Bangla khabar | One and a Half Minutes

L-R : Topshe Fry, Brain Kebab, Mete Chochhori, Dim Thuke Jhaal, Machher Dimer Borar Jhaal, Kanchkolar Kofta

Having cruised and bruised through a lot of Durga Pujos in my lifetime, there’s always this tinge of excitement, that flutter in the stomach, that vibe in the air which signifies autumn and Pujo. While there are many, especially in Calcutta, who like to eat out during the Pujo week, my family has mostly concentrated on cooking good food at home and munching on a few snacks while pandal hopping. Come Kali pujo and it’s time to binge on all the non-vegetarian stuff that we can get our hands on. Summer, on the other hand, is a mellow affair. There was rarely eating out as the ’90s didn’t have the option of ordering food at home. Restaurants were expensive and risky during the season. To keep the appetite inflated, various ‘mukhorochok’ (loosely translated to tasty/delicious) food were cured up at home.

Here are a few recipes that you could use this season.

Mete Chochhori

Mete (Goat Liver) is something that is almost a delicacy now, but it was pretty regular a few decades. Regular and inexpensive. Mete tastes best in this chochhori, I think, especially for me as I’m not really a fan of its earthy, iron odour and sandy texture. This chochhori renders a delectable version of the mete that I can at least devour. It is uber spicy, hot and ideal for winters.

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Writing an article around Valentine’s Day invariably leads to the celebration of love and such stuff. With the advent of Spring comes Saraswati Pujo, technically on the fifth day of the season, called Basant Panchami. Saraswati, the goddess of Arts and Education is worshipped diligently across my part of the world. From miniature clay idols at home to medium sized idols at various schools and finally the larger versions at the barowari (public) pujo, the goddess is more revered than actually loved. I’ve often perceived Saraswati as the lonelier, geeky goddess among others, akin to the bespectacled girl in school, bypassed for prettier ones (like Lakshmi). My loyalties have been and will remain for the ivory goddess, who I believe has lent me the few words that I can write. Retracing to Valentine’s Day bit of the story – Saraswati Pujo is termed aptly as Bengali Valentine’s Day for the past half-a-century. I think it’s barely been 50 years that Saraswati Pujo began to be celebrated in schools around Bengal. The stern iron gates of each mono-gender school would be open to everyone only on this day, creating leeways for teenagers. Each teenage boy, clad in pressed and clean white or yellow Panjabi-Pajama would peer around Girls’ schools in the neighbourhood for saree clad beauties. Thus began an era of seeing each other, diligently asking for prasad, going out for a date in a group and stealing furtive glances.