Mumbai Food: Why this lavish Bengali feast for Durga Puja is a must have

Two Bengali home chefs whip up a lavish spread you should tuck into for Durga Puja

Aloor Dum

The aroma of pachphoron (Bengali five spice), kalojire (nigella seeds), radhuni (wild celery) and mustard paste wafts up from the kitchen where two Bengali chefs, Rhea Mitra-Dalal and Madhumita Pyne, are busy prepping for a Pujo te Peyt Pujo menu, for the five days when Bengalis will celebrate Durga Puja from September 26 to 30.

Bhetki Kalia

Their mouth-watering menu includes dishes that are usually part of bhog — the food that is first offered to the Goddess and then eaten as prasad. The duo bonded over their common love for food and their entrepreneurship. They worked well as a team during collaborations for Hokus Porkus, an exclusively pork-centric event in the city.

Posto Murgi

"We're both Bengalis, so it made sense to collaborate over Bengali food. While the cuisine is very popular, what is served in restaurants can be a predictable selection. We wanted to showcase lesser- known dishes like Jhinge Posto (Rs 300), a ridge gourd cooked in poppy seed paste, and Mangsh'er Malai Curry (Rs 400), whose recipe I found in a vintage cookbook. We will also be doing a mutton in coconut milk dish," says 45-year-old Dalal, who runs Euphorhea Kitchen that delivers Bengali food, tea cakes, bacon jam and pickles.

Labra

Durga Puja is like a carnival, and food is an essential part of it. "It's a time for gluttony, from a huge variety of street food to rich and decadent fish and meat dishes," says Pyne, a filmmaker and design consultant who runs Insomniac Cook.

Jhinge Posto

"The dishes are a mix of Pujo-specific dishes like Bhuna Khichuri (Rs 300), Labra with Tomato Chatni (Rs 250), along with a variety of what one can call party food. Traditionally, on Ashtami we only eat vegetarian food. However, Nabami is incomplete without mutton (cooked without onion/garlic and called Niramish Mangsho). Bijoya Dashami celebrates the defeat of Mahishasur, which is when sweets are exchanged," Dalal shares. Favourites like Aloor Dum (Rs 250) Posto Murgi (Rs 350) and Bhetki Kalia (Rs 450) are also on the menu.

Randhuri Diye Daal

Pyne identifies that dishes to look out for include Ilish Polao (Rs 700) and Ilish Teljhol (Rs 650). "Hilsa (Ilish) is the king of fish according to Bengalis, and is the ultimate treat.

Payesh Kheer

We are also doing a Chicken Bharta (Rs 350), one of the most popular dhaba dishes in Kolkata, which is rarely made in Mumbai. Labra (mixed, fried vegetables like brinjal) and Tomato Chatni Khichuri combo along with Payesh Kheer (Rs 250), is perfect for those who miss bhog but cannot make it to a pandal," suggests Pyne.

Madhumita Pyne and Rhea Mitra-Dalal ready for the Pujo meals. Pics/Sameer Markande

For a tasting, we decide to stick to a vegetarian order since it is Navratri. We try a lightly oiled Labra made of pumpkin, aubergine, among other vegetables. It has spice of the panch phoran and the hit of mustard oil. We lap this up with Bhapa Doi (Rs 200), a silky steamed yogurt pudding. The Jhinge Posto has the zing of poppy seeds and the Randhuni Diye Daal (Rs 250) has masoor tempered with ghee. The daal has an overall sweetness but the randhuni adds a comforting, intense, herb-ey flavour.

Food and festivities go hand in hand, and the flavours simmer the devotion forthe goddess, who loves her bhog too.

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