It was a trip way down memory lane for a Bengali to be at Tamra for their week long pop up Bengali food festival. It reminded SHOBORI GANGULI of her long lost grandmother’s kitchen
There is an impressive global hospitality trend emerging, and flourishing, in these post-Pandemic times. It is the golden era of Roving Chefs, globally renowned, who instead of attaching themselves to any single brand or chain, are captivating the world of gourmet, literally carrying their secret kitchen of spices and ingredients to curate their pop up cuisines across continents.
Shangri-La Eros in Delhi has declared 2024 as a year of celebration of one such innovative and strategic effort — to bring the secret kitchens of India to New Delhi with an army of world-renowned Indian chefs, each a unique story teller of his or her own region. These are week-long pop-ups at their restaurants, known so far only for their “world on your platter” spread.
At the risk of sounding a bit parochial, I was overjoyed to be invited to Chef Ananya Banerjee’s curation of traditional Bengali food this month at Shangri-La. While the region’s cuisine may be relegated by the uninitiated to clichés like mustard fish, sandesh and mishti doi, the fact is every Bengali cook, from the humble home kitchen to dhabas, stand alone restaurants to starred hotels, has a unique narrative to tell, and an inimitable culinary magic spell to cast.
Chef Banerjee is a vivacious and charming personality. A globetrotting Chef by vocation, she is a painter, author, and a trained lawyer, but she takes the greatest pride and rightly so for the innovation that sets her Bengali kitchen apart from others of her community.
It is often said that Bengali is the one Indian cuisine that the French gets closest to. One was not surprised to learn therefore that Banerjee, in her limitless journey of curating several menus of prestigious restaurants, has partnered with the French-Bengali fine dining award winning restaurant ‘The Mustard’.
Although Chef Banerjee has a unique battery of international cuisine in her arsenal, I was lucky to be personally treated to her exceptional Bengali way. For starters we had Prawn cutlets, a crumb fried delicacy marinated to perfection, accompanied by Chhena Palong Shaager Chop, (Cottage cheese spinach rolled with the most divine spices and fried into round chops).
What followed was a Bengali feast fit for royalty. The thaali was a virtual buffet. Served with phulko luchi (deep fried puffed flour flatbread) there was steaming narkel cholar dal (split Bengal gram infused with coconut). Bengalis love to play with sugar in their dishes and so did Chef Banerjee with her own twist. While the world knows about prawn malai curry, we were treated to a delicious vegetarian version called lau malai curry (bottle gourd in a dreamy creamy curry).
Next to this was dhokar dalna (soaked Bengal gram, dry roasted into a paste, cubed, and then fried, the dalna a rich ginger laced curry). Legend has it that the dish was named dhoka or betrayal to trick family members into consuming lentils which actually tasted like meat.
Chef Banerjee’s culinary twists continued with Bengal’s signature mutton rezala (lamb in a very subtle yet extremely rich curry soaked in the favours of yogurt, cashews, poppy seeds, cardamom and nutmeg). Every Rezala, adopted by the Bengalis from Lucknow and now literally owned by them, has that distinct yet secret signature of the cook. So did this one.
In what would easily be any epicure’s delight came Gondhoraj Lonka Murgi (an aromatic and delicate chicken curry using whole spices, green chillies steeped in the enticing flavor of a lemon growing only in the eastern parts of the country). Even holding an uncut Gondhoraj will can entice you entice into its magical aroma.
Served with Gobindo bhog chaal (a staple in every Bengali kitchen, this delicate buttery rice can easily rival the Basmati) was also the traditional rui maacher jhol (a mild river carp fish curry). Whispering in my ears, since I am a Bengali, the Chef asked me whether I would like to try Bengal’s world renowned Shorshe Ilish (Mustard Hilsa). Non-Bengalis find it impossible to plough through this because of the Hilsa’s fine bones. But I simply grabbed the opportunity.
No Bengali feast is complete without the Kolkata Biryani. Again adopted from north
India, the Kolkata Biryani is served with potatoes and boiled eggs. Chef Banerjee’s version was a dream run.
Known the world over for their sweet tooth, Bengalis can never go without some hearty desserts as meal enders. So there was Mishti Doi topped with molten nolen khejurer gur (sweet yogurt with a garnishing of date jiggery) and Paati Shapta (sweet crépes with a filling of coconut and date molasses). Chef Banerjee was meticulous in also including tomato aam shotto chutney (a relish of tomatoes and mango pulp candies), something that made me go back to my long lost grandmother’s kitchen.
It is indeed commendable that as a globe trotting Chef, Banerjee, alongside her international kitchen repertoire, is serving
Bengal on a platter to a global audience. Based in Mumbai, she is in every sense of the word a Roving Chef.
Shangri-La has done well to collaborate with Chef Pin to showcase Regional Indian Cuisines in 2024. Chef Pin has renowned home chefs aiming to promote diverse regional Indian cuisines.
“The Chef Pin pop-ups at Shangri-La Eros New Delhi have always been very well received. We are excited to continue this partnership into 2024 because it provides our home chefs and expert chefs with a wonderful venue to showcase their culinary talent and to tell the stories surrounding their dishes. It is a pleasure to work with the Shangri-La team, who share our ethos to uncover the hidden gems of Indian cooking,” says Siddharth Mohan, CEO and Co-Founder alongside Rocky Mohan of Chef Pin.
Chef Pin provides home chefs and home bakers, operating across Delhi NCR, Bengaluru and Mumbai. The app is for diners to discover and order local, authentic and home-cooked meals from hundreds of talented home chefs.
Globally renowned Mumbai Based Chef Ananya Banerjee Right: Her Signature Shorhe Ilish or Mustard Fish
