Durga Puja: A Dummy's Guide to Food, Fish and Festivities

I’m a Punjabi married to a Bengali. Sorry, correction. I’m a vegetarian Punjabi married to a Bengali. Now if you’re a Bengali or happen to have any Bengali friends, you know how that could be a sticky situation! Especially during Durga Puja. Wondering why? Well if, like me, you thought Durga Puja was just about the puja, you are so wrong! It’s also about khabar dabar (read eating lots of really good food, especially fish), new clothes (two sets every day) and what Bengalis lovingly call adda (gossip/debate sessions).

I started out as a novice, but now after a couple of pujo experiences, I think I’m close to becoming a Delhi Durga Puja veteran. Well, at least for the uninitiated. So here’s an outsider’s peek from the inside.

Something Fishy About It

Durga Puja is the time when you get the best fish in town. Even for Chittaranjan Park denizens, for whom fish is really an everyday affair, the Kolkata delicacies have everyone drooling their way into the pandals. With an overflow of options, you might ask what the specialties are. Well, besides the usual favourites like fish fry and fish chops, any Bengali worth her salt will tell you the things to look out for are Ilish Mach, Pabda Macher Jhal and Fish Orly.

The Meaty Part

If you really want to make the most of the three-and-a-half day food extravaganza, you have to try the Kolkata kathi roll. Fish roll, mutton roll, chicken roll, egg roll, and if you’re really greedy then double chicken, double egg roll. Then there are kabiraji cutlets, which are essentially made of fish, mutton or chicken fried with egg. Also watch out for the prawns (chingri) and other seafood preparations. The food chain you ought to be looking for is Bijoli Grill, a very popular brand from Kolkata, also available at Dilli Haat all through the year.

Did I Hear Vegetarian?

Yes, it’s true! The first time I went out pandal hopping, I wasn’t sure I’d find anything interesting. But to my surprise, I found plenty of appetizing options. With so many stalls selling street food, you can binge on puchkas, jhaal muri, luchi, aaloo tikki and all possible varieties of chaat. Another popular thing to have is the ghee dripping, sinfully delicious Mughlai Parantha (give it the Bengali twist and call it Moglai Porota).

And the afternoon meal is always puja bhog that is served at every pandal. This is everyone’s favourite and is pure vegetarian. It comprises khichuri, labdah (mixed vegetable), beguni (brinjal pakoras), tomato chutney and payesh.

Mishti Time

It would be blasphemous to talk of Bengali cuisine and leave out the sweets. You cannot miss the malpoa, the payesh, the mishti doi and of course the sandesh. Want to know a sweet little secret? On the last day, when it’s time to bid the goddess farewell before she returns to her husband Lord Shiva, married women feed her sandesh, and that’s the time it’s believed that if you whisper a secret wish into Maa Durga’s ears, she will make sure it comes true!

Bow To The Beat

Now before one starts on the munching marathon, one must remember to first attend the aarti. With such tempting food all around, you’d probably imagine that everyone would dress up in their brand new clothes, go for the evening aarti, say a prayer, and then head straight towards the food stalls. Wrong. While food is a major attraction, the evening aarti is actually one of the most incredible sights you’re ever likely to see. The pandal is at its gorgeous best as diyas, flowers, colours, fragrance and music take over the scene, and slowly, one by one, the worshippers start dancing for Maa Durga. The dhunuchi dance is an absolutely mezmerising sight to behold and before you know it, you will have become a part of it too. There’s no insider, no outsider.

There’s so much to this vibrant Indian festival, that you can only discover it by being a part of it. From food overload to cultural beauty, it’s one feast of an experience all the way!