It’s Ramazan time, and doesn’t it just feel incomplete without a visit to the famous Zakaria Street neighbourhood, which is overflowing with tasty treats that mark the season. This Ramazan, The Telegraph brought in a special guest, Balpreet Chadha, executive chef at The Park Kolkata, to go on a pre-iftar walk through the bustling bylanes of the neighbourhood to try some of the most cherished dishes that have gourmets queuing up almost every day.
STOP 1: Taskeen: Our first stop for the day was Chicken Changezi from Taskeen, a popular store that deals in chicken and fried fish along with biryani, and specially simmered gravies that go well with rounded roomali rotis and are polished off in no time.
STOP 2: Fish fry stall (you’ll spot many frying huge pieces of fish everywhere) . “The rui maach fry was good. Fish was super fatty and a little over-fried for my liking but the taste was great,” said chef Chadha as we waited a good 10 minutes in front of the stall that had two huge cauldrons bubbling with oil, dishing out fried fish orders by the kilo. You get raw, spice-rubbed fish weighed, and then it’s fried to your liking and cut into pieces, folded in paper bags and handed off to iftar-goers.
STOP 3: Aminia, opposite Nakhoda Masjid, for Beef Haleem: The outlet is only operational during Ramazan for haleem. The rest of it remains as a guest house. “The Beef Haleem was good, it was spiced a tone higher but was very hearty and tasty,” said the chef who had a conversation with co-owner Asil Amin regarding how the haleem has been an age-old recipe within the family, and took a peek into the massive cauldrons that are parked outside the property
Zubair Zaman, co-owner of Jadid Islamia Hotel in conversation with chef Chadha regarding the maintenance and running of their fully-equipped charcoal-style kitchen that’s a sight to behold in the age of modern kitchens.
STOP 4: Jadid Islamia Hotel for some Mutton Haleem and Firni: Another establishment that is an iconic landmark since the 1930s is this restaurant that looks like a humble establishment but has unmatched taste and quality. We tried the Haleem as well as the Firni here. “This Haleem was totally to my liking, cooked over charcoal. Loved the Firni here too,” said chef Chadha, who also got a tour of the kitchen where all the magic happens.
Greatly impressed by the quality of the sweets, chef Chadha’s verdict was that this was “the best halwas and gulab jamun. Super rich with the right amount of ghee and sugar. Best experience and I can’t wait to get my team here to try the stuff.”
STOP 5: Haji Allaudin Sweets: As the evening progresses, this sweet shop, which now has multiple branches across the city, is packed to the rafters with people coming in from all over the place to buy their favourite sweet treats for iftar. We also waded through the sea of people to get a taste of their pure ghee gulab jamuns that are so soft and succulent, you won’t stop at just one. That apart, chef Chadha got a taste of the Malai Halwa (in picture), the Akhrot Halwa and the Batteesa Halwa. The Malai Halwa is a personal favourite that’s made by changing milk to chenna with a soft whiff of cardamom, slightly sweet. The Akhrot Halwa is loaded with walnuts, and laced with pure ghee. The Batteesa Halwa is a special recipe that combines 32 different spices to create a musky and woody taste that’s different yet so good.
STOP 6: Adam’s Suta Kebabs: Within the same lane as Haji Allaudin, lies this iconic and unmissable hole-in-the-wall stall that has just two guys working on these iconic kebabs that are tied together using a fine thread and hence the name ‘suta’ kebab. The 100-plus-year-old stall serve kebabs that have retained the iconic taste and flavour. Hence, it has loyal patrons flocking in from all over town.
Chef found them “very succulent, mildly spiced and perfectly cooked over charcoal. I loved the crunch on top and tenderness in the centre, these are better than kakori kebabs, I’d say!”
LAST STOP: Taskeen, once again: Amidst the chaotic crowd, we could soon see the sun begin to set, and stall owners gradually started laying down the ‘dastarkhwan’ large communal table mats to begin setting up for their iftar.
The pace of the crowd was now rushed, all returning home with their grabs for the day, and ready to share it with their loved ones.
We couldn’t help but try the chilled faluda at Taskeen, still crowded with iftar diners now occupying its streetside seating set-up. The faluda was a balance of flavours and a good way to end a loaded food walk that was full of rich dishes.