Chandrayee Ghosh and Supriya Devi at the launch of Calcutta Food Festival on Wednesday. (Bishwarup Dutta)

Big Bazaar, in association with Anandabazar Patrika, has launched a mega food festival to fulfil Calcutta’s cravings for street-food as well as much-loved mother’s recipes.

Presented by Emami Healthy and Tasty Cooking Oil, Calcutta Food Festival is a 12-day culinary affair themed “Flavours of Bengal”. So, while you shop at Big Bazaar, you can pamper your palate with chowmein, biryani, rolls, phuchka, ilish paturi, chingri malai curry or shukto. The festival was inaugurated at Big Bazaar Sealdah on Wednesday in the presence of actresses Supriya Devi and Chandrayee Ghosh, chef Sujit Sinha and dietician Hena Nafis.

“Chawa Pawa Khawa is such an appropriate tagline for the festival. All my chawa (desire) and pawa (accomplishments) have to do with food,” smiled Chandrayee, a self-confessed foodie who advised the store regulars to come back armed with medicines so that they could taste everything.

Emceed by funnyman-turned-singer Mir, the opening ceremony saw performances by baul Rathin Kisku, harbola Suhendu Biswas and a stage act with songs on food by Kharaj Mukherjee.

During the festival, select Big Bazaar outlets will house stalls where people can savour the tastes of Bengal. “These days people don’t have time to cook at home. The fest will give people an opportunity to enjoy a bite while they shop,” said Supriya Devi, who still cooks Machher Shukto, a delicacy that has all but disappeared from the kitchens of Bengal.

Bawarchi, Wow Momo, Bhuter Raja Dilo Bor and Hindustan Sweets have put up stalls as part of the festival and will be joined in the food frenzy by Zeeshan, Tandoori Darbar, Gupta Brothers and others. Food Bazaar will provide special offers on various items for the 12 days, including on wheat flour and mustard oil.

The finale will be on January 15 and 16 at Nicco Park, where 30-odd restaurants will vie for your attention along with performances by Usha Uthup, Debojyoti Misra, Prateek Chowdhury, Underground Authority and Bandage.

“Our theme — the favourite and forgotten food of Bengal — is an effort to connect with the food lovers of Calcutta and revive the secret delicacies of Bengal,” said Manish Agarwal, general manager, sales and merchandising (east), Big Bazaar.