MasterChef contestants from Kolkata cook up a storm at ‘Rain and Rainbows’ pop-up

The sweet smell of jackfruit filled the air at The Harmony Pot in Garfa. In the quaint kitchen, Dyuti Banerjee and Subhojit Sen, the two recently returned Masterchef India contestants, hustled to get their dishes ready before the guests started arriving. The adjacent room was laid out with chowkis and floor mats. The walls were covered with newspapers and two of the walls had paintings of Durga and Saraswati by Subhojit, who owns the cloud kitchen, The Harmony Pot. The air-conditioned room was illuminated with fairy lights to welcome the guests who booked slots for the pop-up on June 17.

Inaugurating with starters

Dyuti and Subhojit chose the rain and rainbows theme as an ode to June, keeping in mind that it is also the Pride month . “We have incorporated the Pride theme in our food. From plating to flavour, the menu will have little surprises for our guests,” said Dyuti.

Soon, the room was bustling with guests and they got a warm welcome with bhanr-er cha and shingara with a filling of flame grilled sweet potatoes and prawn, served with muri (puffed rice). The muri sourced from Amar Khamar was made from gobindobhog rice that the chefs tossed in gondhoraj lime and brown butter sauce. The subtle flavour of the king of lemons mixed with the aroma of the gobindobhog muri complemented each other well. The muri and shingara were served in thongas. Dyuti said, explaining the idea, “We wanted to recreate the Bangali adda mood in here. The vibe of rainy evenings in Kolkata, as it used to be in our childhoods, was of food and adda. The thongas filled with muri and telebhaja are mandatory for any Bengali adda.”

Up next was the starter for the day. A generous cut of steamed bekti fillet was served with what Subhojit called a 'Purple rain' on a tangy-spicy sauce of ripe mango. “The purple rain is made by carefully dehydrating purple cabbage and crushing them on the fillet,” explained Subhojit.

After that came a soup of cucumber and chilli gazpacho with panchphoron. There were tiny pieces of pickled cucumbers that added a hint of sweetness to the refreshing dish. “This fusion dish is like cooling raita but with a twist,” said Soaham Mandal, who came to the pop-up to celebrate his birthday with his father and wife.

A colourful main course

After an interesting beginning, the wait for the Neel-Shada Kamini-Kaoner Bhuni Khichuri with Kalonji Ema Datshi and Pan-Seared Parcel-Baked Lemongrass Mutton Chops, was over. Clay dishes arrived with vibrant contents. With the mutton chop on the side, it was a tempting affair. Dyuti served the food and spilled her secrets of this colourful platter. “This is Neel-Shada Kamini-Kaon, which is Neel Kaminibhog, the blue colour comes from Aparajita or blue butterfly pea flowers, and shada kaon is foxtail millet, that I used like a lentil in the khichuri. This is a deconstructed khichuri, where the elements are cooked separately but brought together through the act of eating. Ema Datshi is my favourite Bhutanese cheese curry with chillies. I swapped Bhutanese cheese and lonkas with a very aged cheddar, dalle chillies and green chillies, and introduced kalonji to give the feel of shada aloor torkari with the shocking richness of the Datshi.”

The dishes were cooked in gaowa ghee, using Bengali garam masala, like bayleaf, small cardamom, cinnamon and clove. The khichdi had a milder and sweeter profile to offset the heat of the Datshi, and to bring out the flavours of the mutton chops. Subhojit showed his magic with the juiciest and flavourful Mutton chops! “The mutton was marinated with lemongrass paste, fish sauce and brown sugar. Then I pan roasted for bringing the brown colour. The chops were wrapped in foils and baked for two hours. This process is called parcel baking,” said Subhojit, who, in spite of holding two engineering degrees, chose his passion for cooking as a career.

To wash all of this down, came in clay glasses of Lebu-batashar sorbet. The refreshing drink was cool, tangy and light while the bhaja masala (roasted cumin, coriander and red chilli powder) brought a kick of flavours.

Ending on a 'sweet' note

It was time to ask meethe mein kya hai? And it was mango chutney with papad, and kulfi with a jalebi topping but again with a fusion-touch. The hog plum or aamra chutney came in a syringe with a rolled papad. With every bite of the papad, the chutney in the syringe was to be injected in the mouth.

The kulfi had coconut and jackfruit while the jalebi was vanilla flavoured. The smell of the jackfruit with a mild coconut flavour complemented each other after a hearty meal.

Songs, adda and more

The room of 10 foodies witnessed the quintessential Bengali baithakkhana adda. Culture, politics, food, weather, career — the group engaged in conversation with each other over the constant supply of delicacies from The Harmony Pot's kitchen.

To engage the guests, the chefs also conducted a culinary quiz, where questions were asked and they had to blow the whistle to answer. To every correct answer, the guest received a lollipop!

After the game, the adda resumed, where Dyuti and Subhojit shared their memories of MasterChef India.

Indira Mitra Sarkar, an old friend of Dyuti, also shared her memories of 'Energy' Banerjee when she started her cloud kitchen journey. "I have known her since she was a school-going child. I still remember, she had made Christmas cakes for me and they were excellent! I urged her to make more for me but this time I was willing to buy them. She made three kinds of plum cakes! That's Dyuti for you! She does extraordinary stuff. I recently got to know Subhojit and he is equally talented!"

The conversation flowed from one topic to another and one by one the platters on the table kept changing. The rain playlist on the speakers slowly faded as the conversation grew louder. Once the dessert was served, both the chefs joined the guests for a quick photo session. The frame captured the happy faces of the foodies and the satisfying smiles of the hosts.