Calcutta Cookbook

The Calcutta Cookbook is much more than a cookery book—it is a culinary chronicle of travelers and traders who built the city that Job Charnock founded. Calcutta’s chronicle began on a hot, wet August afternoon in 1690 when a hungry Charnock climbed off his ship on to the steps of a muddy ghat. The river was Hooghly and the place Sutanati… The story of Calcutta is told by three food lovers—the late gourmet chef and author of Bangla Ranna, Minakshi Das Gupta, and feature writers Bunny Gupta and Jaya Chaliah—who have collected recipes from all over the world. Many of these are family secrets of Calcuttans who have recreated Armenian, Jewish, Arabian, European, Chinese and Tibetan dishes with distinct Calcutta flavor. Through over two hundred tried and tested recipes ranging from the delicious Bengali Chingri Maacher Malai Curry to the biryani and kebabs of Kabul, and the Temperado, Vindaloo and Sorpotel of Goa, Calcutta unfolds as a gourmet’s paradise.