Sharing a table with Chef Subrata
Debnath is like opening an encyclopedia on Bengali food. So passionate is he
about this cuisine that it was only natural for him to curate a festival on the
aromas of Bengal. With assistance from visiting Chef Rajib from Taj Bengal,
Kolkata, Chef Subrata is proud to showcase authentic Bengali fare as cooked in
traditional homes.
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| The a la carte dishes can be served Thali-style. Bottom L-R: Appetisers Mutton Chop and Rui Maachher Patishapta; Desserts Gurer Paayesh, Pathishapta, Mishti Doi. |
Amidst conversations about the
traditional style of making kasundi mustard and elaborating about ‘radhuni’, an
indigenous spice that looks like ajwain but has a mellow sweetness to it, Chef
shares a platter of appetisers. While the melt-in-the-mouth mutton cutlet, or mutton chop as it is popularly known as
in Kolkata, is perfectly spiced and marinaded, the rui maachher patishapta is Chef’s twist to the traditional
patishapta that is usually served as dessert. Essentially a crepe, here it is stuffed
with minced rohu fish, green chilli and homemade ghee. Both the appetisers pair
beautifully with freshly prepared
kasundi mustard as Chef Subrata is vehemently against the bottled kasundi
that one finds in grocery stores. The rest of the meal is as flavourful owing
to the preparations that are made from scratch with carefully selected ingredients.
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| Chef Subrata Debnath (L) and Chef Rajib. |
Although the festival features an a la
carte menu there is an option of having a selection in a thali-style as well.
Our beautiful thali comes with a delicious chholar
dal sprinkled
with chef's special masala which is incredibly delicious and pairs so well with
the loochi. Then there's kadoli pushpo
ghonto (young banana blossoms cooked with diced potato and coconut), palongshaager chorchori (spinach with
pumpkin), Dhakai mangsho kosha (meat
cooked with a grandmother’s recipe from Bangladesh) and kacha lanka bata murgi (chicken cooked with green chilli and onion).
Bhetki paturi is deliciously steamed
beckti that is marinated with stone ground mustard. It is neatly wrapped and
steamed in a banana leaf that is roasted before the fish is wrapped into it. It
is these kind of details of ingredients and techniques that Chef Subrata shares
throughout the meal that makes everything even more delectable. He
also graciously shared recipes of daab chingri and Dhakai mangsho kosha that I
have shared below this article. And if you’re not afraid of a bony
fish, I highly recommend the steamed hilsa fish (eilish bhapey) that is rich with a beautiful mustard flavour and
left me licking my fingers.
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| Clockwise from Top Left: Rui Maachher Patishapta, Bhetki Paturi, Daab Chingri, Steamed Hilsa. |
A traditional meal like this is suitably
rounded off with a choice of traditional desserts including patishapta (sweet crepe with a fantastic filling of coconut and reduced milk),
gurer paayesh (Gobindo bhog rice slow cooked with nolen gur) and the
quintessential Bengali mishi doi.
Details:
Culina|44, Taj City Centre Gurugram, Sector 44, Gurugram,
Haryana.
Timings: Lunch 12.30pm to 3pm; Dinner 7pm to 10.30pm.
Dates: On till November 26, 2017
Phone: 0124-6673000
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Daab Chingri
prawn curry steamed in young coconut shell
Ingredients
250 gm
Shrimps, de-shelled, de-veined
1 Tender
Coconut
100 gm Onion
Paste
2 cloves
Garlic
20 gm Green
chilli paste
2 tbsp
Mustard paste
¼ tsp Paanch
phoran
3 Tbsp
Mustard Oil
75 ml Coconut
Milk
A pinch of
Turmeric powder
Salt to taste
METHOD
1.
For the coconut milk: Scrape the
flesh from the tender coconut completely and make a smooth paste using the same
coconut’s water.
2.
Flatten the base of the coconut
by cutting off a part of it from its lower end.
3.
Heat oil in a pan. Add panch
phoron and allow it to crackle.
4.
Add onion paste and garlic and
fry. Add the shrimp and sauté.
5.
In a large mixing bowl, add
mustard paste, chilli paste, turmeric, salt and coconut milk. Mix well.
6.
Add the sautéed shrimps to this
paste and mix well.
7.
Fill the coconut with the shrimps
and seal the lid with wheat dough.
8.
Cook for about 30 minutes at 220
degrees in a pre-heated oven.
9.
Serve hot with steamed rice.
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Dhakai Mangsho Kosha
grandmother's recipe from Bangladesh
Ingredients
500 gm Mutton
100 gm Chopped onion
100 gm Tomatoes
3 Tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
1 tsp Radhuni paste
2 tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp Chilli powder
2 tsp Coriander powder
2 tsp Cumin powder
3 Tbsp Mustard Oil
2 Bay Leaves
1 each Green and Black Cardamom
1 Cinnamon stick
100 gm Curd
METHOD
1.
Marinate the mutton overnight
with curd, radhuni paste, mustard oil, dry spices and 1 tbsp of the ginger
garlic paste.
2.
Heat the mustard oil in a heavy
bottomed pan. Add the whole spices onion, tomato, ginger garlic paste and cook
well.
3.
Add the dry spices and the mutton
and sauté well. Sprinkle hot water intermittently to avoid the mutton from
sticking to the pan.
4.
Add a cup of water and cover and
cook for 15-20 minutes until the meat softens and water evaporates.
5.
Serve hot with slit green
chillies.
