This is a review of a pop up ‘Firinghee thala’ by food historian & culinary artist Pritha sen, at Ekdalia rd restaurant by Surojit rout, a Finance professional who worked as Solution Architect in Global IT firm who left his job in America to open this restaurant in kolkata In a NUtshell: A pop up that laid out dishes that showcase (with huge success), global … Continue reading Ekdalia Rd (4/2 Ekdalia Road , kolkata)
In a NUtshell: A nice, evening place, with retro live music , serving Indian food (from across the country) by a chef who has thousands of fans in gurgaon – Sushmit Daniels Address & other details: anticlock Meal for 2: ₹700 onwards Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has … Continue reading Anti clock (park inn by radisson, Moolchand, New Delhi)
This is a part of series on decades old pice hotels of kolkata where almost nothing has changed over time and they still serve freshly made food from catch of the day and usually serve at cheap prices as compared to any restaurant In a nutshell: A 104 years old pice hotel where time seemed to stand still, a visually missable facade on an important … Continue reading Hotel Tarun Niketan (on rashbehari avenue, between Tara road and Raja Basanta Roy Road, kolkata)
This is a part of series on decades old pice hotels of kolkata where almost nothing has changed over time and they still serve freshly made food from catch of the day and usually serve at cheap prices as compared to any restaurant In a nutshell: A 80 year old pice hotel that has the original eatery intact and has added a new air conditioned … Continue reading Hotel sidheswari ashram (19, Rani rashmoni Road, new market area, Kolkata)
This is a part of series on decades old pice hotels of kolkata where almost nothing has changed over time and they still serve freshly made food from catch of the day and serve at dirt cheap prices. In a NUtshell: A 62 year old pice hotel that serves daily Bengali food to officegoers, has a facade that might remind you of a haunted … Continue reading Jagannath bhojanalaya ( beside times of india building, SN Banerjee road, kolkata)
In a NUtshell:A restaurant manned by ‘cold’ people, members of ‘no laughter club’ , the restaurant has average ambience and serves very good food Address & other details: The calcutta club Meal for 2: ₹500 onwards Cuisine type : vegetarian and non vegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & … Continue reading The calcutta club (22, link plaza, near police station, Oshiwara , Andheri West, mumbai)
This is a part of the series of eating out at pice hotels in kolkata ( decades old, sometimes century old eateries that still serve authentic Bengali food). In a NUtshell: A 120 year old eatery that serves very tasty authentic Bengali food – if u can ignore the old not well maintained interiors, u will surely have a great memorable culinary experience garnished with … Continue reading Jaganmata bhojanalaya (Kailash Bose street, near Vivekananda road and bidhan sarani crossing, kolkata)
In a nutshell: A super tiny 9 seater restaurant that serves outstanding bengali ‘home food’ , at times with a twist. This was the closest to home cooked food among all my bengali food eat outs that I can remember. Address & other details: Big Bongg Theory Meal for 2: Rs 500 onwards. Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ … Continue reading Big Bongg theory (122, Shahpur Jat, New Delhi)
This is a part of the series ……. For the Chef in u
Contributed by YUMMRAJ’s favourite Chef ANONYMOUS
Super easy to make & Super good to eat……………
Machher paturi (fish in banana leaf)
U can try this with boneless fillets of fishes like betki or even with pieces of Hilsa (ilish) that have bones. U can try this recipe with prawns as well.
For all of u who stay in Coastal states of India, procuring banana leaf is easy. For the rest, there are markets in all cities that sell regional food – check those places out. In case u do not get it, use aluminum foil instead. The taste will almost be the same. The flavor of banana leaf will be missing.
banana leaves cut into square pieces for paturi
Take 1 inch size cubes of 300 grams boneless betki / standard sized pieces of other fish like hilsa.
Grind 3 tablespoons of mustard with 4 green chillies to a smooth paste. Grate ¼ coconut & keep aside.
The ingredients of machher paturi
Mix together the mustard paste, grated coconut, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 tablespoon mustard oil & salt to taste. Apply this paste to the fish pieces evenly & leave it to marinate for 1 hour.
This is a part of the series ……. For the Chef in u
Contributed by YUMMRAJ’s favourite Chef ANONYMOUS
Super easy to make & Super good to eat……………
Chhanar Dalna – Bengali style home made paneer / cottage cheese
Historically curdling of milk was not considered to be good generally in India & particularly in Bengal. With the advent of the Portuguese in mid 1600s, came the cottage cheese & it is from there that the Bengali cooks learnt the use of chhana (paneer) for cooking as well as for making sweets.
Chhanar dalna is a homemade cottage cheese & potato curry.
For making the chhana, boil 2 liters of full cream milk. When it comes to a boil, add juice of 3 whole lemon. The milk curdles. Take a muslin cloth, place it over a large vessel. Pour the curdled milk over the muslin to separate the chhana (cottage cheese) from whey.
Discard the whey & tie the muslin cloth to a potli (see picture). Hang it for 2-3 hours from a height so that the excess whey drains out.
From here , there are two methods –
Method 1: What I have inherited from my family.
Method 2: Experimented as advised by Paromita Dey
Draining the whey by hanging it from a muslin cloth
Method1:
Place the potli on a flat surface & put something heavy on the top for 30 minutes to flatten the Chhana.
Flattening the chhana
Take out the chhana from the cloth carefully & place on a cutting board.
The lump of chhana on a cutting board
Use a sharp knife to cut the chhana chunk into pieces. If u use a blunt knife, the chhana might break / become uneven.
the chhana cut into pieces
Fry the chhana pieces in 1 tablespoon oil on slow fire till they start getting golden brown.