Pet Pujo

Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne- Courtsey Internet

In 1969, Satyajit Ray’s musical fantasy movie Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne was released. In the movie, Goopy wants to sing and Bagha wants to play the dhol. They meet accidentally and one night the Bhooter Raja (King of Ghosts) bestows on them three wishes. The boons they seek in order of preference were:  getting food and clothes; becoming flawless musicians; and being able to travel anywhere anytime. So you see the Bongs have not changed in fifty three years. No matter how important the social or religious occasion is, eating food or pet pujo will always be priority number one. And so it was for the two pandal hoppers, who by now had lost count of the number of idols seen and the distance covered criss-crossing the length and the breadth of the city multiple times. But the food they had had during this period is something they have not forgotten and this week in Part 3 of the Pujo series, we shall focus on ambrosia or food for gods.

We realised that pet pujo is not just a narration of all the varieties of food eaten but much more. The food trail can be categorized into nine different and unique classifications, ranging from iconic to spiritual and stylish to sinful, almost like the Navarasas of Bharatanatyam expressing nine different moods with the exceptions being fear, anger and disgust rasas which find no place in our pujo.

Iconic Pet Pujo

Any search engine on best places to eat in Kolkata will speak about Golbari in Shyambazar. We landed there one afternoon and were taken aback by the size of this restaurant which was no more than six feet by six feet including the kitchen and takeaway area. Only a handful could manage to squeeze into the tiny eating hole and the seating reminded you of the tiny chairs you got when in kindergarten. This place is famous for kosha mangsho with paratha. The food was quickly placed before us and we devoured it in no time. Forget the size and don’t worry too much about hygiene, the kosha mangsho is special and definitely this iconic place lived up to its reputation.

Spiritual Pet Pujo

If you think we would give the Pujo pandal’s bhog a miss to enjoy the street food, you must be mistaken. We had Ma’s bhog on three different days at three different pandals. On Saptami, we landed at my maternal uncle’s place where Mamima (aunt), who is one of the chief organizers of the local puja, laid before us pulao with aalur dum (dum alu) and chutney. Ashtami was at D’s brother’s place in New Town where we were treated to a bhog of khichadi with labra (mixed vegetables), beguni (aubergine fry), chutney and rasogolla. On Navami day, we had a big bhog at another housing society pujo in New Town that included rice with mutton gravy, papad, chutney and gulab jamun. So if anyone thought our puja bhog was just any simple prasad, you need to change your mind. For us spiritual Bongs, the pujo spread has to be elaborate and not limited to khichadi and veggies.

Sinful Pet Pujo

Kolkata biryani has a unique identity with a big potato and boiled egg dropped into the rice with the meat. But our visit to The Royal Indian Hotel at Chitpur near Nakhoda Masjid gave us a taste of possibly the best Awadhi biriyani ever had without the two ingredients spoken of earlier. The rice is so free flowing and the meat so soft and juicy that it simply melts in the mouth. But you must also have their ultimate dish, the mutton chaap with roomali roti and then finishing it with a firni. While we may not have had some of the special dishes of Lucknow but can say with honesty, the food here is the best and the people extremely helpful. For those who love NV food, please plan a visit to this joint where the food is simply sinfully tasty.

Traditional Pet Pujo

Bangali ka Bachha Maach Khata Hai aur Chai Peeta Hai….a true Bengali eats fish and drinks tea. One afternoon, we took a little break from the running around and enjoyed fish cutlet with the finest Darjeeling tea at iBrew, Dakshinapan Complex. The crispy fry with kashundi (mustard sauce) was just too good but the tea served in stylish manner prompted us to pick up a pack to gift to someone.

Historical Pet Puja

Kolkata has some sweet shops that make the best Sandesh. Girish Ch. Dey & Nakur Ch. Nandy have a shop at Ramdulal Sarkar Street which has not changed its look in the last 178 years since they started selling sweets in 1844. Two people sitting at the counter behind the grille will do everything from taking orders to packing and finally taking cash from customers. People throng the shop from morning to night and the stocks are constantly replenished. We too picked up our quota of four different varieties of Sandesh and all the pieces vanished in the next few hours sitting in the car.

Stylish Pet Pujo

Post Dashami, we had a few days to ourselves and wanted to try out new places with speciality food and we found ourselves at The Blue Poppy next to Sikkim House on Middleton Street. They have a traditional way of seating on the floor with low lying tables but with we decided against it and took to the regular table and chair style since we were afraid that after a bellyful we might not be able to hoist ourselves up. Here they serve you some of the best chicken momo, clear soup and phalay, which is like a big patty stuffed with meat, steamed and then fried. The food was wonderful and it being a special day after Dussehra, the staff at the restaurant had put on flower decorations and was playing some local music including shymasangeet. With a portrait of the Dalai Lama looking down upon us revellers, this simple yet stylish place is not one to be missed.

Deja Vu Pet Pujo

When we were at school, a man would come during the tiffin breaks carrying a small truck filled with patties. It would cost us possibly twenty five paise in the 1970s and early 80s. While some of the readers today may not even have seen that small a currency but for us even that was a handsome money that we did not have every day in our pockets. One way of getting our hands to the patty without a penny was to go and ask five friends to part with five paise a piece and they would not mind giving it but the fun part was in the other style. Some of us would crowd the man and distract him while one of us would sneak away a couple of patties...our Money Heist.  At Santosh Mitra Square Durgotsav we found one such desi patty-wala. I just could not resist buying one, eating it and also sharing the photograph with school friends of old who surely could associate the picture with some of their fond memories.

Missed Pet Pujo

This puja, even though, there were stalls everywhere for rolls, phuchka and tele bhaja (fried stuff), I stayed off these three Kolkata specials keeping in mind my rising cholesterol level. So in some respect the Pet Puja of 22 was incomplete.

Adorer Pet Pujo

Ador in Bengali is love and the love and care you find in your maternal uncle’s place are unmatched at any other relative’s home. We were invited to a Bijoya (post Visarjan) get together at my Mama’s place where some more of the extended family  had assembled like they do every year. At a Bijoya gathering we touch the feet of elders and do kola-kuli ( wherein male members embrace each other) as a mark of love, respect and brotherhood. This is followed by snacks or dinner. Now this dinner was so elaborate that we need to spend some extra time on it. It started with a round of sweets where of the nine people gathered, six had diabetes. But on this day no one gave it a miss. This did not deter these people, including four in their late seventies and eighties, to eat more than one sweet and then later open their potlis full of medicines and insulin injections. This was followed by sit-in dinner consisting of kochu saag, panta rice ( rice soaked in water overnight- this was part of the Dashami prasad), dhokhar dalna, pomfret fish gravy, doi ilish (hilsa fish), mutton biryani with tandoori chicken masala, chutney and finally rounding it off with kheer doi, which was a novelty for us. We, somehow, staggered home and the next day managed to board the flight back to Amchi Mumbai. Nothing to beat Mama Barir Adorer Khabar (maternal uncle’s food served with love).

With all the food the Bongs have, you would expect them to be very healthy but they are far from that. Gelusil and Digene are the best sellers and the pharmaceutical companies sell these more than anywhere else in the country. But we Bongs love our food and for us having good food during Durga Pujo is equivalent to spiritualism. Even our gods never stop us from eating… we hardly keep vrats (fasts/ abstinence which only mothers did for us) as in most other regions during Navaratris and our Gods love eating , generally veggie but in some homes or places not so veggie varieties too, and so we pay our utmost respects to the gods and goddesses by ensuring that on these Durga Puja days, the Pet Pujo is high, if not highest on our priority list, apart from new clothes, listening to good music during these days and in the post puja phase, travelling to various parts of the country….same as Goopy and Bagha’s wish list and in the same order.

SS