops in typical Assamese style.

We started with “Brail Maas bhaja” (deep fried Borail fish). This was followed by “Para mangkhar alu torkari (Pigeon meat with potato), “Hahar Mangkhar matimah torkari (Duck Meat with black grams), Gahori tilor torkari (Pork with sesame seeds and all the gravy to go down with “Aijong joha steamed rice”.

All the preparations were nice. Though none which I ordered came with the fiery Bhut Jolokia’ (Ghost Chilli) which is ranked as one of the hottest chilli in the world. There were preparations on the menu which are prepared with Bhut Jolokia, but I really did not have the nerve for ordering the same.

Burrrrrrrpp…

This restaurant was started by Chef Atul Lakhar. The food was generally good. One word of caution though. You need to have acquired taste to appreciate North Eastern cuisine. If you have it, do try whenever you are at Guwahati.

But if I have to rate, I will choose another restaurant specializing in Assamese cuisine called “Maihang” at Bhangagarh above Bhut Jolokia. This was the one I tried out in my previous visit to Assam. “Kharika” restaurant at Ulubari also serves good Assamese food and probably owned by the same chef.

TRATTORIA:

Policce Bazar, Opposite Choudhury Pharmaceutical,

Shillong

Trattoria is a place to go if you have the taste for some authentic Khasi cuisine. During my trip to Shillong I was asking around for some nice joint to taste the local food and this restaurant was highly recommended by my colleagues who are locals there. This is situated right at the heart of Shillong, at Police Bazar, on the ground floor of the same building housing Centre Point hotel and opposite to Chaudhury Pharmaceuticals which is a kind of landmark there. 

This is not exactly a fine dining place but if I wish to compare, this will be a close replica of the famous ‘Pise hotels” of Kolkata who serve authentic Bengali cuisine. This place had the same flavour, serves authentic Khasi cuisine, the interiors done up in wood as is the norm in the hills and has wooden tables and benches (not chairs, mind you). I reached here at around 1 PM and the place was already abuzz with locals thronging in. 

But surely it was devoid of any Bengali tourists who normally flood the city of Shillong and one would bump into them almost everywhere. After good fifteen minutes of waiting I could park myself on a bench. The menu was written on the wall (in literal sense) so I didn't get a menu card. 

Looking around the people and the photos of the food on the wall I could make out that rice and pork takes the centre stage here. The photos of the walls you see are the menu card and the Khasi names for them did not make any sense in my head. To make matters worse, all the waiters were ladies dressed in the typical chequered Khasi traditional wear, and a moment’s interaction proved that they did not understand a single word either in English or Hindi. All they could do is to point at the photos on the wall and hoping I would place the order. I looked quite dumb and confused sitting on the bench with not a plate in front of me where true to a pice hotel tradition, dishes were appearing and disappearing before people in lightning speed. Then I noticed the man at the small wooden counter near the entrance. He was in his late thirties, dressed in jeans and a Bluetooth device firmly struck in his ears. He was running around, chatting up people at the counter, collecting payments, taking orders and probably talking on the blue tooth device as well. That’s fine example of multi-tasking. Finally this man took notice of me as obviously I was sticking out like a sore thumb in the local crowd, looking silly in a tie. The ladies could have also reported to him that there is moron who just walked in and occupied a seat with nothing to order. Thankfully this man, Rinchen, who is also the owner of the joint, spoke fluent English and I gladly communicated that I am quite ready to take on a gastronomical journey basis his suggestion. Immediately he took the worries out of me, and he was quite delighted to hear that I have special interest in trying out his pork creations. What he suggested is basically a mixed platter of his pork delights with accompaniment of rice.

The plate that came in looked quite interesting as you can make out in the photo below. There was yellow rice and various assortment of pork , salads and pickles. Some looked familiar like the green chutney made of garlic and mint. I could see three types of pork preparations, couple of pieces of cooked meat with a delightful layer of fat. There was pork liver and a meatball. The salads were the interesting part. You see the whitish one on the plate, it was a mixture of boiled pork and fat mixed with shredded vegetables of varieties unknown to me. The blackish stuff that you also see on the plate is made of pork intestine and both tasted like heaven with the yellow rice which was laced in what I believe oil from the pork fat. The whole combination is out of the world and I was relishing every  moment. The best part is, nothing is fried (excepting the meatball) so you can eat your heart’s content. Whew what an experience.

An word of caution though to the readers. Please remember, to savour this kind of food you really need to have acquired taste. If you are someone who would hunt out a ‘Bengali Maach Bhat’ joint wherever you travel then definitely stay away from this place. But then if you are by nature adventurous in your gastronomical exploration and love pork and the North Eastern way of cooking, do try this place. You will not be disappointed. The owner Lasaraba Suiting is a very enthusiastic, friendly and jovial person and would happily assist you to select your food. The names in Khasi language might look Greek and Latin so better go with Rinchen’s suggestion and you won’t be disappointed.

Do feel free to share the BLOG so food enthusiast visiting Shillong might take note of it.

Of ZAWLEIDI and HOT DOG:

My  experience in Aizwal, Mizoram.

This time I have reached the pinnacle of my food adventure. Before my trip to Aizwal, a few friends of mine had jokingly warned me as not to have meat at restaurants due to high possibility of being served with DOG Meat in the guise of mutton. I had read and heard that Mizos, like their Nagamese counterparts love Dog meat and this is served as delicacy in their custom. Serving dog meat is also considered as a mark of respect and good hospitality shown to guests of honour at Mizo households. So I had made up my mind to have a taste of this meat.

Unfortunately and contrary to popular belief, dog meat not served at restaurants and definitely not in guise of mutton. At least I had visited a few prominent restaurants in Aizwal city and none of them serve dog meat. I asked around and learnt that dog meat is generally prepared at home by the locals. Then my dear friend and colleague Konkham Kheleshwer Singh came to my rescue. Kheleshwer is not a Mizo but hails from Manipur. He is a very competent cook and I had the chance to taste the results of his culinary skill, mostly mutton, at Dharmanagar in Tripura where he was earlier posted.

Raw Dog meat is sold freely at the market places albeit at limited no of shops. Dog meat is not sold the way goat meat is sold here by hanging the Carcass, but meat cut in chunks are kept in glass boxes. Pork, which is the most popular meat here, is also sold in same manner. Kheleshwer made all the arrangements and fresh dog meat was procured @Rs.300/- a KG. I had asked him to pick up only a small quantity just for taste as I was unsure whether I would be able to have this as a whole meal for dinner. So chicken was the main dish and about 300gm dog meet was bought for tasting.

At evening we gathered at Kheleshwer’s place who was leading a Bachelor’s life as his wife was away at Imphal. The culinary experiment had started. I had requested Kheleshwer to prepare it with liberal doses of onions, garlic and those extremely potent Mizo green chillies. It would not have been possible to have it typical Mizo way as in Mizo culinary science nothing is fried. They only have boiled food and all there dishes, be it pork or vegetables, everything look like thukpa basically floating in soupy gravy. The raw mutton (you see the photo here) looked more like goat meat and to be precise “rewazi meat” (laden with fat). This is red in colour and had lot of fat which surprised me a little. Had I not been told about it’s origin I would have mistaken it as goat meat.

And to bring the Mizo flavour in the whole affair we decided to wash it down with “Zawleidi” the local grape wine. This has an interesting history and I will share more details about it.

The cooking was done and finally it was time to taste and eat. Honestly I had my apprehension when I had my first bite but this quickly dispersed and I found the taste quite similar to well-cooked hot mutton preparation. This was made in pressure cooker and after 6 whistles the mutton was pretty soft and it wasn’t very fibrous also. The green chilly made it hot and even more delectable. These chillies are very small but once to take a bite it will make your brain go dizzy and your lips will be puckered if you are not careful. Anyway what I did not like was the ‘fat’ in the mutton. While the mutton was absolutely fine the fat tasted odd and sticky on the tongue and definitely not like goat meat or pork fat. It’s when you bite into the fat you realize something is amiss. This is the part I could not have. But overall this was a unique experience for me.

Now coming to “Zawleidi”.

Some of you must know that Mizoram is an alcohol free state. The majority of the population here are Christians and Church has a very deep influence in their lives. Due to the influence of church, the state govt has banned liquor in the state. The city doesn’t have a movie hall (apart from some &D theatres) as this is also not approved by the church. It will come as a surprise particularly if you see the lifestyle of the locals. It’s completely westernized. People, particularly youngsters go around in fancy clothing and highly modified expensive bikes. But they are basically Church Going people and Sunday for them is a time for prayer and the mass. There are many churches in the city and every village would also have a church. Christmas is the biggest celebration here and the city shuts down for about 10 days during the Christmas period.

Anyway lets go back  to the original discussion. During the year 2010, the Govt. of Mizoram, after 13 years of prohibiting grape cultivators from producing wine, has brought out Zawlaidi, the locally manufactured grape wine, by making amendments to the MLTP Act 1997. Hence it is only “Zawleidi” which is allowed for sale and consumption in the state as an alcoholic beverage. Though this is a wine the locals take it as just another aerated ‘drink’ and this is available at all restaurants.

The Zawlaidi is produced at Hnahlan, which is a small village in Champhai district, famous for its production of grapes. In Mizo language Zawlaidi means “Love Potion”. Although I can not vouch if this has any aphrodisiac qualities. About 80% of the families at Hnahlan are grape growers. Owing to this, it has become one of the most well-to-do villages in Mizoram and is aspiring to be the largest grape producer in India throwing competition to Nashik. Grape growers of Hnahlan village in Mizoram earn average of about Rs 150 lakhs annually as per the Hnahlan Grape Growers Society.

However poor infrastructure to export and dwindling local demand is putting the wine produces under financial stress and they are looking for active Govt. support to promote this. May be the Govt. should think in the line of Geographical patents like Scotch or Darjeeling tea closer at home.

Though I am in no way a connoisseur of wine, this tasted good and had a sweet pungent taste. Thought the alcohol content is not very high (about 15% if I am not wrong) but I was advised not to have more than a glass and I obliged. Having two exotic items (wine and dog meat) may prove to a become a challenge for the stomach.

So the dinner ended with the excellent chicken curry and rice and that feeling of elation to have the guts to taste out two Mizo delicacies which normally remains out of gastronomical overtures of average Bengali.

MAIHANG:

Shanti  Palace, 1^st Floor,

Near Bora Service Station,

Ulubari,Guwahati.

In Assamese this word depicts a special plate made of bell metal which was used by the nobles of Ahom dynasty. Tradition is to serve food on this kind of plate only to the head of the family or to a very special guest.

It was my third day in Guwahati when I actually found some time to venture out of my hotel to try out some North Eastern cuisine for dinner. It was usual boring business trip where I had to make do with working lunch during the day and I was returning so late it was always the typical, Indian or Chinese menu at the hotel which tasted same like every other hotels in small cities that I travelled. I was dying to try out some North Eastern cuisine, especially pork dishes, which was high on my priority list.

Maihang restaurant is now situated on GS Road at Ulubari. When I had food there the restaurant was at Bhangagarh on GS Road but it got shifted from there. This was recommended by my colleagues so I decided to try my luck there.

The restaurant is quite spacious, with typical Assamese décor complete with bamboo and mats. The staffs were courteous. True to the name they serve food on bell metal dishes and bowl which is a nice touch. The menu card was quite elaborate with a large array of pork, fish, pigeon, duck and chicken preparations with choice of different kind of rice including the “Red Rice” and “Black Rice”

After some serious discussion with the waiters over the choice I had decided to order for Pork, Duck and Fish. I chose to give the Pigeon meat a miss as I had tried this before but did not like it. Less of meat and too much bones. The choice of fish was quite interesting, most of them were known species to me but some were new. There was choice of Boreli, Ari, Chital, Goroi, Kawoi, magur, Moa, Tenga and Hilsa. Boreli is a favourite in North East and found in Bramhaputra. I choose a preparation with mustard, or ‘sorse bata’.

Pork preparations came with choice of Axoni, Mejinga, Bamboo Shoot, Black Dal or bitter gourd. There was an option of ‘Pork Patot Diya” which the waiter explained me is smoked pork that came wrapped in banana leaf. I had also ordered for Duck Meat with Gourd which bore a warning sign of ‘three red chillis’ on the menu card. I had also ordered for “Red Rice” which is actually dark red in colour and broken, something akin to the rice used in Chinese fried rice. I asked the manager if they mix something to produce this colour but I was told that it’s the natural colour of the rice. This kind of rice is produced in Meghalaya and they get it from there.

The preparations were great. The Duck meat was HOT and I mean real HOT, so much so I could feel smoke coming out of my ears. The pork meat was amazing. The pieces were soft and succulent, with a smoky taste with half meat and half laced with fat. The fish was rather uninspiring. I was served a large ‘ring piece’ but Boreli is something like ‘Aar’ and unlike Hilsa or Bhetki, doesn’t have taste of it’s own. But the mustard curry tasted real good. I read on the menu that in English “boreli’ is basically “Fresh Water Shark”, hardly had bones and fatty and bit sticky meat.

Good dinner and the restaurant carries my recommendation for anyone with a taste of North Eastern cuisine.

PARAMPARA:

Paradise Hotel, 1^st Floor,

Near Goswami Service,

Silpukhri, Guwahati.

This is another traditional place for typical Assamese cuisine. Also this is a place which gives pork preparations a miss. Situated at Silpukhri this is a part of the Paradise Hotel and situated on the 1^st floor. As you enter paradise hotel, there is a restaurant at ground floor that my confuse you but you need to go straight upto 1^st floor. 

The restaurant is spacious with comfortable seating arrangements. This is a ‘Thali’ special restaurant and you will see everybody is ordering the ‘Thali’. The thali comes in various prices and varieties. They do have separate non veg and veg items which include some Chinese varieties but all are part of the one Thali or Other. It also works out to be cheaper to order a Thali so you get to taste all the varieties.

 We decided to ‘make it large’ and ordered the largest & the costliest of the Thali’s, the ‘Parampara Thali’ which came at a price of Rs.450/- plus taxes. This one will get you to taste most of the preparations on offer but be warned you also need to be blessed with a large appetite to tackle this one.

There was a ‘welcome drink’ part of the thali. This turned out to be gooseberry or ‘Amla Juice’. Though it didn’t taste all that bad but the green colour of the juice somehow puts me off as it reminds me of ‘Dabur Amla Hair Oil’ of similar colour. Nows that’s not exactly become an appetizer if your mind force you to think that you are drinking amla hair oil instead of the juice that it was. 

Anyway the ordeal  was soon over and massive thalis and a huge assortment of bowls landed in front of us. I felt like a ‘Jamai’ on his first ‘jamaisasthi’ at his in-laws place. The waiters silently and mechanically started landing bowl after bowl on our tables.  A neat white heap of fine aromatic rice was placed in the middle and apart from the typical Dal (lentil) and Alu Pitika (Alu Chokha) most of the vegetarian dishes looked unfamiliar to me.    So we caught hold of the rather unwilling waiter and proceed to do a thorough reconciliation of the visual with the printed data on menu card.

So one by one we went. There was something that looked like mixed vegetable sautéed together which turned out to be ‘Khar’. The designer fries that you see in the photo were probably ‘Kumro Phool Bhaja. 

There were two more stuffs which looked like paste and pickle. One was made from mustard paste, mustard oil and tamarind and called “Kahudi”. Another pungent smelling & hot paste turned out to be “Khorisa” which is essentially a mix of fermented bamboo shoot seasoned in mustard oil and red chillies. There was “Mahob Guri’ which is powdered gram lentils with salt, lemon juice and chillies.

We had ordered for Duck meat. Pigeon meat was also a choice but I never liked pigeon meat because the previous experiences were never pleasant. It only lots of bones with very less meat and by no means value for money. Duck meat was prepared with pepper but somehow I am not too keen on preparations with pepper. I prefer chillies to make dishes hot. The steamed fish was good, wrapped in leaf as is our very own Paturi but tasted quite different.

But the killer punch was at the end and it was the sweet dish. Perhaps for this one dish only I will go back again and again. This is Assamese called “Jalpan Pitha”. This is basically fine translucent puffed rice spread over thick cream and topped with fine ‘nolen gur’ served in a separate container. The puffed rice was unique. I have never seen similar translucent and crisp puffed rice in Kolkata.

So the ending sweet note was simply great. This one is definitely recommended if you are in Guwahati. 

KUNGA RESTAURANT:

51 Gandhi Road, Darjeeling

Though it is not North Eastern but I thought I will include it here for the awesome Nepali & Tibetan food.

Kunga Resturant is small, almost non-descript little eatery situated on Gandhi Road, Darjeeling. This is the road near Keventer’s which leads to the Planter’s club. 

Small it might be, but this little restaurant offers one of the best Tibetan dishes on this part of the country. Set up in 1993 by a Tibetan couple, this 24 seater joint offers a wide array of Tibetan cuisine. If your mind is somehow restricted to Momos and Thukpas when it comes to Tibetan cuisine you should have a look at their menu card. If you are a connoisseur of meat, particularly Pork and Beef, this place will enchant you. Before I came to Darjeeling I was generally making enquiries about good eating places and I wanted to get beyond Glenerys and Keventers. This place was recommended by at least four of my friends but none of them could recall the name. However they were able to provide a pretty clear idea about the location of this restaurant and I did not have much difficulty in locating it. I saw the Trip Advisor certificate hung on the wood panelled wall which proclaimed that the place is rated with four and half (out of five). There was quite a crowd waiting for their turns during midday and I noticed a significant population of foreigners amongst the waiting customers. We got our place after half an hour since there were nine of us. We started with the standard Pork Momo and the taste was awesome. The secret of tasty steam momo lies in it’s juiciness and they sure have mastered the art. Other items on the menu were Beef Noodles, and Thukpa Gyanthuk. You will also get Thenthuk and Bhagthuk soups with a choice of Chicken, Pork or Beef. The noodles were succulent and long which you can keep meandering up on the fork. A rarity these days as all noodles taste dry and broken, even at some famed eateries in Kolkata. The dumplings in the wonton soup also tasted great. So much so we went back on the next day and had our fill with Beef & Pork Curry rice followed by some thick and creamy mango milk shake.

This place had surely maintained the quality from day one and Aunt Diki still cooks and supervises the kitchen personally. She is a quite affable lady and you are likely get a warm welcome from her as you step in. I liked the modest décor and the overall ambiance. The good part is on a chilly night the proximity of the kitchen will keep you warm and cosy, accentuated by equally warm hospitality of Aunt Diki.

The NAGALAND Experience:

CHINGTSUONG at  Kohima

It was time to set foot in Nagaland.

I have been looking forward to trip for a long time. Though I had been to most other states which are part of seven sisters, I never had a trip to Nagaland before. Nagaland is exotic in every sense, the scenic beauty, it’s people, it’s unique culture and of course the Naga cuisine. All of it sets it distinctly apart from the rest of the country. For a gastronomically adventurous person like me, Nagaland is like a wet dream. It’s a land where anything that walks, crawls, slithers, swims or flies are included as food, to the extent that cannibalism was not uncommon among few warrior tribes.

It’s an insane world as far as food is concerned.  I did taste of Naga cuisine quite a few times at Guwahati. There are several restaurants which serve good Naga food. The restaurant chains like ‘Naga Kitchen’ & ‘Nagameez’ to name a few.  However you can never beat the authentic, so I was looking forward to an exciting & gastronomically enriching journey in Nagaland.

My first stop was at Dimapur, at Assam, Nagaland border. However Dimapur is just like another dusty, dirty commercial town in Assam. It is too close to Assam border and you can’t hope to get a flavor of real Nagaland at this border town. So all I did was to have vegetarian food at a ‘Marwari Basa’ which I must say was awesome.

Next day it was time to climb the hills. Kohima was some seventy odd kilometers drive from Dimapur through beautiful winding ghat roads. As the car climbed up, the beauty of Naga Hills unfurled before my eyes. The weather turned crisp and I could feel the nip in the air, definitely a welcoming change after the sweltering heat of Dimapur.

Our branch manager at Kohima is Ruuvilie Angami, an ever smiling guy in his mid-thirties. He belongs to the Anagami tribe, the largest and most prominent of all Naga tribes. His ancestral home is at a village called ‘Khonoma’ situated some 30 kms away from Kohima. I couldn’t find a better person to accompany me on the food journey and he gladly took charge. Ruuvilie himself is a foodie and a good cook. His only regret was he could not cook for me and let me have a taste of authentic Naga cuisine as time was a huge constraint. I couldn’t help but feeling sad. I had very little time in hand as it was practically a day trip. So upon his suggestion, we decided to have lunch at a small joint near our office where he said that I could have a taste of authentic Naga cuisine.

It was a short walk from our office, almost inconspicuous among a maze of ill planned and shabby looking buildings at a street corner. The restaurant was on first floor. We climbed on the rickety wooden staircase, ducking our head so as not to get bumped on the low ceiling.  It took couple of seconds for my eyes to adjust and focus in the semi-darkness once we were inside the room. It was a rather small room with plastic tables and chairs laid out to accommodate approximately 25 odd people. Apart from a couple sitting at a far corner, the restaurant was empty. The room was done up in wood and what first struck me was the décor. There was a small counter at one end, giving the appearance of a tiny thatched hut. A small skull of a monkey hung from a rope made of bamboo stripes in the middle. Around the skull head a strange mane like décor made of dry leaves hung, giving it a grotesque look. Just behind the skull, in a thin wooden frame the name of the restaurant was made out using thin pliant cane which read ‘CHINGTSUONG’. I couldn’t pronounce it and readers are free to draw their own conclusion. 

 Looking around I could see a galore of skulls, mostly of small animals which looked like deer, lined up across the walls near the thatched ceiling. On the lower part of the walls there were skins of animals and birds stretched out. One I could identify as armadillo at the cash counter. On one corner there was an array of large feathers which I would presume of some large bird of prey. At the far end, on the wall, crossed and decorated spears typical to Naga tribe were on display,. The décor gave me a sense that this one is going to be different.

A look at the menu card confirmed my hunch. It was a short two pager menu card, but the contents will either make you puke or salivate, depending on your attitude towards different food habits, even before sighting the actual food. And I presume the faint hearted or a vegan wouldn’t dare venturing out at a Naga eatery. For me the general feeling was ecstasy.

Yes it was everything imaginable, I am not even mentioning chicken, who would travel to Nagaland for chicken? The menu had the whole nine yards, pork and beef, both in fresh, smoked and dried variety. Frogs are available, so is dog meat. Fat, Juicy worms & insects will be served fried or boiled as you would prefer.   A variety of Fish including dry fish is available with ‘eel’ as special mention. For the lover of organs, they serve beef innards, brain & tongue.

Another Naga delicacy is meat (pork, beef or chicken) marinated with herbs and put into the hollow of the bamboo nodes and slow cooked over fire. This is probably common in many tribal food habits across India. The tribal communities of Andhra & Southern Odisha also have the same preparation, though the process of marinating the meat and herbs used may vary. 

In Naga cuisine there is hardly any concept of frying, mostly the meat is boiled or had in dried smoked form. During long and bitter winter in the mountain, chunks of meat anointed with salt are hung over the wooden stove at the kitchen of Naga households, and get smoked over days. The meat gets preserved that way and the family continues to survive on it, when they couldn’t go out hunting. Meat is often combined with Axioni, or the fermented soyabean, Anishi, dried paste of Yam leaves and also with bamboo shoots which are quite popular in the hills. The smell of fermented soyabean combined with smoked meat can be overpowering for people not accustomed to such cuisine.   Not to forget the liberal use of famous King Chilli and this makes some of preparation exceedingly hot to have. Probably that’s why Naga cuisine is never so widely popular and only people with acquired taste can appreciate the finer side of Naga cooking.

The menu also included ‘wild meat’ which is said to be served only basis availability and price can only be decided at time of placing the order. On inquiring what could be ‘wild meat’ the owner simply replied anything that comes from the forest. Later Ruuvilie told me that this could range from jungle fowl, wild boar, dear and even bears (yes you read it right, not a typo).

But then isn’t hunting prohibited? I asked in astonishment.

This is Nagaland sir, and hunting is in the blood of the tribes and part of the tribal culture. So they cannot do away with hunting.

That settled it for me I guess and I turned back my concentration on the menu.

The sad part was most of the exotic items were available against prior order and depended on availability. And I was on a short notice, my neck on leash as I was on a business trip.

So I had to settle with the pork preparations which were readily available. I choose pork with bamboo shoot and smoked pork with ‘Anishi’, along with rice.

The main menu was simple. Rice was served on a salver made of interwoven bamboo stripes with a large leaf laid out on it. There was a heap of sticky rice, made out of locally produced rice accompanied with boiled brinjal and boiled cabbage leaves. A small plate contained pickle made from the fiery Naga Chilly. With over one million Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) count, if taken carelessly this can make you end up with teary eyes, running nose, burning tongue and lips and hiccups which will refuse to stop.  

Three other bowls were served. One bowl contained a clear soupy liquid, with bits of vegetable floating which is called ‘thangma’ in the dialect of the ‘AO’ tribe. The other two bowls contained pork with bamboo shoot (the whitish preparation as in the photo) and smoked pork with ‘Anishi’ (the dark coloured preparation). Both contained mild gravy and delightful chunks of pork with right balance of fat & meat. ‘Anishi’ is prepared from the leaves of ‘Yam’ plant. The leaves are first pounded to make into a cake and then dried over fire till it becomes hard and dark in colour. ‘Anishi’ is used as a delightful accompaniment with smoked meats, pork, beef and even ‘eel’.

We mixed the ‘thangma’ and pork gravy with the sticky rice. As goes the name, this is prepared from small, broken and slightly aromatic rice produced locally and water is not fully extracted after cooking so the grains become sticky. Both the pork preparations tasted great and as I expected they were different from ‘pork with Bamboo shoot’ which I had at Guwahati restaurant. I wouldn’t rate it good or bad but it was just ‘different’.

While I enjoyed both the preparations, I repeat that it’s not upto everybody’s taste and most people may find the smell of smoked meat, offensive.

The small course was followed by black tea with lemon, served in wooden glasses. This was locally grown and brewed, which Ruuvilie said, is taken as a digestive drink after a heavy meal.

 The meal ended with special Naga ‘churan’ served in a wooden platter which one needs to take with a pinch of salt. You can see the black powdered stuff in the photo. Again this is a Naga version of Hajmola.

It was an amazing experience no doubt and I promised to myself that I will come back here with more time to taste the really exotic ones on offer. I just hope I will have the guts to go through the meal.