KOLKATA (CITY OF JOY)

Today I am back with the second part of the mouther watering Bengali snacks.  As we all know it very well that snacks along with tea, holds an important position in Bengali culture and society. Without wasting that much of your time, it's better to start the blog.

Kolkata formerly Calcutta is located on the banks of River Hooghly. Kolkata use to be the capital city of India during the British rule later on it was shifted to Delhi. Now Kolkata is the capital city of West Bengal.
As a whole, Bengali snacks are very delicious and vibrant in nature. As I have mentioned this point earlier in my previous blog post. However, still I am mentioning this point because Bengali snacks has compelled me to do so.

Let’s start our journey in the world of Bengali snacks:




IMAGE SOURCE| GOOGLE|Sumit Surai

·         Vegetable cutlet:  Vegetable cutlet can be counted as one of the most popular Bengali snack after Jhal muri and Aloo kabli. Bengalis are fond of eating deep-fried snacks and Vegetable cutlet holds the first position in the list of deep-fried Bengali snacks. Actually vegetable cutlet can be compared to croquettes very easily. The vegetable cutlet tastes sweet and melts inside the mouth. Because beetroot, carrot, and potato are mainly used as the primary ingredients. Peanuts are primarily added to the vegetable cutlet to give an additional texture to the cutlet. Vegetable cutlets can be considered as one of the pocket-friendly Bengali snacks. In recent time Vegetable cutlet has also gained massive popularity in the neighboring states of West Bengal, like Bihar and Jharkhand. A plate of vegetable chop costs around 30 INR.

GHUGNI 


·         Ghugni: Ghugni is one of the iconic dishes that can be found everywhere on the busy streets of Kolkata and other cities of West Bengal. In the rural areas of West Bengal, Ghugni is also consumed as a breakfast item along with muri (puffed rice). Ghugni is also gaining massive popularity as ghugni chat in the streets of Kolkata and other important locations of West Bengal. Basically, in Ghugni chat ghugni is served with some toppings like Papdi (a kind of Indian crackers), chopped onion, chopped cilantro, chopped green chili, tamarind water is added to give an added punch to it. In the end, it is decorated with sev. 

Ghugni is a subtle curry dish that is prepared from sun-dried white peas which are known as matar karai along with chopped potatoes, garlic, onion, ginger and few other spices. Among all the spices bhaja masala is the most important one. One plant of Ghugni cost around 15-20 INR.



IMAGE SOURCE|GOOGLE|Biswarup Ganguly

·         Singara (Samosa): Singara is widely as known as Samosa throughout the Indian Subcontinent. Singara becomes a massive hit in Bengal during the rainy days. A cup of Darjeeling tea accompanied by singara is one of the best things one can have.

Coating of singara is mainly prepared from Maida, and the stuffing inside the singara is made from boiled mashed potato mixed with some Indian spices and peanuts. But in winter the filling of singara gets an add-on, which is fulkopi means cauliflower. As time is changing, people are trying to experiment with food, and similar things are happening with sigara. These days, some people use noodles, minced meat, chicken, and paneer as a stuffing for singara. But the original taste of singara lies in the years-old great grandmother's recipe. A single piece of singara cost around 7-10 INR.


IMAGE SOURCE|GOOGLE|Hrishikes

·         Gutka Kachori: Gutka Kachori is one of the famous and many years-old Bengali snacks. Finding Gutka Kachori in the busy streets of West Bengal is not a matter of big deal. Gutka Kachori are mainly deep-fried maida balls stuffed with chatu (Sattu)  mixed with other spices. A single piece of Gutka Kachori cost around 20 INR. The price of the Kachori entirely depends on the size of the Kachori.