The Cuisine of Kolkata

Located at the eastern banks of river Hooghly, Kolkata is the capital city of West Bengal. The city has a good taste for art, music and food, which make it an ideal place for foodies to explore the rich culture and cuisine of this magnificent city. Kolkata cuisine, basically, includes most of the Bengali dishes, especially the delightful and delicious sweet dishes. Food lovers are never disappointed by Kolkata. You will find vendors and hawkers that will serve you every Bengali dish from snacks to full rice meals. Here are a few of the dishes that you must try when you visit Kolkata.

Luchi – Luchi is, basically, flat bread, which is deep fried and is a major dish of Bengali and Assamese cuisine and is made from refined flour. The bread is mildly sweet and crispy texture from outside.

Cholaar Dal – Cholaar dal is a delicious food item that is prepared for festive occasions such as Durga Pooja. It includes lentils that are steam cooked along with Bengal gram. It contains a lot of spices, ghee and coconut.

Kochuri – Kochuri is, basically fried Indian bread that is stuffed with filling of peas. It is served with boiled potato curry called as Alurdum.

Telebhaja – Telebhaja is a teatime snack that is made from Brinjal slices that are dipped in a batter of gram flour and are deep fried. If you come to Kolkata and you do not taste telebhaja, you have missed something very much enjoyable.

Cutlet – Cutlets are tasty snacks that are made from minced meat of fish, chicken, beef or mutton dipped in batter and deep fried and make good teatime snack. Apart from these dishes, the sweet dishes of Kolkata are world famous for their taste and ecstasy. Some of the major sweet dishes that you can find here are as follows.

Rasgulla – It is a very famous and a delightful syrup dish popular in India and Mauritius. It is made from Chhena, which is Indian version of cottage cheese along with semolina. The balls are made from the dough, and then, they are cooked on a very slow flame. After cooking, they are soaked for a long time in sugar syrup. They are served chilled for the best taste.

Sandesh – Sandesh is another exotic Bengali sweet dish that is made from milk and sugar. It is made from cottage cheese or chhena by tossing it on low heat along with sugar. After it is cooked, it is shaped into small balls and they are ready to be served. Several recipes of sandesh state need for curd and paneer instead of milk. The balls of sandesh are also garnished with dry fruits, and then, the essence of fruits is added to them.

Misti Doi – Misti doi is specially prepared and fermented yoghurt and is made from sugar and milk along with a lot of dry fruits, saffron and some additional ingredients for flavours.

Langcha – Langcha is also called as sweetmeat of Bengal. It is made from cottage cheese, khoya and several different flours of various grains. It is fried and has an oval shape dipped in lots of sugar syrup.

Kulfi- Kulfi is a sweet food item that is served in most of the places in India and has been one of the favourites of people of Kolkata. It is an Indian version of ice cream made from khoya and dry fruits anFamous Food Kolkatad is served with Lachha or vermicelli noodles.

The street foods like puchka, Jhalmuri, churmur, kathi roll, ghugni, shingra, etc. are also a real delight and one must try them when in Kolkata. With such a large variety of food items, Kolkata is really a paradise for food lovers and travellers.