Happy new feast 1421 - Welcome the Bengali new year with a toast to tradition THE SONNET When: April 14 to 16 Timings: 12 noon to 11.30pm Buffet price: Rs 999 (all inclusive) One of the three boons that the Bhooter Raja granted Goopi Gyne and Bagha Byne in Satyajit Ray’s film caused handi s of delicacies to materialise at the clap of their hands. The image of food floating down upon the battlefield and the scurry to polish it all off remains one of the favourite cinematic images of the Indian gourmand. Now that eagerness to gorge on the tastiest best is being harnessed in the food festival that The Sonnet is hosting for Poila Baisakh. “We are calling it Bhooter Raja Dilo Bor,” said general manager Rajib Roy Choudhury. Last year, the hotel had turned to countryside recipes, presenting dishes little heard of in the city. “This time, we have focused on tasty food from the Bengali kitchen.” There are some novel touches too. A chef with roots in erstwhile east Bengal will cook Laupatay Bhapa Chingri and Thor Chhechki. “Both bhapa and paturi are steamed preparations. Since for paturi, the steaming takes place in a leaf parcel, the aroma of the spices gets preserved. That is what we have tried to do.” Another traditional item, Thor Chhechki, is being served with brown rice. “Dheki chhata chal is higher in nutritional value. Our inspiration was Muri Ghonto for which puffed rice is an integral part of the preparation.” Shim Posto will have seeds of jackfruit added on. “Since the beans chosen will be tender, the seeds within will be small. So we will use larger seeds of both jackfruit and beans for the preparation. Dana Posto, which uses only the seeds, is a delicacy in the traditional kitchen.”
- Welcome the Bengali new year with a toast to tradition
THE SONNET
When: April 14 to 16Timings: 12 noon to 11.30pmBuffet price: Rs 999 (all inclusive)
One of the three boons that the Bhooter Raja granted Goopi Gyne and Bagha Byne in Satyajit Ray’s film caused handisof delicacies to materialise at the clap of their hands. The image of food floating down upon the battlefield and thescurry to polish it all off remains one of the favourite cinematic images of the Indian gourmand.
Now that eagerness to gorge on the tastiest best is being harnessed in the food festival that The Sonnet is hosting forPoila Baisakh. “We are calling it Bhooter Raja Dilo Bor,” said general manager Rajib Roy Choudhury.
Last year, the hotel had turned to countryside recipes, presenting dishes little heard of in the city. “This time, we havefocused on tasty food from the Bengali kitchen.” There are some novel touches too. A chef with roots in erstwhile eastBengal will cook Laupatay Bhapa Chingri and Thor Chhechki. “Both bhapa and paturi are steamed preparations. Sincefor paturi, the steaming takes place in a leaf parcel, the aroma of the spices gets preserved. That is what we have triedto do.”
Another traditional item, Thor Chhechki, is being served with brown rice. “Dheki chhata chal is higher in nutritionalvalue. Our inspiration was Muri Ghonto for which puffed rice is an integral part of the preparation.”
Shim Posto will have seeds of jackfruit added on. “Since the beans chosen will be tender, the seeds within will besmall. So we will use larger seeds of both jackfruit and beans for the preparation. Dana Posto, which uses only theseeds, is a delicacy in the traditional kitchen.”
Another novelty would be the Kadaishutir Dhokar Dalna. “Steamed fresh green peas will substitute grams, which is theusual ingredient for Dhoka. There will be a hint of sweetness because of the peas but the dish will be salty like anyDalna.”
In the dessert section, a couple of sweets will be sourced from the districts — rosogolla from Bongaon and Sarpuriafrom Krishnanagar.
Pictures by Sudeshna Banerjee
PRIDE HOTEL
Buffet price: Rs 999 (all inclusive)When: April 14 & 15, a la carte menu also for April 13 dinnerBuffet timings: 12.30pm to 3pm, 7pm to 11pmA la carte timings: 11am to 11pm
For the third Poila Baisakh the star address is celebrating since opening in New Town, it is raising a toast to theBengali new year by offering unlimited beer or soft drinks with every buffet order. “This is why we are offering a range ofmunches as starters to go with the drinks — Kucho Nimki and Dimer Devil on some day, Piyazi and Machher Chop onanother day, Mochar Chop and Mangsher Singara on some other day,” said general manager Kenneth Scott.
The buffet will include a range of salads and dips — at least half a dozen — in keeping with healthy eating preferences.Some will be from West Asian menus like Baba Ghanoush, a roasted aubergine salad (similar in preparation toBaingan ka Bharta though different in taste) and the Arabic chick pea dip hummus, some from Far East like Gado
Gado, an Indonesian salad of boiled vegetables and egg.
Some will come from south India like Fried Idli Salad and Dahi Gujia. “For the former, the idlis are smaller in size. Thesteamed pieces are sauted in oil with curry leaves, mustard seeds and roasted chana powder. Then it is dipped in atamarind chutney,” explained sous chef Palash Sikdar. “Dahi Gujia is an arhar dal preparation like Dahi Vada but theshape is different and inside we give stuffings of dry fruits. Then it is dipped in curd seasoned with rock salt andcoriander powder,” he added.
The dessert section has always been a forte at Pride. This time they are serving Kalaar Malpua, prepared with bananapuree mixed with flour, chhana and khowa kheer. A different variety of sandesh is on offer at every meal. If there is carrotsandesh made of grated and mashed carrot cooked over slow fire with sugar and dry fruits for lunch, there would belemon sandesh, chocolate sandesh or strawberry sandesh for dinner. “We have innovated with green mango, which isin season now,” said Haldar, pointing to Kacha Aamer Mousse. “It will have a sweet and tangy taste.”
While there would be fish, meat and prawn dishes in every buffet menu, for Poila Baisakh there would be a crab dish inplace of prawn — Kankrar Jhal.
Through the day, there would be tent cards on each table offering special a la carte options, which would be differentfrom the dishes on the buffet menu.
Picture by Mayukh Sengupta
MANI SQUARE
When: Till April 18Timings: All dayPrice: Rs 61 for every dish (all inclusive)
The magic figure through the next seven days at Mani Square is 51. The mall is laying out a spread in its food courtwhere every item would be priced the same. Sandwich to Tandoori Chicken, Raj Kachauri to Chicken Momo, SzechwanNoodles to Chicken Kasa with Lachcha Paratha — it would be priced at Rs 51. With taxes, the bill would come to Rs61.
The uniform food pricing would coincide with a carnival atmosphere in the mall. There would be jugglers, nail art andtattoo artistes, portrait painters, street magicians and inflated cartoon characters doing their thing.
“This is a time when we thank the city for its yearlong support through this unique pricing. Most of these dishes cost alot more through the year but for this Poila Baisakh period we subsidise them. The standard price of these pastriesfrom Belgian Baker is about Rs 125. A plate of Chicken Biryani anywhere will never be this cheap. So popular is thiscarnival that we have busloads of people coming from as far as Khardah. People hold kitty parties here. We have hadresidents of
old age homes dropping by as well,” said Sudarshana Gangulee, senior general manager, marketing, Mani Square.
When: April 13 and 14 (dinner), 15 (lunch and dinner)Buffet timings: 12 noon to 3pm, 7pm to 11pmPrice: Rs 855 (all inclusive)
“We have kept it simple and traditional,” said chef Barid Baran Sau. Since the hotel gets ample vegetarians ascustomers for the Poila Baisakh festival, it has kept six vegetarian varieties like Potoler Dorma, Bodi Diye Lau andChhanar Kofta. In non-vegetarian dishes, there would be prawn, fish, chicken and mutton as options. In prawn, theoption would change daily — from a Bhapa Chingri to Malai Curry to Sorshe Narkel diye Chingri.
“We kept the heat outside in mind when planning the menu. While Aam Panna or green coconut water would be servedas the welcome drink, even among the non-vegetarian options we have Mourola Machher Tak which is a dish that iseasy to digest,” he added.
THE SOJOURN
When: April 12 to 16 (a la carte), April 15 (buffet)Buffet price: Rs 850 (all inclusive)
If you want to taste hilsa this summer, head for this Sector III address. The star of the Poila Baishakh menu here is IlishBiryani (priced Rs 627). “Bengalis love biryani so much that we get orders whatever be the time or occasion. By makingbiryani with hilsa, we are giving it a Bengali touch and including it in our Barshobaron menu,” said Sanjoy Halder,operations manager. The residue in which the hilsa would be fried would be used in the biryani to accentuate theflavour. There would also be Bhapa Ilish, Ilish Beguner Tok Jhal and Ilisher Tel Jhal on offer but all of it would only beon the a la carte menu.
The buffet would have fish, chicken, mutton and prawn though. The chef suggests the starter Kurkure Chicken whichhad a great response last year as well as the dessert Malpoa, which would be done in the crunchy Sambalpuri stylewhich is offered to Lord Jagannath in Puri.
