'Kolkata Adda' - Flavour of Bengali cuisine

Mouthwatering dishes prepared in authentic Bengali style are set to add special flavour to the Durga Puja celebrations in a special food festival here.
Traditional fish dishes like steamed hilsa fish (Eelish mach bhape), hot and spicy fish (Pabda macher jhal) as well as customary finger licking deserts like 'Mishti doi' and 'Notun gurer payesh' are part of "Kolkata Adda" at the Park hotel here.
"For bengalis, mustard is an important ingredient and for the festival I have prepared old recipes with variations to it. I have used ingredients like mango-ginger and kasundi (mustard)," says chef Anurag Basu.
Basu,who is new to the city, says he wanted to bring back the memories of a traditional Bengali meal.

So for the festival, which ends on October 13, he says he has tried to rustle up lunch and dinner buffets, all served on traditional banana leaves placed on platters.
Basu takes various types of fishes enjoyed by Bengalis, sourced mainly from Chittaranjan Park, and fashions them into different dishes.

Apart from the rohu and hilsa fishes, other key non vegetarian items on offer are prawns in coconut milk (Chingri macher malai curry), mutton curry (Kosha Mangsho), Chicken in poppy seed gravy (Posto murgi) etc.
Rice, stuffed luchis and Dhakai parathas, aloo posto (stir fried potatoes with poppy seeds) Mishti pulao (nutmeg flavored sweet pulao) are available for the main course.

To round of the meal, desserts like Mishit doi (sweet curd) Patishapta (Coconut stuffed pancakes) Chanar jilipi Cheese jalebis are also available.
"The flavour of the mishti doi, curd which is mixed with jaggery is enhanced by serving it in a mud vessel. That is the traditional style," Basu says.
The chef has also created lipsmaking Notun gurer payesh (new jaggery rice kheer) and an icecream made from new jaggery and served in a sugar basket.