Sweeten your Durga Puja with Rosogollas

Pamper Your Taste Buds

Durga Puja in West Bengal is all about fun, frolic and food. The festival can never be considered complete without good food. Be it the street food like Jhalmuri, Bhelpuri, Puchka, Chaats, Rolls, Momos and Chowmein, or authentic Bengali cuisine in a posh restaurant, eating out is almost a ritual for the Kolkatans during Durga Puja. After a tiresome round of Pandal-hopping, as one starts feeling famished, the very aroma of food coming from fast-food joints and restaurants is enough to make one start salivating.

As Durga Puja arrives in Kolkata, HeadlinesIndia brings you the best in food this season, and gives you a detailed food-guide about what the city restaurants are offering during this Durga Puja. Read on, and satiate your taste buds!

Restaurants

Durga Puja in Kolkata means a flavour of authentic Bengali food. Be it seasoned mutton, fried fish, richly flavoured “Daal”, spicy “Khichuri” with dollops of ghee, or simply a platter of “mishti” (sweets), there is no matching Bengali cuisine during the favourite festival of West Bengal. This is the reason why, most restaurants in the city start offering Bengali spread exclusively during Durga Puja.

Five days of festival means five different kinds of menu. So, way ahead of Puja, restaurants decide on a special menu for each day of the celebrations. This year, ahead of Durga Puja, HeadlinesIndia visited some of the famous restaurants in the city - “6 Ballygunge Place”, “Oh! Calcutta” and “Bhojohori Manna” – and found out what's special in food this season. What we found out was a real feast to the eyes, as well as a delight to the taste buds. We are sure, with our “eating-out” guide, you will get the idea about the best food joints, as well as the best food offered by them during Durga Puja. Read on, and get ready to feel the hunger pangs even as you read it!

Nothing can beat a platter of sweets during Durga Puja

6 Ballygunge Place

Our first stop was 6 Ballygunge Place, a swank restaurant located in Ballygunge in south Kolkata. The restaurant, specialising in Bengali food, has extensive plans for Durga Puja, with a different menu for each day. Ritaprabha Samanta, the Guest Relations Executive of the restaurant guided us with some of the special delicacies that would be offered by the restaurant this year. The restaurant has arranged for a buffet meal during the Puja, with prawn being the prime attraction.

Some of the special non-vegetarian dishes offered by the restaurant include dishes like Chingri Malai Curry, Dhone Pata Murgi, Bhetki Paturi, Topshe Fry, Sitalmacher Maitha, Kasturi Mangsho and Morolla Macher Piyanji. For the vegetarians, there are delicacies like Karaishutir Dhokar Dalna, Karaishutir Kochuri, Kaju Kishmish Polao, Chholar Daal and Posto Narkel Bora. The desserts offered by the restaurant can fill anyone's heart with sweetness. On spread this year are sweets like Kesariya Jalebi, Mango Cream Rosogolla and Totapuli.

Oh! Calcutta

Oh! Calcutta at the posh Forum Mall in Elgin Road was our next stop. A Bengali cuisine joined which has been in operation for over 4 years now, Oh! Calcutta has already become the favourite destination for authentic Bengali cuisine. The restaurant is also a favourite with NRI Bengalis, who visit Kolkata during Durga Puja. Ankur Mandal, the Executive Restaurant Manager guided us through the fare offered by the restaurant this year, and had our eyes widened with the variety that the eatery has in store for customers this season.

The restaurant has buffet, as well as ala carte menu available during the festival season. The dishes include 2 starters, 2 salads, 5 main course and 5 desserts to choose from. Some of the special non-vegetarian dishes include Murgir Malai Chop, Chingri Mach Aam Kasundi, Murgir Dum Pukht, Mutton Biryani, and Phulkopir Mangshor Jhol. The vegetarian fare includes Vegetable Chop, Shukto, Lau Palak Ghonto, Labrar Tarkari, Badshahi Chholar Dal besides Hinger Kochuri, Radhaballabhi, Karaishutir Kochuri, Borir Polao and Pujor Khichuri. The dessert spread is a delight for all those with a sweet tooth, as the restaurant offers a lavish fare of Pantua, Lauer Payesh, Gajar Halwa, Chhanar Pudding apart from the other customary sweets.