report from delhi

[mongo_jones]

hello all,

well into our trip to india. my wife and i spent 4 days in calcutta/kolkata and have been in delhi for the last week. much high quality bengali food was eaten in cal but predictably the only things we consumed outside the home was some calcutta chinese and mutton rolls. we also feasted on my aunts' cooking (dal puris, lucchis, alur dom, kosha mangsho, bhetki fry, paanch mishali torkari, shutki macher jhal, ghugni etc.) and at a literal feast in my wife's honor at her bou bhaat (a ceremony welcoming a new daughter-in-law into her in-laws' home). detailed descriptions, and a few pictures, to follow when i return to my broadband connection in colorado.

in delhi it is more of the same: lots of great home-cooking courtesy my mother and our old housekeeper (who visits whenever i come home). he's made me some things i've never eaten before: bihari food (he's from the darbhanga area); specifically, moog dal halwa and litties (i think rajasthanis and punjabis also eat these). i'm going to learn how to make this stuff. my wife, who loves my cooking and tells me that i should think about opening a restaurant in the u.s, now laughs everytime she eats something made by my mother, housekeeper or aunts; with a couple of exceptions she says none of my versions can hold a candle to those of the people who taught me. i am happy to concede this point. in any case i am too busy stuffing my face to be offended.

restaurant-wise in delhi we haven't done much. bukhara and dum pukht are on the itinerary but i was sad to discover that the ashok yatri niwas has been demolished, and coconut grove with it. i now have to find a place for good south indian non-veg. spice route at the imperial is okay but over-priced with a limited menu. anyone have any suggestions for good non-veg south indian in delhi? my friends predictably are more excited about the new mediterranean and thai places than they are about regional indian.

bhasin: if you're checking this, i haven't had a chance to call yet. will do so shortly. not sure if things will work out since i seem to recall you said you leave on the 28th and we are booked solid till the 4th of jan.

v.gautam: i am glad to report that we have had no adverse digestive issues despite not taking any shots. there is a magical potion called carmozyme that preserved us in cal. our day in bangkok, however, was another story...

more later,

mongo

[jogoode]

Thanks for the report! Please keep them coming. And update us on your "Dehli Belly" status!

[v. gautam]

Thank you so very much for the detailed post; might I presume and append some translations [and commentary] so that our egullet friends can salivate [and envy] at your descriptions?

“(dal puris, lucchis, alur dom, kosha mangsho, bhetki fry, paanch mishali torkari, shutki macher jhal, ghugni etc.)”

Dal puris: stuffed white-flour breads filled with a dal=pulse [ usually chickpeas, kachories have urad dal] and either deep fried or panfried

Lucchi- white flour breads, deep fried; delicate, inimitable Bengali redaction of puri

Alur dom: potatoes whole or halved, boiled, fried lightly, braised in a fragrant spice base that in Bengal will include nigella/cumin in hot oil, asafetida, ginger/green chili paste, cumin/coriander/black pepper paste, chili/turmeric, garam masala, jaggery, and a bit of souring agent; dry-cooked

Kosha mangso ; braised goat meat, a variation of ‘bhunao’; typically tender kid with little fat [but lots of bones, knuckles, cartilage] breast, shoulder etc. is cut into small pieces & briefly marinaded with scant amount chopped onion and tomato, turmeric, ginger paste, jaggery, chili, mustard oil; small quantity of onions [ too much creates too rich a dish and too a thick gravy] browned slowly, whole garam masala/cassia leaf and sliced garlic briefly fried in the same oil [mustard], meat added, covered until tender, uncovered and carefully reduced to a ‘dry’ base; a little good ghee added before the end.

Bhetki fry—barramundi [Lates calcarifer] fillets marinaded in paste of onion, ginger, cilantro, green chil, black pepper, breaded and fried

Panch mishali torkari – literally ‘mixture of 5 [several] vegetables’—in winter potato, eggplant, radish, calabaza pumpkin, hyacinth bean pods [Lablab purpureus], cauliflower including stem and leaf stalk, cabbage leaves, sweet potato, dal vadis [fried and soaked in water]; veggies are briefly sautéed in mustard oil flavored with Bengali 5 spice, cassia leaf, jaggery salt and usually nothing else is added; covered until tender; this light roasting and cooking veg in their own juices is the essence of the dish; each veg melts or breaks down in a particular way, adding to the texture and flavor. Much depends on veg. quality, the precise cutting of different veg. in different shapes, and the Bengali cooks innate skill to bring out the flavor of a delicate dish; cilantro, green chilies and a bit of mustard oil or ghee is added right before removing dish from stove.

Shutki machher jhal- spicy dish from dried fish. Mongo, does this betray the East Bengal origins of your family? Generally a no-no for West “bengalis’!!

Ghugni – boiled whole fieldpeas and chickpeas cooked in a spicy base, often with potatoes and chunks of fresh coconut, occasionally with meat; eaten as a snack, sometimes with deep fried poha or chira [rice flakes]

Mongo, when you return, don’t forget to stock up on the excellent Bengal gawa ghee now sold in plastic pouches- different in taste/texture from Punjabi/ North Indian desi ghee, heavenly on hot rice. Safe paths. gautam

Edited December 27, 2003 by v. gautam (log)

[BBhasin]

Mongo, I was to connect with you in Delhi but could not get through to the tel number you gave me.

Anyway I am back after my Delh trip.

If you are still there, the cocunut grove has shifted to the Janpath hotel.

The South Indian restaurant in defence Colony market was pretty good. I forget the name but in my humble opinion it was better than Dakshin which Vikram talks about a lot. The seasonings were kind of mild and tame at Dakshin as per my group which included some South Indian buddies.

The defence Colony place had chicken 65 on the menu and after our little discussion on an ealier thread I had to try it. It came looking like scrawny, very spicy pakoras. I find Episure's posted reciepe for Chicken 65 far superior.

Strange I had shorlisted Bukhara and Dum Pukht too but did not make it.

A fried of mine took me to a Mughlai take away Alkausur in South delhi which was very good.

Had to go to Moti Mahal after all the discussion about the origion of butter chicken etc, that was another dissapointing experience.

More later when I get over my jetlag

Bhasin

[Monica Bhide]

Mongo, I was to connect with you in Delhi but could not get through to the tel number you gave me.

Anyway I am back after my Delh trip.

If you are still there, the cocunut grove has shifted to the Janpath hotel.

The South Indian restaurant in defence Colony market was pretty good. I forget the name but in my humble opinion it was better than Dakshin which Vikram talks about a lot. The seasonings were kind of mild and tame at Dakshin as per my group which included some South Indian buddies.

The defence Colony place had chicken 65 on the menu and after our little discussion on an ealier thread I had to try it. It came looking like scrawny, very spicy pakoras. I find Episure's posted reciepe for Chicken 65 far superior.

Strange I had shorlisted Bukhara and Dum Pukht too but did not make it.

A fried of mine took me to a Mughlai take away Alkausur in South delhi which was very good.

Had to go to Moti Mahal after all the discussion about the origion of butter chicken etc, that was another dissapointing experience.

More later when I get over my jetlag

Bhasin

I tried the same chicken 65 and was greatly dissappionted -- small world huh! Hi Balraj - welcome back. I just gotback as well

[mongo_jones]

delhi update:

gautam: you've described all those things better than i could have myself. i had no idea bhetki is the same as barramundi. how about surmai, katla and tangra? and yes, i am a bangal-ghoti hybrid and so get the best of bengali food worlds in calcutta.

bhasin: sorry we couldn't connect. the number i gave you is for noida--you have to do complicated things to dial it from delhi. ah well, maybe we'll meet in the u.s itself. where is dakshin? the def col south indian non-veg place is called swaagath. we've eaten there twice. my mangalorean friends recommend it highly too. liked most everything we ate, but especially the crab butter-pepper-garlic and the neer dosas (i prefered it to appams as a gravy scooper-upper). great to hear that the coconut grove has, like matter, only moved not been destroyed. soon. and no, we will not make the mistake of missing bukhara or dum pukht (i go to both on every trip home).

last evening we went to bengali sweets in bengali market for chaat etc. i polished off some dahi bhalle and my wife's papdi chaat, and then a plate of piping fresh jalebis. washed all this down with some divine anar (pomegranate) juice. then we came home for dinner! needless to say my stomach has registered some protest but so far has been mollified by carmozyme.

lots of photographs have been taken of all things consumed--as well of things in process and at completion in the home kitchen.

more updates later as more things are eaten. on the immediate agenda: gol guppas at nathu's--i'm told they now make them with mineral water now, and that the man wears a glove while dispensing them. doubtless this affects the flavor negatively.

[v. gautam]

Mongo, bad boy,

Thanks very much for keeping us salivating and envious. Are you familiar with the concept of zakat? What do you say to the suggestion that food zakat should be levied [once back in the US] on all those enjoying yummies in India ensconced in the arms of beloved family and who relish posting descriptions of such on egullet? Hmmm?

Paapdi chaat finally tested the bou’s limits, huh? I do not know the binomial nomenclature of surmai, a fish popular in Mumbai (?), but Catla [Catla catla] is a north Indian carp subgrouped among the great or large carps: rohu [Labeo rohita], mrigal, and kaveri carp; there is also an excellent Mekong carp in the same genus as Catla.

Catla is deemed coarser than rohu in Bengal; it grows quicker and larger than the latter in ponds.

The head is cooked with mung dal or puffed/flaked rice [muri, murmura; but also chira/poha] for festive occasions like weddings, bridal showers and baby showers, or cabbage for special occasions in winter [murir ghonto]. Steaks cut from its ventral/belly portion are the second choice, after simila cuts from a Ganga river rohu >3kg<8kg [paka rui], for fish kaliya or doi mach [yogurt sauce]. By the way, west Bengalis have been known to relish plain deep fried carp [hot] with lal doi [sweet yogurt]; this brands you as a true-blue old family Kolkata ghoti!!! Also, a preparation of mixed vegetables with the liver and swim bladder, plus the boniest offcuts. The best substitutes in the US appear to be Winter Carp at Chinese fishmongers, or fresh Buffalo fish [ Mongo, if you have Albertsons in Boulder, they often can get you buffalofish]

I have forgotten the binomial for tangra, a group of small catfishes. Mongo, while in Delhi, please ask your mother if the small, silvery tangra [choto rupoli tangra] is available [iNA market?]. To my taste this is better than the darker tangra eaten in Kolkata. Please ask her to prepare it as shorsher jhal [mustard paste] and with piyaj koli [shallot flower stalks ], if the last is available in Delhi [this is not the same as onion greens commonly sold there]. Ditto for banshpata mach [ do not know the binomial].

Sadly, you may be out of range in Delhi for mourala [Amblypharyngodon mola]. This miniscule, whitebait-like carp is fried whole nearly crisp and eaten with hot rice and ghee, accompanied by a fragrant green chili, as a first course for lunch. Deep fried, it is cooked in a jhal and also in a tok, a wonderful sweet-sour concoction (eaten at the conclusion of a meal with rice), sometimes with that curious fruit, chalta [Dillenia spp.]

I wonder if Delhi has any purveyors of moghlai paratha? I would assume that this is where the kolkata version originated, possibly taken there, as with much Muslim cookery, by the Nawabs and then the entourage exiled there after 1857. Will you be sampling some of the old Delhi paratha and biryani vendors? I remember reading somewhere about an old mosque that has a traditional mohalla around it scheduled for ‘development’; this mohalla has some traditional cooks and food establishments found nowhere else in Delhi and with the help of a Western lady and Indian sympathizers, the women of this locality have brought out a cookbook showcasing their talents; I am sorry not to have the exact bibliography or details; will keep looking. Happy eating and safe paths, and a Happy New Year. PS have excellent littie recipe, but first you need to secure a supply of adequate buffalo chips; more on that later.

Gautam.

[mongo_jones]

happy new year to all.

Paapdi chaat finally tested the bou’s limits, huh?

actually it tested my limits, but due more to extreme over-eating than to anything else.

The head is cooked with mung dal or puffed/flaked rice [muri, murmura; but also chira/poha] for festive occasions like weddings, bridal showers and baby showers, or cabbage for special occasions in winter [murir ghonto].

this will lead to more demands for zakat but the lunch menu today included both shorshe ilish and chanchra (a cousin of the ghonto) made with ilish and bhetki heads and spines. the wife, who has been trying everything gamely (and who being korean-american is hardly squeamish) finally demurred.

I have forgotten the binomial for tangra, a group of small catfishes. Mongo, while in Delhi, please ask your mother if the small, silvery tangra [choto rupoli tangra] is available [iNA market?]. To my taste this is better than the darker tangra eaten in Kolkata. Please ask her to prepare it as shorsher jhal [mustard paste] and with piyaj koli [shallot flower stalks ], if the last is available in Delhi [this is not the same as onion greens commonly sold there].

you'll be glad to know that both the small-silvery and the larger-darker tangra have been consumed. the former in a light jhol and the latter indeed as a shorsher jhal. (i should add that i've only been in the u.s for 10 years and come home for visits very often so there is no question of any of these things not being eaten.)

I wonder if Delhi has any purveyors of moghlai paratha? I would assume that this is where the kolkata version originated, possibly taken there, as with much Muslim cookery, by the Nawabs and then the entourage exiled there after 1857. Will you be sampling some of the old Delhi paratha and biryani vendors? I remember reading somewhere about an old mosque that has a traditional mohalla around it scheduled for ‘development’; this mohalla has some traditional cooks and food establishments found nowhere else in Delhi and with the help of a Western lady and Indian sympathizers, the women of this locality have brought out a cookbook showcasing their talents; I am sorry not to have the exact bibliography or details; will keep looking. Happy eating and safe paths, and a Happy New Year. PS have excellent littie recipe, but first you need to secure a supply of adequate buffalo chips; more on that later.

i don't know if we'll have time for a visit to the parathewali gali (an entire lane in the chandni chowk area that specializes in every kind of paratha imaginable--traditional and bizarrely modern), but we've eaten quite the range of parathas in various homes. i have also made sure that my wife has sampled a whole range of biryani variations--from hyderabadi to malabar to the old matka-pir guys near pragati maidan (this last is incredibly good and is entirely take-out but is most happily eaten without a clear line of sight ever being established of the place of production). tomorrow night we will be feasting on biryani that is being sent from an old muslim home in the jamia milia area (courtesy a member of that family who works with my mother).

PS have excellent littie recipe, but first you need to secure a supply of adequate buffalo chips; more on that later

look forward to it. our housekeeper will be demonstrating his recipe to me next week--i'll be video-taping the process to ensure nothing gets forgotten. ditto with the moog dal halwa.

anyway--don't want to tantalize people too much with these descriptions of food. also, have to log off and go to my dinner of parathas, kababs, alur dom, channa dal, palak paneer and mishti doi freshly arrived from cal with my uncle...

you'll be glad to know this orgy of eating ends in a week, upon which we return, several pounds heavier, to colorado.

(edited to add some periods)

Edited January 1, 2004 by mongo_jones (log)

[Episure]

This should have been titled "the Demystification of Bengali Cuisine by mongo_jones and V.Gautam".

I bhet ki this must be the most serious exchange ever recorded, electronic or otherwise. I've learnt so much, thanks you guys.

[skchai]

I would like to concur with this - from this correspondence I'm learning a great about Bengali food that I couldn't find even in Kewpie's books!