In one of my earlier
posts, I have mentioned about my weakness towards ice creams and other junk
foods. Well, high time for a confession, I guess. I am a foodie, a junk foodie!
I have a deep
unconditional love for certain food items, some traditional and some just like
that ones. Out of the traditional ones, I swear by kochuri and aloo r torkari
or aloo r dam. These are two typical
Bengali delicacies that are popular breakfast items for the many morning walkers
in the city (Kolkata), as well as stop over and get energised snacks on the go
type food. For me, it works both ways.
Kochuris are the stuffed version of luchi.
Luchis are deep fried Indian
flatbreads prepared with maida/refined
flour/all-purpose flour that is typical to Bengali cuisine along with Assamese,
Oriya and Maithili. The dough is kneaded with oil or ghee and water to ensure
its fluffy when fried. Luchis make me
go weak on knees at any given point of time and I am known in the family for
eating only luchi and cholar dal (split Bengal gram or chana
dal) and aloo r dum or Dum Aloo at any occasion and brutally
ignoring the others in the row. Yeah, that happens even now also when I am not
in sane self! J
So, these stuffed luchis or Kochuris come in varieties such as Koraishutir Kochuri (green peas stuffed luchis), Hing r Kochuri (asafoetida
flavoured luchis), Radha ballavi (lentils stuffed luchis) and Chhatu r Kochuri (fried sattoo
stuffed luchis). These are all eaten
with the typical Bengali style cooked aloo
r torkari (spicy potato sabzi) or Dum
aloo (spicy and dry potato sabzi). All of these varieties are occasionally
prepared at my home or I get to eat them when I get invited (they know what I
love to eat, I guess perks of being vocal about fondness for certain foods).
But the real attraction lies somewhere else!
Image credit: mellownspicy.com |
Image credit: bhalokhabo.blogspot.com |
Kolkata or West Bengal
or rather Bengalis are known all across the globe for the sweets and snacks.
They are a part of our core identity. We are by default the sweet people! So,
the city is ruled by sweetshops at every nook and corner and some big brands
like KC Das, Banchharam have ventured
outside Kolkata to bring these delicacies to other cities and countries. I have
a few favourite places whose kochuris
are must haves whenever I am at Kolkata They are radhaballavi from Balaram
Mallick, Hing r kochuri from the
stalls in Deshapriya Park opposite to Monalisa Guest House and Sharma’s, Koraishutir Kochuri from KC Das and
other shops (since this is a winter delicacy, almost all the shops make them
during this time), and the chhatur
kochuri that my mom makes. It’s fun to stand and eat at the shops whenever
you are passing by or missed your lunch or in mood to have a nice snack.
Well, there it is. My
confession. J
I am linking this post
to A to Z Challenge #Day 11 for alphabet K.
This concept (stuffed luchis) seems to be quite popular with dosas also. You now get 'masala dosa' with various kinds of 'masala' instead of the traditional potato 'masala'.
ReplyDeleteThe food sounds great and good to share...
ReplyDeleteSusan
Garden of Eden Blog
Mouth watering :) I will try this out the next time I travel to Kolkata.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the rest of the challenge
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