Sunshine & sandesh: This Bengali spread is everything we want

Ready your taste buds for mustard melodies with pomfret and Mochar Chop
Assorted Dessert Platter
Assorted Dessert Platter

When I heard that Jamavar at The Leela Palace was hosting a Bengali food festival, the first ingredient that came to mind was — mustard. While the two-week event doesn’t disappoint in that element — it manages to surprise us with other traditional offerings that the senior sous chef, Emon Mukherjee, rustles up for us as part of the degustation menu. “I had to call my mother in Kolkata and go over each recipe to ensure authentic flavour and technique,” says the chef shyly, as we get comfortable in the 75-seater restaurant that is bustling with full tables on a weekday.

<em>Kosha Mangsho</em>
Kosha Mangsho


We start with a thirst-quencher in the Aam Porar Sarbot which is sweet, tangy and spicy — and Chef Emon says the key is to char grill the raw fruit instead of boiling the mango pulp. The starters include a mildly flavoured seekh kebab and the mochar chop. The chop is surprisingly a veg cutlet of banana flowers, coconut bits and mash, along with spices. And the chef’s recommendation to dip it in the kasundi (mustard sauce) paid off — as it brought home the Bengali feel. The Bhalo Laga Pomfret Patoori all wrapped up in a banana leaf is for those who love mustard — albeit the tame yellow kind. My first relief was that though compromising on taste according to some, the catch of choice was not a hilsa or such, but the pomfret — a relatively boneless fish. It turned out to be steamed, flaky and delicately flavoured, nearly a personification of the soft swishy syllables of the language.

<em>Pomfret <g class=
Pomfret
Patoori" />


The bhojon (mains) section sees the panch phoron (fenugreek, cumin, mustard, fennel and onion seed) flavoured Parmadrito Bhecktir Jhal and the Palang Saag Chor Chori hitting the spot. The former, a delicious fish in a thick tomato and onion gravy is uplifted when had with the small-grained Sugandhi Gobindo bhog rice, while, the latter, a mixed bhaaji that has spinach as the dominating green, best with the Pholko Loochi, a variant of a puri. The prawns in creamy coconut gravy are deeply infused with the shell flavour, and the lamb dish, Swadey Kasha Mangsho, is tender — both complemented by homely, triangular parathas. with 32 dishes in the menu, the usual suspects like mishti doi and pista sandesh tempt us from the sweet section. We succumb to the sunshine-hued sandesh made of fresh ripe mangoes, just as Chef Emon introduces us to the Aam sottu kajur chutney, hailed as a mouth freshener. It is drenched in childhood nostalgia as the aam papad (fruit leather) coats the dates sweetly and thickly — signalling us to sit back and ruminate.

At Rs 3,500 for a meal for two, open for dinner only, till June 22.
 

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