My name is Sudhanshu Kumar Dutta
How old is this cabin?
It received the licence in 1925
But its a year or two more than hundred years
It must have started much earlier than that
The inventor...
Now a days lots of different food have come up
but earlier when there wasn't used to be any other kind of food
There used to be a huge rush here. everyone would be in queue
I am here since a long time and I have seen this
There used to be so much rush that you can't even speak. There would be two persons right behind you
And during that time sports coverage hadn't started on television so those who came to watch match
they would come here to eat
again those who went to office via this route would come here
There would be so much rush that the office goers will put the cooks in hurry to give them their orders
They would pack these in bulk.
There is raisins.
-I don't have raisins. you have few
You take from  here.
Thank you.
-Its interesting that there is raisins in it
I will try it just like that.
Very yummy. It has so many flavours.
There is lots of green chillies. It is spicy
That's why they have served ketchup
There is coconut as well
I like the fact that the fried things that we have tried here
didn't make me feel heavy
May be it is the way they fry it
This too is deep fried but doesn't seem heavy
Here people are very conscious about hyper acidity
Eating egg is quite prevalent over here I can see
A lot of dishes are made with eggs
be it egg roll, be it mughlai porota or egg tadka
And egg bread
which is a very famous office goers breakfast
the culture of eating out is quite old in Kolkata
People used to go out to eat
And it started with the cabins
Cabins were like the first institutions that allowed many middle class bengalis to go out
and try out different things that they can't prepare at home
and because of religious reasons they were not allowed to have
We are here in New market
Which started in 1874
One of the oldest market in Kolkata
And now were are heading to the iconic Nizam's
Where Kathi kebab roll supposedly started
Is is said that Kathi Kebab roll started from this restaurant in 1932
Its called Kathi Kebab because
these wooden skewers are called kathi
Small pieces of mutton are put on them
And they are grilled on charcoal oven
Nizam's special Kathi Roll is ready
Classic one, without egg; just mutton
Only mutton
Very delicious
The mutton is slightly chewy
Its the classic, authentic Kolkata style roll
The bread is stuffed with sliced onions, lime juice that is it.
To the onions they said that they add little pepper, salt and vinegar for the tang.
This dish has become the identity of Kolkata. such a popular street food it is.
What is its story?
So nobody had documented the story as such
The story that we heard growing up was that when the British came here
They had issues with hygiene
They wanted something that they could easily wrap up
And grab and go
And that's how the roll came up
Because they were conscious about the hygiene and seldom used their hands for eating
They didn't know how to eat with their hands right
So they decided to put the kebabs in the roll and wrap it.
It is easy to eat while on the go and there is no issue of it being non hygienic.
This is what I have heard
We saw it being made.
You are right that might have been the story
Because you see they didn't use much spices to make it
They have used only pepper and salt
Ya it is very simple
Very delicious
Lovely Paan. Lovely song
Taj Mahal Paan Shop
Give us a Paan
Is there any Rafi special Paan available here
Meetha Paan is the special paan here
Its very sweet
It seems that Christmas preparations have began over here
Now since its Christmas time
Its only fair that we go to the place that serves the best Christmas cake in the city
So we are going to go to Nahoum's and it is run by a Jewish family
It is really busy.
I am Jessica Baptist
working here for twenty six years
And I like it
people love me and I love Kolkata
Food has gone all over the world
People love it here and they keep coming from all sides of the world
They visit here and talk to me
Please share little bit history and story about this place
It started in 1902
Earlier it was in some other place
a smaller place. Soon they prospered and booked this place
This framework came from Italy
The writing tables and desks
very good very famous came from America
It is now 119 years old
So it has become a heritage building
How many different varieties of cakes you have and what is the most popular one?
The special fruit cake, the plum cake. we have regular fruit cake
plain cake then Christmas pudding
Mince pies
white chocolate fudge, vanilla fudge and Mazapan
Which is the most popular one?
Popular one is plum cake
Very delicious
It has dry fruits and it is so soft
And not too overly sweet
And fresh
It is still warm
Very good
I have already eaten one and this is the second slice
We are going to try the vada
Victorian Vada
What is this vada made off?
-Moong dal
Why is the name of the shop Victoria vada?
Earlier I used to sell it near Victoria Memorial
I used to be great and there used to be a lot of crowd
when it closed over there
then I thought that if I open it here, nobody will recognise me.
So I named it Victoria Vada so that people will know its the same vendor
How old is the shop?
-It has been here for 33 years and at Victoria Memorial for 17 years
So that makes it nearly 50 years
What is so special about the vada that the ex British Prime Minister had it and the French Defence minister had it too.
 
The fact that its 50 years old make sit special.
You can say so.
What is you name?
-Rajendra Chauhan
Where are you from?
-I am from UP.
Where in UP?
-Jaunpur
Street food in Kolkata started from Victoria Memorial
nowhere else. Now it has spread everywhere
Street Food in kolkata started from Victoria Memorial.
-Yes
Now where ever you go in the city
there are back to back eateries all over the city
Veg and non veg both
But this street has all veg eateries
no nonveg stuff is available here
Hence only a set kind of customers come to eat here
The chutney is amazing
It has a lovely flavour of asafoetida
The first thing that hits you when you eat it is asafoetida
They said that they have added fenugreek leaves as well
 
These are moong dal fritters. Quite crisp and puffy
It has carom seeds
And they add quite a lot of other spices as well
the chutney is a unique combination
garlic chutney and fresh coriander chutney
Now we will try the masala bread
Sometimes I think that the food we eat
on the streets and other places
How conscious these guys are about tastes and flavours
Like some has to be soft, some crunchy
Taste wise it should be sweet, savoury and sour
All sorts of flavours should be incorporated in the food
Its a speciality of Indian street food that we can device such flavours even in the most humble thing
See its just bread slices
It has been cut into smaller pieces and had been topped with a mixture of onion, tomatoes, chutneys
 
then its garnished with coconut, peanuts and fresh coriander
An it looks so beautiful
I was feeling so joyous seeing him making it
he has made it with so much love
see the way he puts the masala
In each slice you are getting same flavours
Bhaiya you have made it so delicious
Very tasty
You give me one serving and you too
we will have from both of you
Do you know the song-Aya re aya babu, channa jor garam
You don't know it
How do you attract customers?
They come on their own on seeing us
You come here everyday
From what time till what time you are here?
-3 pm to 10 pm
You make the channa at home.
Let's see whose is the best?
You taste this one. I am tasting this.
He has added onions. You haven't added onions
Added
That's the thing
 
 
 
You didn't ask me
He did ask me
I added it like that only
Both your things were tasty
You work so hard standing here for 7 hours
 
 
let's end our food tour with this
It was a long day. We started in the morning with ATS
and are finally ending it here at Vardaan Market
And we tried so many thing in between
cakes from nahoum's
rolls at Nizam's, Mughlai paratha from Anadi cabin
Malai toast then orange Kulfi
then cheese corn sandwich
It was quite a gratifying day
Thank you Pamela fro showing us so many things in this tour.
 
