Two chefs with a Kolkata connection are going to stir things up in the city this Poila Baisakh week.
Asma Khan, chef-restaurateur of the famed Darjeeling Express in London’s Covent Garden, will touch down in the city on April 9.
“A 12-hour stopover in Doha is almost done. Incredibly, the lounge had beds in cubicles so I was able to sleep. Counting down the hours to when I can see my family again inshallah!” posted the La Martiniere and Loreto College alumnus on Facebook.
Asma, who recently launched her book Ammu-Indian Home Cooking to Nourish the Soul, is making her way to town after a Scottish book tour. In Kolkata, she will talk about her book at an invite-only session titled ‘Iftar with Ammu’ with British Council, in association with Sienna Store & Cafe, on the evening of April 13.
Indian restaurant Darjeeling Express is famous for Supper Club events, its all-women kitchen team, a long list of celebrity diners, including Paul Rudd and Dan Levy, and, of course, Kolkata and Northeast flavours. On the menu, one finds momos, phuchkas, Tangra Prawns, Prawn Malai Curry, Bengali Aloo Dum and the Chicken Kati Roll, which has just been reintroduced.
Chef Vikramjit Roy, whose F&B ventures include The Tangra Project (TTP) in Delhi’s DLF Commons, and Park Street Rolls & Biryani, will be in Kolkata from April 10 for a pop-up at The Salt House on April 14-17.
“We’ve done a few pop-ups in Hyderabad and Mumbai, but coming to Kolkata is like coming back to where we originated from,” said Vikramjit about the city close to his heart, and where he spent a few years living in a hostel in Salt Lake, studying at Maulana Azad College on Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road and frequenting New Market.
The pop-up titled ‘The Tangra Project Origins’ will be “relatable but unique”. Expect a Lamb Rezala using lamb chops, poached in duck fat followed up with a sous vide with fragrant oils “because this dish is about the perfumery of kewra and rose”. There will also be a Kadhi Chawal Risotto topped with Golbari Mutton and perhaps, a Dak Bungalow Marrow.
“The word Tangra in The Tangra Project doesn’t just interpret the physical space, it interprets the inclusivity of Kolkata. And the word Project is a movement and evolution. Having travelled across cities in these five months, the pop-up is a kind of embodiment of all the evolution put together,” signed off Roy, who featured #16 on Culinary Culture’s India’s Top 30 Chefs list.