EVERY SEASON in Kolkata is a season of lavish indulgence. While festivities involve culinary pleasures, heady intoxication and incessant partying, if one stroll its streets, you will see that a normal day in the city of joy is no less lavish. Kolkata's street foods are a fusion of various culinary delight. At a time when eating seems like a new culture, the streets of Kolkata are equal to the trend and can provide one with ample dishes to enjoy. One may say street foods are unhealthy and sticky, but its fan-following can compete with the Tendulkar's or the Shah Rukh's. The taste starts to unfold plate-by-plate and if one takes a leisurely stroll out on the streets of Kolkata, you will come by some streets famous for their culinary delights.
Camac Street
If you are heading towards Vardan market, you can not ignore the long queue at the chat stalls outside it. The tangy taste of various chats offered in stalls all over the footpath of Camac Street, is memorable. The phuchka and muri (puffed rice) here are worth the wait, but the chillas and moong dal vadas with pudina and chilli-garlic chutney are the specialty. The pappri chat and batata puri at the bhel vendors are some of the delicious items of this street. Here, chats could either be a cocktail of seasonal fruits or a lip-smacking mixture of potatoes and mixed pappris - mostly a stiff, wafer-like biscuit made of wheat or refined flour. Most chats are garnished with strained curds, which have a cooling effect on the digestive system and partly neutralises the effect of chillies and spices. The two chutneys, the green one made up of green coriander, pudina, green chillies and salt, and the sweet one made of dates, tamarind and jaggery work as appetisers and make you want more.
Russell Street
Some of the city's best phuchka and chats are sold right here at Russel Street, next to a few of the most popular restaurants of Kolkata. A stone's throw away from Park Street, Russel Street lures you with an array of palate-teasing tucks: phuchka, bhel, chat, pakora, chop and roll. The dish to lap up, however, is the ghugni chat, spiced with shredded ginger and green chillies with a dash of lime. Mouthwatering!
Lord Sinha Road, outside AC Market
It all started here with the Marwaris and Gujaratis looking for a quick bite after their hectic shopping spree at the AC Market. Step right out of the market and bump into the Gandhi-topi-clad man carrying small baskets, shouting "Chana Jor Garam". This is the Bombay-style mixture of chana, sprinkled with chilli powder and lime. Amazing way to start! Wash this down with a masala Thumps Up or a soda shikanji and round it off with a kulfi.
If any one happens to be near Esplanade or Chowringhee in Central Kolkata, they must pay a visit to Dacres Lane, the lane just next to the Peerless head office. This is the place where they are certain to discover some of the best roadside food stalls. Other areas include BBD Bagh, the area near Bankshall Court, Fairlie place, and the area behind the Writers Building.
For foodies, the city comes as an amazing delight as every nook and corner of the city has a stall serving lip-smacking dishes in the form of phuchka, jhaal muri, bhel puri, ghoogni and chop. It offers an unending buffet which tempts one to ask for more. Kolkatan's enjoy street food as this enables them to be a part of the community at large. They are more social and thus activities such as indulging in street foods give them more pleasure than any other materialistic leisure. Street food, no doubt is the identity of Kolkata, the city of (en)joy.
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