Kolkata can’t have just one most famous food. Although Kolkata cuisine is synonymous with Bengali cuisine, as a metropolitan city, it hosts people from different regions of India (as well as from across the globe). As such, here you can find a wide range of culinary delights from all over India and across the world. Bengalis generally have a sweet tooth, although they can be quite tolerant to heat (spicy food). The best dishes of Kolkata may well take a cookbook to cover, so just a few . Not covering some staple dishes like different types of fish curries. The other answerers have already covered many popular items with specific locations where you can find the best versions. Also, I am not covering food that may be similar to what you may find in other cities. However, there may be a slight overlap between similar foods from other regions that the Bengali people prepare differently. My apologies if I messed up some descriptions or omitted any of the favorites.
Let’s begin with a typical Bengali thali and proceed from there. You can never go wrong with a thali in a good Kolkata restaurant.
Breakfast:
Luchi aar shada aloor torkari: Luchi is similar to poori, a deep-fried flatbread, but it is made with all-purpose flour instead of wheat. Luchi with shada aloor torkari (mild white potato curry) is a quintessential Bengali breakfast. Shada aloor torkari should be considered another unique Bengali dish. Luchi also goes well with cholaar daal, begun bhaja, or kosha mangsho.
Koraishutir kochuri aar aloor dum:
Koraishutir kochuri is luchi dough stuffed with green peas and hing/asafoetida filling before deep frying. It is another breakfast dish that goes well with dum aloo (spicy yellow potato curry).
Lunch and dinner:
Basanti pulao: A sweet yellow pulao with cashew nuts and raisins made with ghee (clarified butter) that goes well with spicy curries.
Shukto:
A mild stew made of an assortment of vegetables, including bitter guard, eggplant, green banana, potato, sweet potato, drumsticks, white radish, and hyacinth beans, that is served with white rice before all dishes. A must-add item is bori (dried lentil dumplings).
Cholar dal narkel diye:
A dal/lentil made from chana dal (Bengal gram) cooked with aromatic spices and tempered with fried coconut and raisins.
Mach er matha diye dal:
Moong dal made with the head of a fish.
Jhinge aloo posto:
A mild sweet dish made with ridge gourd and potato in poppy seed paste.
Potol er dorma:
Pointed gourd stuffed with chana (cottage cheese), keema (minced meat), or fish and cooked in gravy.
Chanar dalna:
Chana (cottage cheese) balls fried and cooked in a lightly spiced, subtly sweet gravy with potatoes.
Mocha chingri:
A delicacy made from banana flowers and prawns.
Chingri malai curry:
A curry made from tiger and king prawns and coconut milk and flavored with spices.
Doi ilish bhapa:
Steamed hilsa in mustard-yogurt gravy. This is one of our favorites, but people not used to fishing with many small, sharp bones will have a tough time with it.
Kosha mangsho:
Slowly cook goat meat in gravy over low heat for a very long time to get a rich, dark-brown gravy and melt-in-the-mouth mutton pieces.
Snacks:
Vegetable chop:
A crumb-coated vegetable cutlet made with vegetables like beetroot, carrots, and potatoes mixed with peanuts.
Fish kabiraji:
Fish fillets coated in beaten egg and breadcrumbs and pan-fried.
Kathi roll:
A street food comprising skewer-roasted kebab wrapped in a paratha and fried with eggs.
Sweets:
Patishapta:
Crepes filled with mawa, khoya, or grated coconut and jaggery.
Rajbhog:
Similar to roshogolla, made with chana (cottage cheese) and saffron, stuffed with mixed dry fruit, and then soaked in sugar syrup.
Malpoa:
A pancake crafted from a mix of flour, sugar, and coconut and dipped in sugar syrup.
Kheer kadam:
A multi-layered sweet with mini roshogollas in the center covered in creamy milk and an outer layer of mawa.
Kolkata biryani with potatoes is not exactly a Bengali cuisine, but very close to a Bengali’s heart, and the potato makes the dish what it is. Authentic Bengali cuisine is always a love and satisfaction dish for the Bengali’s.
