“Kolkata is one of my favourite cities, and since I grew up with Bengalis, I love the people here. The food is outstanding and the people are loyalists when it comes to food,” chef Vicky Ratnani told My Kolkata, while grooving to the music at RuPay Zomaland by Zomato in Kolkata’s Aquatica.
The celebrity chef was at Zomaland to host a kitchen rave at the Black & White Ginger Ale by Diageo Zone, which had food events centred around the concept ‘Table for Everyone’, encouraging varied perspectives to come together, fostering inclusion and igniting meaningful conversations. It also included an event by MasterChef India’s Nayanjyoti Saikia.
My Kolkata caught up with the chef ahead of his event for a foodie chat.
Cooking for the city he loves
While the beats got the temperature rising, Ratnani whipped up fusion Chicken Jhal Puri live at the Kitchen Rave
Chef Vicky Ratnani’s love for Kolkata was rekindled when he opened Speak Burgers at Novotel Kolkata Hotel & Residences. At the Zomato carnival in the city, he reiterated this love. “When it comes to food and architecture, it’s the most stunning city. The beauty of Kolkata is in its simplicity, people and style.”
Ratnani’s event — a kitchen rave — is a fairly new concept for the City of Joy. It is an event or pop-up that brings together music and food, where the DJ plays in a kitchen while a chef cooks live for the audience. The food is served immediately to the guests.
“A kitchen rave is just another playoff. It’s about the whole ambience. It’s one more way of serving food — you have a bartender mixing drinks, there is a chef who is plating up live in front of the diners,” explained Ratnani.
What was cooking at Zomaland
Chicken Jhal Puri where Kolkata’s Jhal Muri met Mumbai’s Bhel Puri
Chef Ratnani brought together the street food of Mumbai and Kolkata, serving two dishes — a Chicken Jhal Puri, which was a fusion of Kolkata’s jhal muri and Mumbai’s bhel puri, along with his take on a Sindhi sanna pakoda — double fried pakodas usually made with potatoes and onions.
“I’ve got a lot of Bengali influence in my cooking. For the Sindhi Sanna Pakoda, I’m adding shankalu (jicama). There’s also the jhal muri, where with chutneys, I’m adding kasundi, and a fruit chutney are made with all kinds of fruits bought from New Market,” explained the chef.
Served in a paper cone, chef Ratnani’s “very millennial, and very concert food” Chicken Jhal Puri was tossed with kasundi, green chutney, sweet tamarind chutney, chopped onions, chillies, small pieces raw mangoes and coriander leaves, and had a good mix of the spicy kick of jhal muri and the sweetness of bhel puri.
Sindhi-style Sanna Pakoda with Bengal’s shankalu and kasundi topped with a mixed fruit chutney
For the Sindhi Sanna Pakoda, the chef used Bengal’s shankalu and raw mango. It was served with a fruit chutney instead of a green chutney, where overripe fruits like black grapes, green grapes, strawberries, oranges, mangoes and dragonfruit were slow-cooked to make a chutney. “I slow cooked the fruit pulp for over 3-4 hours and gave it a nice tadka of mustard oil and panchphoran,” the chef told the audience while assembling and serving the dish live. “Among the Bengali ingredients, nigella seeds and the panchphoran are my favourite, followed by mustard oil,” he added.
The chef interacted with the audience and grooved to live music while making the food
Throughout the making of the two snacks, the chef interacted with the people eagerly waiting to try the food. On the main stage, Ravator kept the concert mood rising with upbeat music and the chef and the audience did not miss the chance to groove.
Concluding the kitchen rave, Ratnani had one message for all who love cooking, “Keep an open mind when you are cooking. Learn from other cultures as well. Never stop learning. Always make sure that you are learning from people, travelling, going to the local places, eating in people’s homes, and eating in local restaurants.”
