Meeting the Kolkata Ladies

This Kolkata trip was extremely fruitful- and no, I am not talking about the mangoes & lichis that I bought but that I got to meet Sue & Dipali & SRE (missed meeting Eve's Lungs as she was naughty enough to catch a fever from Aila)
It was not the first time I meet Sue but it was definitely the first time I was meeting Dipali I am certain, but somehow it did not seem like that wonder why!! ;)
Sue came armed with a box of yummy chocolate cake from Cakes & Dipali brought me a lovely green tangail and books & puzzles for the kids which was incidentally read cover to cover instantly. Many thanks Dipali aunty- they say!
The gossips and talks just flowed as we moved from one venue to another- from BigBoss Palace where I was staying to Kewpies Bengali restaurant to Dipali's lovely home...and swear- we were not ready to leave even then! And was I meeting Dipali's SRE for the first time? no? yes? dunno... I can't quite place!
Kewpies is an authentic bengali cuisine restaurant with terracotta plates/ tumblers and bowls- think Amethyst in Chennai- a similar home converted to a restaurant, ancient style, art on the walls, alcogol bottles and other ceramic pottery on display, slightly musty, subdued lighting...

As I studied the menu, to my dismay Sue & dipali suggested that i take the thali- now I am not the kind who can brave a thali - and moreover it usually has a host of vegetarian stuff which to me is not needed at all. So I dithered and protested as politely as I could that I would rather pick and choose than let them serve me a thali. And the lovely ladies insisted that the thali is well balanced - bitter/ sweet/ spicy and all! On hindsight (realised exactly 15 minutes after ordering) I am glad they forced me to take the thali
My favourites were-
banana flower curry
fried brinjal- see below
prawn with lots of mustard oil
Bhetki steamed in banana leaf- I devoured the entire thing and did not share with Sue as originally intended
fluffy pooris- see below
mutton curry with the bone -I slurped the entire bone marrow!
mishti doi...yummm
green mango sweet chutney- to be eaten with papad


And while I am on food- I had lunch the next day at Jimmy's Kitchen- oldest Chinese restaurant in Kolkatta!
Deep fried chilly chicken- I took the entire plate - the colleague was kind enough to notice my greed and pick only a couple of pieces from that! Immensely satisfying - fried, flavourful !
If you come across it get in and try it! Small but popular place!

And this post gets a mentione here moments after I posted it! Thanks Sue for pointing it out to me!