Kolkata Phuchka

A guide to Kolkata Phuchka; all that you wanted to know

                                                                                                         Sanchita Dutta Sen

     Kolkata has so much to offer to every single person who sets foot on this land. When it comes to food, Kolkata can take you through the best culinary journey. Street food, food on the move, world cuisine in localised flavours(ever had Chinese noodles cooked the bangaali way?)food from the royal kitchen, sweet meat and what not. For today’s menu, there is the omnipresent and  shorbopriyo Phuchka. Never have my north indian friends taken pride in their gol gappas as we bongs take pride in our phuchkas. Puchkas are our legacy, tamarind water mixed with secret spices run in our veins since generations. Every Jamai babu needs to qualify by gulping down certain number of phuchkas before we hand over our daughter’s hand, as our daughter is a pro at devouring a score of phuchkas in no time.

    Phuchka also known as pani puri, pakodi or gol gappas in other regions of our diverse nation has a very strong presence in every galli in Bengal. A Kolkata galli is incomplete without the omnipresent Phuchka wala with his wicker stand and a huge basket of phuchka wrapped in a red cloth (no no that’s not the red loin cloth which a few people from a certain state in east take pride in). Lokkhon da, Kelo da, Batul da, Montu, their cousins along with his other family members have become famous nationwide selling the humble Phuchka. So have places, like Garia Bata, Vivekananda park, Dakshinapan, New market, Vardaan market and many more have comfortably taken places in the Khao gali map of Kolkata.

Secret recipe for super tasty phuchkas

Many a didis, kakimas, boudis and jethimas tried dishing out this wonder at the comfort of their kitchen to gain popularity within the family, but something was amiss for sure. Wondering what the secret recipe is? Every snack that is popular has a secret recipe, which is kept under wraps in a digital locker and is passed on to the next generation once they come of age and show interest and passion in the trade( a la Coca cola)

   Our Kelo da too has his own secret recipe for making such yummilicious phuchkas which leaves you craving for more. Phuchkas taste best during monsoon or summer, ever wondered why? Well I have been following the entire process of phuchka making for a while now just to understand the secret recipe. Right from the time they mix the dough with their weary legs, yes you heard it right, legs. Because their hands are too busy checking watsapp, updating their FB profile and toggling for top 10 Bhojpuri hits. The first thing, right after their early morning biological routine is to start diligently with kneading the phuchka dough. They are happy to include the munnas and munnis of the family to help them in their family run beeznej. Munna dances away to glory with happy feet on the dough to the latest track, “Tadpe la mor chadjal jawaani kable lagan lagi….”. Soon after the dough is ready Kishan’s wife gulabo along with her mother in law, neighbour’s sister in law and the entire jing bang doles out a few hundred small balls, flattens them and fry them to a golden yellow over gossips on the new Bahu at home. All in a day’s work! Kelo da carries a tempo load of phuchka from Kishan’s house and sets up shop at the four point crossing of the para just under the light post which rarely lights up. After laying his wicker stand with the support of bricks and concrete which he stacks in one corner of the opposite shop, he pours gallons of the magic potion into the huge stainless steel drum. Kelo adds tamarind pulp, some finely chopped coriander leaves, slices of gondho lebu, beat lobon and a fishy looking brown masala powder(we donot add fish to our phuchkas, we spare them). With all the dust and grime still stuck on Kelo from tip to toe, he happily dips his entire hand into the drum full of water to mix the concoction. In an attempt to reach the bottom of the container he rolls his sleeves and dips his hand till his arm pit hair is drenched with tamarind water. He uses his hand as a spoon to create a whirlwind of a concoction. In the sweltering heat, droplets of sweat roll over his temples and drip non-stop on the container while kelo happily creates the wonder. Ah, now I know the secret recipe, this was Kelo’r kirti….Kelo quickly wipes his hand in his dhoti which he wears every evening at work and prefers washing it only on Mondays, his off day. He attends to a customer who asks for some change. He happily digs out a wad of note from some remote corner of his dhoti and gets back to work churning the magic concoction. Did I mention that Kelo has recurrent cough? Occupational hazard must say. Due to his long hours of exposure to pollution and his hands mostly dipped in the drum full of sweet n sour water he is prone to cough and cold. One solitary corner of his dhoti does justice in keeping his nostrils fresh and clean, when there is the versatile dhoti why does one need a napkin. Kelo’s expert hands mashes potato, chick pea and other spices like a pro, his hand flies in the air with an occasional stir in the drum. Even before Kelo could finish preparing his cart load of goodies for the evening, a few boudis flock for Phuchkas. Boudis have to wait as Kelo would soon return after a short biological break.

Different shades of Phuchka

Wine would go red with envy getting to know the varieties of Phuchkas available in town. Vodka phuchka any one? Yes Phuchkas served with copious amount of your favourite vodka is served in many fine dine eateries served with great elan. The master blaster phucka walas, the gurus of the dynasty is found on Vivekananda road. The humble Dilip da serves and specialise in Doi Phuchka, Mishti phuchka, Dilip da has made it global with his ever innovative phuchkas which are packed by resident kolkatans and send to near and dear ones staying out of Kolkata.

Phuchka lovers

PYT of every Kolkata household are the prime and potential customers of Phuchkas. Mithu along with her friends on their way back home from school have to halt at Poltu’s for a couple of Phuchkas every day. This is a part of their daily routine which has been on from the time Mithu upgraded from the blue skirt and white shirt to a feminine Salwar kameez at school. Now Poltu even without asking, passes on a Phao(extra phuchka) to mithu and her friends with a shy smile on his face. It is for all the Mithus and the Buris that Poltu has a two storeyed house today. He sends both his children to an English medium school, got his paternal house repaired in his native place and got his younger sister married last year. It is a known fact that people have bought acres of land in their homeland by selling the humble Phuchkas in Kolkata. Biltu looks at his mom’s ever increasing tummy almost touching the Phuchka basket while he awaits his turn for a dry phuchka. Mom continues munching on the delicacy till she burps out a few droplets of sour water and indicates with her hands. Poltu by now understands every action of his customers and pauses to serve the wonder balls, while the rest is for Biltu. Titu and his group of friends are regulars at Poltu’s, since childhood. They are at the mercy of Poltu at the drop of a hat, be it their para’s win at the inter para football match or Titu’s friend Pota a backbencher, scoring pass marks in maths. Poltu maintains a credit book for all the defaulters especially the para dadas who promises to clear the dues every month.

   Well the la-di-das are often seen surrounding the skinny phuchka wala at Vardaan market nibbling on the phuchkas with their latest Revlon stained red beaks. Aromas of Gucci, Elizabeth Arden and Nina Ricci mix up with the odour of sour tamarind and freshly cut coriander leaves and lime with a tinge of a stench from the nearby open drain. An ideal ambience to taste the best phuchkas for many. In an attempt to save her freshly painted telons, Saakshi misses her first Phuchka which lands straight on her Tommy Hilfiger short dress gifted to her by her ex….. Sad!! Time to buy another one honey..Ritika smiles, “mujhey choto choto phuchka dena” so that she saves her heavily layered and coloured lips. Only 2 each and they are done…”pet bhar gaya..let’s go gals..” The Chauffer waits for his Madam in the “No parking area” till she runs towards her BMW least the traffic police sets a fine.

  The golden brown wonder gets richer

 Well to the envy of the Lokkhon da’s of Kolkata, Phuchkas have gone glocal. Seeing the popularity of the humble fried balls, many a fine dine restaurant and luxury hotels have included the golden wonder in their heavily ornated menu card which was once restricted to world cuisines only. Ooh laa..laa…laa..Phuckas here are mentioned as, ‘round hollow puris, crispy fried with virgin olive oil and served with tamarind extract and exotic organic spices from the land of the east and low calorie mashed potato”. Served to perfection, pale brown tamarind water in crystal shot glasses with a phuchka neatly seated like a king above every glass waiting to be relished. While an immaculately dressed steward offers to prepare each phuchka with distinctive etiquette and hands it over to you with his silver tongs. You keep your silver spoon and fork aside only to hold the humble hollow puri with your fingers and land it straight on your tongue. In the bargain the tamarind juice spoil the spotless white napkin. The steward gives a dirty look and then offers to change it for an orange self-design napkin. Did it taste as good as it tasted last time at Potla da’s who sits with his Phuchka thela right adjacent to the Tolly nala? Iam sure it wasn’t half the taste, for Potla da has his own secret recipe.

 A die hard fan of Kolkata phuchka, I can have phuchka and churmur for breakfast, lunch and dinner with absolutely zero complaints….

Joy Bangla!! Joy Phuchka!!