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For senior chef Hrushikesh Kar, Calcutta restaurant Bhojohori Manna was really manna from heaven. For, around the time that he wound up his successful 14-year-old Bengali cuisine catering business, the owners of Bhojohori Manna, a Bengali speciality restaurant, took him on board.
Kar has seen the fortunes of the restaurant — named after a famous Bengali song by Manna Dey — rise since it opened in 2003. The first outlet, which opened near South Point School in Calcutta as a luchi-and-alur dum outlet, has now expanded its menu to include a wider gamut of Bengali dishes. The restaurant has eight outlets in Calcutta and one each in Siliguri, Bangalore and Mumbai.
Kar is in charge of the centralised kitchen at Kasba where all the dishes are cooked and sent to the other seven branches in Calcutta. He shares his favourite recipes with us.
Kosha mangsho
Ingredients 1kg lamb with bone 300gm onion paste 50gm ginger paste 25gm garlic paste 150gm tomatoes, chopped 100gm yogurt 2gm cinnamon 2gm cardamom 4-5 bay leaves 25gm turmeric powder 25gm red chilli powder 100ml mustard oil Salt to taste 15gm garam masala Chopped coriander leaves for garnishing
Method Pour the mustard oil in a wok, let it heat and add cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaves. When the spices start crackling, add the ginger, garlic and onion pastes. Fry the mixture till it turns golden brown. Add turmeric and red chilli powder. Cook for two minutes and then add the chopped tomatoes and yogurt. Cook for another five minutes and add the lamb to the curry. Cover the wok and cook for 10 minutes or until the curry releases the oil. Now, pour in a cup of water to the mixture and let it simmer for 30 minutes or until the lamb is tender. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, sprinkle garam masala powder on top and serve piping hot.
Chhanar dalna
Ingredients 1kg chhana (cottage cheese) 100gm flour 100gm sugar 50gm ginger 100ml mustard oil 5gm mace 2 nutmegs 2.5gm cinnamon 2.5gm cardamom 100ml ghee 5 bay leaves 100gm cashewnut 1 coconut 300ml yogurt 150gm tomatoes 25gm red chilli powder 10gm garam masala powder Coriander leaves and split green chillies for garnish Salt to taste
Method Grate the coconut and grind it in a mixer to a paste. In a separate bowl mix the chhana with flour. Add water to make a hard dough and cut it into small pieces and deep fry in mustard oil. Put ghee in a wok and add the mace, nutmegs, bay leaves, cinnamon and cardamom for tempering. Add ginger and tomatoes when the spices start to crackle. Cook for two minutes and add the yogurt, cashewnuts, coconut paste, sugar, salt and red chilli powder. Add a cup of water to the mixture and cook for five minutes. Add the fried chhana and garam masala powder. Cover and cook for five more minutes on low heat. Garnish with chopped coriander and slit green chillies and serve hot.
Ilish Barishali
Ingredients 1kg hilsa 150ml mustard oil 25gm turmeric powder 25gm green chillies Salt to taste 5gm kalonji 25gm yogurt 75gm mustard paste 1kg cashewnut paste 1 coconut, ground into paste 10gm green chilli paste
Method Marinate the fish in salt and a little turmeric powder and leave for an hour. Add half the mustard paste to the coconut and cashewnut pastes and apply on the fish. Heat 125ml oil in a wok and add green chillies and kalonji. Add the remaining turmeric powder, green chilli paste and yogurt and cook for three minutes. Then add the remaining mustard paste along with a little water. Cover and cook for another five minutes. Add the fish and simmer for 10 minutes. Add 25ml mustard oil and a whole green chilli. Cook for two minutes and serve hot.
As told to Saimi Sattar; Photographs by Jagan Negi
Thought for food
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Nigella Sativa is an annual flowering plant, native to South Asia, the seed of which is popular as the spice kalonji in Indian cuisine. Apart from that, it is also used in South Asian countries to treat ailments including asthma, rheumatism and bronchitis. The seed’s medicinal uses have earned it the Arabic approbation habbatul barakah, meaning the ‘seed of blessing’.
