Familiar flavours, fresh forms
Home chef Tunika Guha’s (9674331298) six-course feast at Anjeer, Gurugram, today gives Bengali favourites a contemporary presentation. On the menu are VP alur dom phuchka, inspired by Kolkata’s Vivekananda Park stalls, and piyaj posto byte, which turns an onion-and-poppy-seed preparation into a cracker bite topped with caramelised onion. “For me, it’s about taking familiar flavours that evoke childhood memories and giving them a fresh, modern life without losing their authentic soul,” says Guha. Alongside these bites, diners can tuck into luchi and kosha mangsho at a long communal table. The idea, Guha says, is to make conversation as much a part of the experience as the food, encouraging strangers to leave as friends. “We have 20 slots each for lunch and dinner and both are almost booked out,” she adds.
Cinema, stories and supper
On October 20, home chef Arpita Mukherjee (9899979088) will turn her Noida living room into a screening space, pairing a multi-course meal with vintage Bengali films, including works by Satyajit Ray and classics starring Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. “Durga Puja in Kolkata was always about cinema, literature, and food coming together,” says Mukherjee. She will introduce each course with stories about its origins and cultural significance. The menu includes chhanar dalna, cottage cheese dumplings in a spiced gravy; golda chingri malaikari, prawns in coconut milk; chingri bhorta; and mochar ghonto, a banana flower preparation. Homemade nolen gur payesh and sandesh provide the sweet finale.
A feast set to music
At TBC By Susmita (9810217710), home chef Susmita Guha Srivastava is pairing her Pujo menu with live renditions of Rabindra Sangeet, Bengali classics and Hindi songs from the 1990s. From October 17 to 20, she will host groups of four to six at her Dwarka home, decorated for the festivities. The intimate setting is designed to evoke a family gathering, with food inspired by maa-er haather khabar, or a mother’s cooking. Her spread includes koraishutir kachori with aloor dum, Kolkata-style bhetki fish fry, sarson hilsa, mutton kosha, chicken chaap, bhetki paturi and basanti pulao. Rosogolla and mishti doi round off the meal.