I am kind of biased about food from Bengal. And supported by The Park Hotels, I am venturing into rediscovering the regional food in our country, to bring them into our kitchens. Santhals are a tribe in Bengal and we had created this dish last year for a bespoke meal. It is a very slow-cooked dish made with all fresh ingredients; they don’t use fine spices. They only use whole spices, crushed in a rustic way. There are hardly any tomatoes in it, only a mix of onion, garlic
Starters
Kolkata Fusion Mezze: Rajasthani Papad, Khakhra, Papri, Kochu Bhaja (yam chips), Panch Phoran Lavash with an array of dips — Doi Labna, Baingan Ganouge, Pepper Coulis, Mix Achari Chutney
Bondel cheese — plain and marinated with olives
Fish Bonda with Tomato Kasundi Pesto
Nolen Gur Chilli Chicken Tikka
Anda Parantha with Hot Basil Chutney
Chhole Kulcha, with White Onion and Green Chilli Pesto
Asparagus Arancini with Gondhoraj Lemon Tartare
Hot Basil Vegetable-Stuffed Ravioli, with Red Curry Dip
Mains
Old Park Street Classics
Baked Fish Florentine — the classic French dish of baked fish on a bed of spinach
Vegetable and Mushroom Stroganoff — another classic cooked with vegetables and mushrooms in a creamy sauce, finished with gherkins
Herb Butter Rice
This is a kind of an affair between my south Indian cook and my Thai cook! Malaysians usually have their curry with either rice or noodles or Malaysian
Fusion
Kuttu Paratha with Thai Green Chicken Curry
Malaysian Vegetable Curry served with Steamed Folded and Stuffed Madurai Idli
Khichri is something that is going to become the national super dish. Recently there has been a lot happening around this dish, which has several varieties across the country. The way Bengalis cook their khichri is different from what you get in the south. The word khichri also means a mixture of things… an amalgamation of a lot of things. The inspiration for this khichri came from a dish called
Khichri
Chettinad Lamb Khichri served with Patchadi
Wild Mushroom Khichri with Truffle Salted Papad
Santhali Tribal Platter
Santhali Pork Curry
Enchor Aloo Dum
Masoor Dal Chorchori
Steamed Unpolished Rice
Desserts
Assortment of flavoured ice cream — activated charcoal, black sesame and green pista
Filter Coffee Kulfi Rockets
Warm Gajar Halwa Strudel with Rabri
What If Rum Balls Were Made of Whisky (served warm with vanilla ice cream)
Small bites: Each starter had a different flavour element to it. The Anda Parantha is an inspirational dish. We initially did a pesto egg roll, which turned out very well. So we wanted to play with egg and pesto together. That’s why we combined egg paratha with hot basil chutney. Chhole Kulcha was created specially for the Marwari community. You get Italian flavour in the Asparagus Arancini.
Sweet sign-off: The Rum Balls finished off before anything else. I wanted to do a chocolate-based dessert. Then I thought why not soak the rum balls in whisky instead of rum? That came about very nice. Since red carrots are on their way out of the market with the onset of summer, the Gajar Halwa Strudel is our way of saying goodbye to winter.
Pictures: Rashbehari Das and B. Halder
(Sharad Dewan is regional director, food production, The Park Hotels)
