Back from the City of Joy!!

Sorry for my long hiatus from blogging. As you can make out from the title, I am just back from Kolkata.

This was one of my longest trips back home and the best. Given that I went back after the longest time, it had to be.

Something's have never changed and will never change in Kolkata, the yellow taxi and old new market and not so interesting new new market.

Being a foodie I had to gorge in my favorite restaurant. That would be…

Oh the buffet at Mainland china is out of the world!!!

Also being sane I had to skip the food which the vendor lovingly served with his sweat drenched hand. The cut cucumber and onions was being marinated by the road dust and various other by-products which 1000s of passerby generated. Yeah I know, I never cared about these when I was in college, but below 20 you don’t really care about anything other than the taste, which by the way is world class.

However, even these thoughts couldn’t deter me from my “cut” from the local sweet shop. Panna sweets at Behala is the best.

I just have pity for folks who have Rasgulla from cans. If you never had fresh hot rasgulla served in an earthen pot, you never had Rasgulla. Please never claim so.

I scouted various ingredients at their source, like this huge mocha at my in-laws house

Even my daughter had a gala time going around the neighborhood to pick guavas and lamenting on the fact that the mango trees had already been emptied. Thamma was more than happy to escort her to the terrace and pull the tree branches closer so that she can grab handful of the sweetest kashi’r peyara (red apple guava). She also had the last produce of our ancestral mango garden which is being sold off this year.

Obviously I didn’t go to India to just eat. I had some other agenda as well, like meet my old friends for some pure adda. Friends who haven’t changed even after being aged for two decades (unlike the scotch in their hand) but have become more precious (just like the scotch). Getting to tell weird stories of your friends to their spouses entertain to no extent. Unfortunately my friends didn’t get that pleasure as I was classmates with my husband along with all of them.

 

It was also a pleasure to take my daughter back to her and our roots. Seeing her play “kumir-danga” with her new friends made my day. I initially thought she’d have trouble adjusting. However, these words are just made up in grown up minds, she had four friends by the end of the first day.

Having cows visit us each day thrilled her to no extent

She even got some security training at the rathe-r mela.

She got to meet her pishi, Santuda and Sumo dada. Who were more than happy to indulge her in pizza each time she wanted to, unlike “mom” who’d start a rant about eating healthy.

I hope she understood the value in the frock she got from Puja mashi (who seems to be still growing in height) which came from her first salary.

Meeting little versions of our friends was fun for us and her as well. She made friends with them. Kachumoni was super sweet

The rains never failed to make me happy. Even the dreary weather of Seattle couldn’t knock that off. I love the rains, the real rain that is, not the pitter-patter they call rain in Seattle

The rains, the gazillion other people or the traffic jams couldn’t deter me from my other main agenda. Street side shopping.

So what’s in it for you, my readers? Obviously I learned a bunch of recipes from my pishi’s and neighbors. My 4 pishis took all the trouble and came from all around the city with home cooked food, especially the batter fry which is beyond description and coming soon to a blog near you. Not sure if my daughter will ever get this experience when she grows up.

Now that I’m back and the hangover is over, back to being the bongcook