WORLD CAFE ASIA

World Café Asia: Calcutta, India

Presenter: Bobby Chinn

History has laid a generous foundation for street food in Calcutta. Once the capital of India and the crown jewel in the British colonial empire it remains truly one of the great cities of the world. As well as being famous for its street food, the city is also known to have some of the most sophisticated cooking in India. Chef Bobby Chinn cooks 3 dishes Osmani Qurma (goat curry), Fish Paturi (fish in mustard sauce steamed in a banana leaf) and lastly Kochuri with Alurdom (stuffed luchis with potato curry).

Bobby also tries his hand at the dying art of rickshaw pulling, visit Calcutta’s central food markets, ride on a British tram, tour a restaurant run by - and for - destitute women, and throw a garland of flowers at sunrise into the famous Ganges river.

The programme starts at street food nirvana Dacres Lane with Bobby eating a plate of beans on toast. It seems like British have left more than just the architecture! Following this theme, at his next stop Flurry’s Patisserie, Bobby orders the famous British cream tea with scones. There are a number of Calcuttan's who look back fondly on the days of the Empire and Probal Deb, descendent of a Calcuttan Maharaja is one of them. Bobby joins Probal at his crumbling family palace to cook Osmani Qurma, an elaborate goat curry. Probal is a passionate home chef and the recipe he offers up is one of his grandmother's favourites recipe, she got it from the chefs in the royal kitchen. The number of stages reflects just how difficult a job it was cooking for royalty!

There has been a Chinese community in Calcutta since the late 1700s, and Bobby meets restaurant owner and second generation Chinese, Monica Lu at Hawker Corner. Together they sample the local Chinese Indian street food. Likewise, the Muslim community brings its own flavours to the city - it has been estimated as much as 18% of the population in Calcutta are Muslim. Bobby makes a trip across the city, especially to try the Beef Khati Kebab Rolls on Khat Road. The look on his face shows that it was worth the detour!

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Calcutta being famous for its street food, for his next dish, Bobby visits local chef Rakhi Dasgupta who has made it her aim to bring local favourites from the street into her restaurant Kewpies. Together, they make Kochuri with Alurdom, a simple vegetarian meal consisting of potato curry with a side of fresh fried bread stuffed with seasonal green peas. Served hot at breakfast, lunch or dinner, it's remarkably tasty and a great way to show how simple food can be exotic, tasty and sophisticated, all at the same time.

Human-powered rickshaws, over a century old in Calcutta, have become such a part of the fabric of the city, that recent moves by the government to phase them out has caused outrage. Bobby takes a rickshaw ride with Mr. Gopi Nathgosh from a local heritage organisation and they discuss the future of one of the city's favourite modes of transport.

India’s economic boom may have propelled a huge number of middle class Indians into the 21st century, but over 70% of 13+ million Calcuttan's are living in poverty. Bobby visits ‘Suruchis Restaurant, which has been set up by the charity Bengal Women's Union, both to raise funds and to educate and rehabilitate destitute women.

In the final part of the programme Bobby visits the famous Ganges River. At dawn he throws a garland of flowers into the water while locals perform their daily washing rituals. Then, it's off to visit Gariahat Market to buy fresh fish for the final dish, Fish Paturi. This dish is prepared by coating a piece of white fish in mustard sauce, wrapping it up in a banana leaf, and steaming for 15 minutes. The Fish Paturi is a great example of simple but sophisticated Bengali cooking. Bobby cooks this flavoursome dish on the decks of the Ganges first floating hotel - The Floatel.

Kochuri with Alurdom (stuffed luchis with potato curry)
Osmani Qurma
Fish Paturi