Bhojo Hari Manna

As a foodie couple we always go on search for a place to eat, and here in Mumbai after Bollywood the thing which runs deeper in Mumbaikar's vein is Food. We stay in suburb area where the availability of Bong fish like Rohu, Katla, Hilsa are very rare. Over that, the other living being of my house, unlike all Bong's tried to act different, hence refuse to put anything fishy in his mouth. I know I know...Bangali hoye maach khaye na....its a total shocker for all my Bong friends & non Bongs alike.

Hence fish in my house is becoming a rarity as such. Also I am constantly missing my quota of  Bengali food - not that I am eating dusre gole ka khana, but it's just that the taste of mustard oil, paanch poron, fresh water fish, posto(khus-khus), ghonto, and in monsoon the Hilsa (illish bhaja with tel & begun bhaja). 

After many crying episode & my emotional atyaachar , the other living being came into action & we ended up on the famous Kolkata based Bhojohori Manna @ Chembur Mumbai after one hour drive.

On reaching there, the front ambiance was not as we expected. It was simply a next door restaurant, totally different than what the vibe was generated.

Front door Name board...sorry forgot to click the whole front door due to excitement.

But as it was rightly said -

"Don't judge a book by its cover"

Once inside, the godly smell of food brought back all the old memories from my granny's cooking Mangshor Jhol to my Mom preparing Macher Kalia @ home. The menu at BHM consist of all the daily dishes & special items from any Bengali house. 

A' la carte Menu of Authentic Bengali Food

Today's Special

We went during the Hilsa season, hence once we settle down, the good Bong manager seeing amader log (our people), without any qualm ordered our food by his choice 😃 "Illish maach shokale eshechhe, bodo sizer, bhaja bole dichhi, saathe Bhapa Illish oo nite paren". which implies- (Fish came this morning, big & fresh, ordering fried Fish for you & if you insist am ordering Fish curry for you!!!!!)

Basically Hilsa is anadromous type of fish, means they migrate to and from sea to river for breeding, and where to get this tasty fish other than from one of the biggest delta in the world "Sundarban". Due to its habitat and type, Hilsa got its unique taste & smell.

Illish Bhaja ar Tel (Hilsa fry with its own oil & fried green chilli)

Generally both the dishes are eaten with plain steam rice. Bengali know how to make a humble fish fry a delicacy, I mean just a humble pinch of salt & turmeric & frying it in little mustard oil, that's it to make a crispy & juicy fish. See that oil, don't worry about it, its the good one i.e. fish oil. Just mix your fish, oil with rice, & if you like it spicy then crush a fried green chilli & you will get that Jannat ka swad......not kidding....for any well trained Bangali its heaven.

Bhapa/Shorshe Illish (Hilsa steam cooked in Mustard paste gravy)

Second dish is Bhapa Illish which is a Fish cooked in mustard based gravy. Wow that instant spicy kick at the back of throat given by mustard compliments the succulent and soft flesh of fish so so much, that I can eat it lunch & dinner. But during childhood, I never liked the pungent taste of mustard, but as taste bud changed i mean got oldie, now I can taste like my dad. Thank you BHM for making me understand my taste buds ancestry. Fish were fresh, soft, aromatic & juicy 👍👍, I am in heaven 👼. 

Now the other living-being getting very tensed by so much fishing going around. But the restaurant made him happy with authentic non-fishy non-veg choices. He started with starters/entree which were only heard of during my summer holidays at Kolkata didabari (granny's home).

Chicken Kobiraji

It is a deep fried snack, chicken/mutton keema cutlet(balls) which are coated by tiny tiny egg bubbles, so crispy outside, but at the same time inside which is juicy, tender & full of aromatic spices, Now that is the main art of making a good Kobiraji. The coating is put on the cutlet directly in hot oil, which is a show to watch.

Check out the process @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNIwIsF1Jk4
(courtesy to Milis cooking: you can check many bengali cuisine on this youtube channel )

At BHM, there was good crunch to the cutlet, but inside was bit dry, may be because the cutlets are reheated at the outlet, as the main cooking part is done in the main Bhojohari Manna Main Kitchen somewhere else & not at the outlets itself, so on reheating the cutlet got dry. Also according to the other living-being, the one he tasted at famous Coffee House at College Street, Kolkata was far more tastier, juicier & crunchier ........so for this 👎.

Dimer Devil (Egg Cutlet) with thin fried potatoes

Second  entree ordered was a dish which my mom is a Pro in making, so to compare this one with my Mom's one is very unjustful to the resturant one.  Will share her Dimer devil recipe sometime. This is another type of deep fried snacks, with a filling of hard boiled eggs stuffed with either chicken or mutton, coated by egg wash and bread crumps. We generally use to have dimer devil on those rare Sundays when mom start preparing the keema mixture from morning, the whole house filled with the fragrance of the spices..and by evening me and my brother use to get two oval shaped ball of desire filled with mouthwatering delicious egg and chicken filling in a hot and crispy shells...😋 Ofcourse the BHM version cannot surpass my Mom's one, but was tasty and crispy, a filling little bit spicier and sweeter than usual, but I liked it....👍

Ab mains ki baari...we ordered Kosha Mangsho, Dhokar Dalna along with Luchi and steamed rice for mains.

Kosha Mangsho (Mutton Curry made in rich marinated gravy by slow cooking method)

There can be rarely any Bengali alive, who had not eaten his or her share of Kosha Mangsho. It should be the National dish of all Bongs. A rich Mutton curry which take a long time to cook, get its distinct flavor from the ample use of Mustard oil (shorshe tel) and bengali spices. Kosha is nothing but the Bhuna or slow cooking method where marinated kochi patha (tender goat meat) is cooked till all fat is rendered in the curry to make mutton very tender & juicy. The end result is a aromatic succulent meat, which just melts in mouth. Generally kosha mangsho is eaten with Luchi (aka Poori) or Basanti pulav.

The dish which we got at BHM looks exactly how a good curry should look like, but in taste it got more sweetness from its onion tomato gravy which I don't like, I want mine to be spicy, my bad 😳. But the other living being finished the whole dish at a lightening speed, so its a good sign. 👍

Dhoka r Dalna (Veg dish made of gram flour patties in rich gravy)

Even in a hardcore Bong non-veg households, there are few vegetarian dishes, in every housewife's basket for those days of fasting or puja when non-veg is not allowed in the Kitchen. Dhokar dalna is one of those veggie dishes. Dhoka is like a hard dhokla made from gram flour and steamed, and Dalna is.... well...as a uncle of mine once told me.....the veg gravy which is not a Dal hence its a Dal-na. 😄. I personally never liked it so much......so same here. Hence nothing more to say abt it.. 😟.

Trying every thing with long, fluffy basmati rice & Luchi.

Here the vast spread of food on our table along with complimentary aloo Bhaja, Kasundi (bengali mustard sauce) & evergreen tomato ketchup. We actually were not able to finish it all....hence the restaurants parcel system is a boon to couples like us. 😉

Final assessment though I may differ with many of my friend who went to BHM...the taste were good, specially the fish items were all fresh and tasty, others were not so up-to notch as considering the prices which were high, compared to other restaurants around Mumbai.

May be the reason I didn't like the dishes coz, I have eaten homemade & chefs versions of each dishes. So comparing Maa ke haath ka khana with BHM food is really affecting my judgement. But for those who have not tried any bengali food, its definitely a experience to enjoy.

So for Bongs, go to BHM during monsoon when Hilsa fish is available. And non-bong friends try out BHM outlets near your area for authentic Bengali dishes made with ample of love & expertise of Kolkata chefs.

Hope you will like this blog...So till then happy weekends.....See you all again...Muahhhh

Today am hearing - "Behti hawa sa tha woh..." Movie - Three Idiots 🙈🙉🙊

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