Dyuti Banerjee, of MasterChef India fame, likes to tell stories with food. The delish mango menu curated by her at Amar Khamar’s Annaja this June told the story of seasonality, cultural influences, childhood memories and the many flavours of the king of fruits.
“I want my menu to tell a story. It can be a personal story, a story of a community or culture and time,” said ‘Energy’ Banerjee as Dyuti has come to be known. My Kolkata was at the tasting session and tried the nine-course experience menu.
Why Aamer Summer?
The menu for the tasting session
For Dyuti, summer means seasonal, juicy fruits. And mangoes take her back to her childhood days, when she spent afternoons relishing mangoes with her grandfather. “I was born in a house with five mango trees — five different kinds of aam. My summer afternoons were spent eating mango kulfis, which my grandfather would make painstakingly. Tiny mangoes that fell in a storm would be peeled, chopped, then mixed with tel and lonka. The first bite into that sourness was nothing less than a shock! Squishing a mango with both hands till I could suck on it like Mango Frooti. The dried chillies pulverised into my grandmother's toker dal. The aftertaste of her brass thala after swooshing down her doodh aam bhaat makha, with a rosogolla or sandesh muddled in, by her hands, always smelt delicious.”
Celebrating her favourite summer fruit, Dyuti used Himsagar, Amrapali, Lyangra and raw mangoes in her Aamer Summer menu for every course, along with local rice variants and ingredients from Amar Khamar and fresh produce from the local markets. Like all of the chef's menu, the Aamer Summer menu also had fun wordplay for the course names.
Aamshotto Ceviche Roll and Cream of Mango Soup
Aamshotto Ceviche Roll and Cream of Mango Soup
Bengal's favourite Himsagar made its entry in the form of aamshotto, or mango leather, that was used to make a Ceviche Roll with a filling of bekti served with a spicy and tangy cream sauce that had raw mango and Himsagar pulp. The meatiness of the bekti with the tanginess and notes of sweetness of mango elements made for a good starter.
Cream of Mango Soup
Next came Amrapali — with kancha meethe aam (sweet green mango) pulped into a sweet and sour, creamy soup. Tapping into her Bangal food habits of using leftovers, Dyuti made crispy potato peel fritters to serve with mango soup like bread sticks. Topped with a slice of charred lemon, the soup had a beautiful smoky flavour.
Aam-Moody and Tok Dal Pasta
The Aam-Moody dish used Amudi fish
The highlight of the next dish was the Amudi fish — fried to perfect crispiness. Bringing the chhoto maachh (small fish) onto the table, the chef said, “Not many people know or eat Amudi fish. It makes for a great accompaniment when fried till it is nice and crisp.” This was served with her MasterChef debut dish Phyanabhat of Gobindobhog rice but made into a mousse, flavoured with raw mango and mango ginger. A tangy salsa verde was made with aamrul shak (sorrel leaves) and aamras of Himsagar and Amrapali.
Tok Dal Pasta
Next came innovation in a bowl. Strands of pasta made of masoor dal on a nest of jhurjhure alu bhaja with a side of Aam Ombol Mayo. The handmade pasta was made from pasting tok dal tempered with raw mango, dried chillies and mustard seeds. All together, this dish was a spicy, crispy and wholesome experience. It was like relishing a summer-special mango dal with alu bhaja. The mayo was a bonus!
Frooti Fermented Brew, Mango Posto Potoler Dolma and Aam Pora Mamsam
Frooti Fermented Brew
Putting in a break before the next course, an in-house fermented Himsagar and Langra brew was served. It resembled Frooti, but tasted fizzy, sweet and sour.
Mango Posto Potoler Dolma
After this refreshing break, Mango Posto Potoler Dolma was served with Panchphoron Bhaat and Sambal. The potol was stuffed with a paste of posto, til, raw mango and Himsagar. The Kanakchur rice was tempered with the five-spice panchphoron. A sambal with prawn was served with it. The dish felt like an embrace one feels after relishing their favourite comfort food.
Aam Pora Mamsam
For the next course, Andhra Pradesh’s Gongura Mamsam got a Bengali twist — served as an Aam Pora Mamsam. The mutton was made like mamsam, but in place of the Gongura leaves, MasterChef Dyuti used raw mangoes as a souring agent. With this, she served a bread halwa. Speaking about the combination, she said, “I wanted to recreate Andhra's Mamsam, but with my own Bengali touch. Therefore, the charred raw mango. With it I was looking for a carb, I did not want to serve rice. So I went ahead with a bread halwa, which is again from Hyderabad, but in savoury form — cooked in ghee. They both paired so well!” Flavourful, tender meat with a decadent bread halwa was a complete happy meal!
Pipre Kandiya Jaaye Paate and Mango Carpaccio
Pipre Kandiya Jaaye Paate
“Aamsotto dudhe feli, Tahate kodoli doli. Shondesh makhia dia tate, Hapush hupush shobdo. Charidik nistobdho, Pipira kadia jay pate”
This poem by Rabindranath Tagore was an inspiration to Dyuti for her dessert, which she named ‘Pipre Kandiya Jaaye Paate’. The dessert had mango-milk-rice with white chocolate spheres, caramelised banana gel and whipped litchi honey. Pieces of frozen mango and Himsagar aamshotto from Amar Khamar were used for the garnish. A perfect balance of sweet and mango-ey tanginess, this dessert bowl was a meal in itself.
Mango Carpaccio
To finish off the meal, there was Mango Carpaccio with fennel, candied betel leaf and sweet betel. The mango was thinly sliced and on top was candied betel leaf and sweet betel pieces. The whole thing was meant to be put in the mouth together and it felt like mishti paan — maybe more like aam paan!
